People such as Lord Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir John Gielgud, Richard Burton trod the same pavements as Carrick, Kean and Irving before them.Walking around Covent Garden you will see many streets named after the most famous, Betterton, Kemble, Garrick, Macklin. It was Macklin who lived to be the oldest actor on record; he died at the age of 106. The areas with the most colourful history are certainly Covent Garden, Leicester Square and The Strand. Carrick lived at 27 Southampton Street, Bemard Shaw lived on Adelphi Terrace, just off The Strand and Irving was working at the Lyceum Theatre, just around the corner.

You probably won't see the famous ghosts but you can walk down the alleyway beside the Adelphi theatre where William Terris, the actor, was murdered outside the stage door, or see, in St Leonard's Church in Shoreditch, the memorial to the two actors who saved Shakespeare's plays from extinction - they were John Hemming and Henry Condell. Or see a statue of Shakespeare as well as of Charlie Chaplin in Leicester Square or the Noel Coward wine bar in the Phoenix Theatre in Charing Cross Road.

Waterloo Bridge could be named London's theatre bridge of the past century because of the journey to the Old Vic Theatre (left). Generations of famous actors have all made their way there, and now they go to the South Bank as well.

Although the Royal National Theatre could not be classed as an old historic building, the four artistic directors who have run it since it opened will surely be found in the pages of theatre history books - Lord Olivier, Sir Peter Hall, Sir Richard Eyre and Trevor Nunn. So will the Dames! - Sybil Thorndike, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Dianna Rigg.

The last great actor-managers also haunt the area. Forbes-Robertson, Herbert Tree, Waller, Granville-Barker all probably visited Rules' Restaurant at one time or another, followed years later by Graham Greene, Clark Gable and John Barrymore. Lily Langtry and the Prince of Wales dined in a private dining room which can still be visited today.

Actors are taught to observe people, to show compassion, to try to delve into other people's souls. In an ideal world they then can demonstrate this on stage, creating characters, continuing to observe, to be curious as they draw upon their knowledge and use it. Because they are, and must be, totally focused on the work at hand, they live in their own world. However, even when there is a break in this routine, they are still observing, their talents resting. What do actors do when they are not working? Well, that is the subject for another book, but the second half of this book is about survival. Travel in my case. This was triggered by the deadly icy English winters.

An actor's curiosity together with the desire to discover another world - almost like Michael Palin - propelled me to focus for a time on distant lands, and to tread in others' footsteps.

Next: A Sonnet Upon the Pitiful Burning of the Globe Playhouse in London