Warwick Davis: My life in travel

'Get rid of the screens and you start to see the wonder'

Warwick Davis and his family travel around the UK in ITV's 'Weekend Escapes' on Fridays, 8pm (Getty) (Getty)

As a family we absolutely love our camper van.

It was something that we bought as a family Christmas present. My wife was always going on about how much she wanted one, then we got the opportunity to do a series [Weekend Escapes] and it was a great idea to base it around the camper van. The kids were really keen – any opportunity to have a holiday and spend time together, we absolutely relish.

Sometimes I turn away work to spend time with my family.

It's really difficult; as an actor that's not something that sits very well. You tend to try to grasp every opportunity. But I try to leave August clear. Annabelle has just turned 18 and Harrison is 12; they're still very keen to come away with us. We end up doing the same things we've done before, because we like them and they bring back happy memories.

The best bit of a holiday is forgetting what day it is.

That's not due to the alcohol, it's because you become so chilled out. It takes a while to slow down and stop looking at your watch. If you're on holiday, you have to fully commit to it, and that means not looking at your email. Holidays in our tent, we call them "technology detoxes", because you can't get a signal anyway– means that the world opens up. As soon as you get rid of the screens, you start to see the wonder of where you are and appreciate it. That doesn't just go for adults, but for kids as well.

Free range: a camper van (and Michael Palin) is all you need (Getty)

I've been to every ruined castle in Wales, England and Scotland.

I used to go caravanning with my family when I was a child. We would usually end up in a field behind a pub – my dad loved those sites! Then we'd go to ruined castles. Our caravan had single glazing and in cold weather the condensation would ice up on the windows. You had to pump a pedal to make water come out of the tap; it was primitive, but I have great memories of it.

The first time I went on a plane was to San Francisco to do 'Return of the Jedi'.

I was 12 and it was so exciting. Prior to that, the furthest I had been was South Wales or Cornwall; it certainly opened my eyes. America was a place of excitement because I knew that somewhere was Disneyland. That was back in early 1981, and the plane was so empty, my sister and I could play hide and seek. Travel has changed a lot and it's accessible to more or less everyone now. But I do think we should revisit the glory days of dressing up when you travel – that was wonderful, it makes it an occasion.

I don't like eating anything unusual.

I'm pretty boring when it comes to food; I'll do pasta, I'll do a pie. Karl [Pilkington, with whom Warwick appeared in An Idiot Abroad] was desperate to get me to eat some local food, so in China he took me to a street market. Often they're the safest places to eat, because you know the food is fresh and cooked right there. But he got me some pig's lung and a testicle or something. It didn't taste awful, but as soon as he told me what it was, I was really ill.

If I could live anywhere in the UK, I'd live in the Lake District.

At this point it's a little bit too far away from London but we do talk about it. It's one of those places that you won't find litter, it's so picturesque and cared for. If I see someone dropping rubbish, I'll have a word with them.

Michael Palin would be great to go travelling with.

We would go in a camper van round England and he could tell me about things I don't know about. Although it'd be nothing for him, he's been around the world in 80 days and with me he'd be going around the M25. That'd probably take about 80 days, actually.

See actor Warwick Davis and his family travel around the UK in ITV's 'Weekend Escapes' on Fridays, 8pm.