On the road with Anna Friel

Bright, bustling and bursting with creativity, LA certainly packs a punch. It’s also teeming with freeways, making it the perfect start to a California road trip. Hire a car and, like Anna, head south to Huntington Beach aka ‘Surf City’. It’s here that the cool crowd hang – if they’re not in a hip juice bar, you’ll find them cycling along the palm-fringed beach path or catching waves. Fifteen minutes away, Newport Beach is a picturesque community overlooking a charming harbour.

California is the epitome of cool. You watch surfers crossing the road in front of you and you just think, this is cool. Whenever I come here it makes me feel like I'm constantly in 1976, the year I was born. The scenery is so entertaining and there are the most incredible sunsets. It's lovely to see the sun.

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Less than two hours drive from LA, Palm Springs is deep in the Sonoran Desert and offers scenery that will ramp up any Instagram account. Little wonder the Rat Pack vacationed here (you can rent Frank Sinatra’s home). Admire the mid-century modern architecture, snap up vintage pieces in the Uptown Design Centre and dine in dynamic Downtown. When the desert starts calling, follow in Anna’s footsteps and head north to the Institute of Mentalphysics where a series of workshops will help you find spiritual awareness and healing.

Road trips are so exciting because you don't know what's going to happen next. I'm a big fan of spontaneity, so not to have to work to an itinerary is continually exciting. I’ve felt really free and happy. Palm Springs is only an hour and a half away from Mexico and I’ve never been so tempted to go. Should we keep driving? Yes please.

Lounge poolside (they do a great hammock) at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club, and when you’re sunbathed out, hit the bar where the DJ spins great tunes and the cocktails flow. For bling, Desert Springs, a JW Marriott Resort & Spa can’t be beat – man-made lakes, two golf courses, a nightclub… it even has its own flock of flamingos.

Brunch is the name of the game in Palm Springs. Cheeky’s puts a seasonal twist on breakfast classics, though be prepared to queue. At Wilma & Frieda’s, the blackberry custard French toast is a must. If you like your pancakes poolside, bag a table at Chi Chi, the restaurant at the Avalon Palm Springs.

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Just an hour to the east, where the high Mojave Desert meets the low Colorado Desert, Joshua Tree National Park will bewitch you as much as it did Anna. The astonishing fauna and flora can be admired from a network of trails – don’t miss the Cholla Cactus Garden at sunset. In town, both Noah Purifoy’s Outdoor Desert Art Museum and the World Famous Crochet Museum will make for some interesting chat back home.

Joshua Tree is one of my favourite places. I think it’s the quality of light. One of my other favourite places in the world is the Maasai Mara – the light that it creates is breathtaking and I had the same feeling at Joshua Tree. I felt really re-energised. It's the mass of open space, it makes you realise how big and beautiful this world is, and that it’s there to be discovered and explored.