‘Phone books are a must’

Comedian Mark Banks has a few simple rules when it comes to travelling: comfy shoes, sleep and a good book.

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Johannesburg - Comedian Mark Banks chats to Diane de Beer about his best and worst holiday memories.

 

First holiday memory?

Butlin’s Scarborough in the UK. I was aged 4 and left traumatised by the “organised” holiday fun.

 

Favourite place in SA?

Without a doubt, Cape Town. Whatever you want to do, it’s there, or nearby. Climate, accessibility, diversity, mountain, sea or land.

 

Best holiday?

Boat cruise from Cape Town to Genoa ending with a week there going up the west coast.

 

What have you learnt from your travels?

People are generally quite nice and a boiled egg tastes the same no matter where you eat it.

 

Ideal travelling companion?

No one! The joy of being able to do exactly what you want at any given moment is, for me, a gift. There’s always room for one! In the theatre, at a dinner table, in a packed restaurant… always!

 

Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?

Culture vulture. Museums, galleries and natural history venues, often cheaply priced, are treasures.

 

Greatest travel luxury?

Comfy shoes, sleep and a good book.

 

Holiday reading?

I only source books where I am – about the place. Phone books are a must on the area. They make for good reading, but tend to have one too many characters.

 

Where has seduced you?

Babbacombe, near Torquay, on England’s south-west coast.

 

Worst travel experience?

Stuck at Heathrow (on stand-by) for five days. I think Tom Hanks made the movie. Although, in the Seychelles, I once stayed in a hotel that had closed down 25 years earlier. Stephen King would have checked out.

 

Best hotel?

The recently refurbished Savoy in London. Creature comforts galore, lots to nick and central to the centre of London. Splendour.

 

Favourite walk, swim, ride or drive?

Chapman’s Peak Drive in any weather, any time of year.

We tend to take so much for granted. The best for me is sometimes right here on our doorstep!

 

Best meal abroad?

Scottish Angus Beef Wellington served in a pub in Helensburgh.

 

Favourite city?

New York. Without a doubt. Have to holiday after holidaying there! One of the most exciting, vibrant cities in the world that I’ve ever seen.

 

Where next?

Australia. Apparently it is a great place for visiting fellow South Africans! Otherwise Montreal, Ireland, Las Vegas or Russia.

l Never at a loss for words, funnyman Mark Banks next travels to Montecasino with Bankrupts, which recently opened at The Studio Theatre.

Saturday Star