Guided by the stars - inside track on the world's hotspots

When to go: Traditionally, November through February is the best time for India, but I love it all year round. We often go in August, during the monsoon; it can be really romantic and less crowded.

Bakery: We buy our bread, cured meats and cheeses at Indigo Deli (indigodeli.com). When I first visited Bombay seven years ago it was virtually impossible to buy prosciutto or parmesan cheese; now you can get pretty much anything you want.

Dinner: Wasabi in The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel (tajhotels.com), Indigo (foodindigo.com) and Tote On The Turf (at the Mahalaxmi race course) are all favourites. My husband Arun loves Trishna (00 91 22 2270 3213), but it's only for the brave with cast-iron stomachs. For Indian food, we tend to get it delivered. Arun has a secret contact from whom he gets the most phenomenal tandoori crab.

Street: I love Marine Drive, where we live; there are gorgeous sea views and a lovely promenade to stroll along.

Bridge: The bridge that has changed everyone's life is the Bandra Worli Sea Link - it opened last summer and halves the time to get downtown or to the airport.

Shopping: My two favourites are Bombay Electric (bombayelectric.in) and The Oak Tree (on Cusrow Baug), where I've bought dresses, kaftans, shawls, earrings and bags. They both stock my beachwear designs, which are virtually the only bikinis for sale in Bombay.

Views: I love the view from the Taj Hotel; having a drink in the Sea Lounge, gazing out at the Gateway to India and watching hundreds of women in brightly coloured saris is a truly unforgettable experience.

Hotels: I love the Taj and the Oberoi, on Nariman Point (oberoihotels.com); the two hotels that came under fire during the terrorist attacks of 2008. During our wedding, our family and friends stayed in these hotels and it was horrific to hear of the atrocities. We pretty much go to one of them every day for lunch, tea, drinks or dinner.

Presents: The whole of Bombay is present-buying heaven. I'm constantly hunting down silver, fabrics, shawls and jewellery.

Romantic spot: You have to take a boat trip at night. The city sparkles, the air is balmy and, if you're lucky, someone may offer you a tray of chicken tikka masala. What more could anyone want?

Elizabeth wears Katrina kaftan and June bikini from the Elizabeth Hurley Beach collection (elizabethhurley.com)

PARIS
Vincent Cassel

The French actor, 43, is the star of La Haine and Mesrine and is married to Monica Bellucci. They live between Chelsea, Paris and Rome with their daughter Deva, five.

Shops: I've been buying my clothes from the same guy, Alexandre Guarneri, for a long time and I don't understand why he is not bigger. His label is Homecore (29 rue de la Ferronnerie) and he's been designing clothes forever. It's an urban style but full of little details. If I need to dress up, I go to Yves Saint Laurent or Armani.

Gifts: If it's for my wife, I would go to Cartier direct. You can't go wrong with it. Every year it has something new that is discreet and classy in terms of colour and shape; I'm not into shiny gold stuff.

Day out: If there's a bit of sun, I take my daughter to Les Jardins d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne (jardindacclimatation.fr). It's full of animals and rides, with a little river. There's something very calm about it. As a teenager I would smoke there with friends.

Bars: Les Fines Gueules (rue Croix des Petits Champs) is a small place on a corner near the Place des Victoires. They have great wine and it's not expensive. I'm into Saint Estèphe and Pomerol. They have a lot of organic wines that are really trendy right now. The bar at Hotel Costes on the rue Saint-Honoré really works (hotelcostes.com). It is very trendy and you always meet a lot of good-looking people there, so I keep going. I love to drink at the top of the Centre Georges Pompidou in the glass-walled restaurant Georges (right), owned by the Costes brothers, like the rest of Paris. It's loungey, with a DJ, so it's pretty cool.

Romance: Maxim's has a péniche (a flat-bottomed boat) that you can rent for special occasions (maxims-de-paris.com).

Even though I'm a Parisian, it is a beautiful trip. You discover the city from a new point of view. It was a while ago that I went but I can tell you, coming out I was very drunk. It would make a good blind date.

Nightclubs: I'm not crazy about trendy places. I like to keep in touch with underground parties because they are the ones where it can get a little crazy. I know one called the Milliardaires (rue Pierre Charron), near the Champs Elysées, and the other is the Plaza Madeleine, between Opera and les Madeleines (plazamadeleine.com). Sometimes, when I'm by myself and I can actually go out, I hit one of those. The music is hip-hop, ragga, R&B and they are cheap, funky, and full of working people who go berserk once a week. I'm in my forties, so by 6.30am I'm done.

Restaurants: From an English point of view, you probably think French people hang around in cafés all day long, but I'm a big eater and I prefer restaurants. My favourite Italian is Sardegna a Tavola (1 rue de Cotte), it's really, really, really, really good. I don't order any more, I just ask what's good today and they bring it. It's food from Sardinia, but it's an island that's been very influenced by Tunisia and the spices come from there. As for cafés, I like the Emporio Armani Ca é on boulevard Saint-Germain. Mr Armani opened it in Paris so he knows he can eat what he likes when he's here. It's Milanese and Venetian food from the north of Italy. Tontine d'Or on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud has African food from Cameroon. I've been going for 25 years. They do the best chicken ever. As far as French restaurants go, I can't choose between these two: Le Père Claude (lepereclaude.com), in the 15th arrondissement, which is open seven days a week and is a family-run place with a rotisserie, so nothing is too fatty and it's cheap and good; and Le Bouclard on rue Cavallotti (bouclard.com), which does food from the southwest of France, so it's a lot of duck and foie gras. Plus, the guy lived in New York for a long time so he'll do small portions for lunch. On weekends a cool place to have brunch is The Yard, by the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, owned by a former bodyguard of the boxer Joe Frazier; he married a woman from Nice and they have four kids. The feel is a cross between America and the South of France.

Market: On Tuesday or Friday mornings, check out the Marché de Belleville. It is another face of Paris. It's the most mixed neighbourhood in the world, more than London or New York, and you feel it when you walk in the market. The smell is amazing.

Food shop: L'épicerie in the Bon Marché is great; it's like Harrods, you can buy everything (lebonmarche.com).

Mesrine: Parts 1 & 2 are out on DVD and Blu-ray

TUSCANY
Trudie Styler

Trudie Styler, 56, is a producer of films, fine wine and olive oil. She lives with her musician husband Sting on a 60-acre estate in Wiltshire, a cottage in the Lake District, a New York apartment, a beach house in Malibu, and a 900-acre estate in Tuscany. They have four children: Bridget Michael (Mickey), 26, Jake, 25, Eliot Paulina (Coco) and Giacomo Luke, 15.

Our villa: Every summer the entire family spend at least a month in our home in Italy, Il Palagio. Set on a hill above the town of Figline Valdarno, we hang out together, horseriding, swimming, eating and enjoying the company of a stream of friends and family. Occasionally, we'll venture to Greve, Siena, Arezzo or Florence. We make our own olive oil and honey there; it is on sale in organic food shops around London. From July we'll sell it in our own farm shop, near our house, where we'll also sell our own Super Tuscan wine, which we've called Sister Moon, after one of Sting's songs. It's been a labour of love to restore our vineyard and the grapes are grown according to biodynamic principles.

Restaurants: We usually have breakfast on the terrace at Il Palagio: fresh juices, fruit salad and cereals, maybe an egg from one of our hens and a great cup of coffee. But the nearby hotel, La Palagina, boasts spectacular views across the valley and prepares a delicious breakfast on the terrace overlooking the pool.

Osteria Le Logge on the Via del Porrione in Siena (osterialelogge.it) is a warm and friendly restaurant serving sophisticated yet wholesome Tuscan food.

The menu is built around what's freshly available every day. For an afternoon ice-cream trip, our favourite is the Piazza Marsilio Ficino in Figline.

The menu is built around what's freshly available every day. For an afternoon ice-cream trip, our favourite is Gelateria Elmi in the Piazza Marsilio Ficino in Figline. For the sheer romance of it, the restaurant in the Casagrande Hotel in Figline (hotelvillacasagrande.com) is heaven. In the summer you eat at the cloistered end of a 17th-century courtyard, which has a wishing well in the middle. It's so picturesque that most Saturdays it is booked for weddings. The truffle pasta is amazing, while the kids love the spaghetti carbonara.

Stefano, the maitre d', will allow you to taste the local wines. L'Incontro Bar in the Savoy Hotel near the Duomo in Florence is a beautiful wine bar (hotelsavoy.it), offering views over the Piazza Repubblica.

Where to stay: The Best in Italy is a real estate company owned by the American Contessa Simonetta Brandolini d'Adda. She has a fantastic selection of beautiful villas throughout Italy to rent and to buy (thebestinitaly.com).

The Savoy in Florence is one of Olga Polizzi's hotels, and she is a great friend of ours. In keeping with the Italian way of taking the children pretty much everywhere, the Savoy offers child-friendly details: welcome gifts and special city guides.

Spas: Spa Dominique Chenot at the Grand Hotel Imperiale, Forte dei Marmi, offers mud masks, hydrojet sessions, workouts, a sauna and Turkish bath - all designed to make you feel fitter, lighter and healthier. It's a seriously indulgent treat (grandhotelimperiale.it).

Shopping: Sugar in Arezzo for a great selection of designers (sugar.it). And the designer outlet stores less than an hour away in Incisa, for bargains from Gucci, Fendi, Armani, Loro Piana, La Perla and Valentino (outlet-the-mall.com). The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on the Via Delle Scala in Florence (near the train station and next to the church of Santa Maria Novella) is a must. With its origins in the 13th century, when Dominican monks prepared herbal remedies there, the pharmacy is as much a museum as a shop. Santa Maria Novella products are now known all over the world for their high quality and heavenly aromas, but this is where it all began. Arezzo antiques market takes place on the first Sunday of the month. Dealers from all over Italy make the trip. You can find fairly affordable antique furniture, paintings, silver, ceramics, books, jewellery, bric-a-brac... I've bought two Sicilian dressers and some Murano glass there. A great day out if you like flea markets.

Art: In every church, every gallery and on almost every street corner you will find beauty and art. Check out Fra Angelico's frescoes at the monastery of San Marco in Florence, and his altarpiece (far left) in the church of Santa Maria Novella.

Views: The road from Figline to Greve is Chianti at its best. Or heading to Siena from Volterra you'll drive through rolling hills, olive groves and villages. The view of the Elsa valley from one of the towers of the medieval village of San Gimignano is stunning. The hilltop village itself is quite a surprise - like a mini Manhattan skyline with its 14 surviving medieval towers.

Activities: Riding with sisters Sylvia and Mara from the Vecchio Texas riding school near Figline - the best views of Chianti are from horseback, and the sisters speak English.

Don't miss: The Palio horse race in the Piazza del Campo in Siena is an amazing experience, if you can get anywhere near it. Every year on 2 July and 16 August, ten horses representing ten of the districts of Siena race against one another around the main square. It's two minutes of pure Italian passion from horses, riders and spectators (ilpalio.org). Trudie Styler's WarriorYoga is out now on DVD (amazon.co.uk)

BUENOS AIRES
Marianela Nuñez

The Royal Ballet principal dancer, 27, grew up in San Martin, 20 minutes from the centre of Buenos Aires. 'My mum used to drive me to the ballet school every morning and then she would pick me up and take me to normal school in the afternoon and then back in the evening for more ballet.' She joined the Royal Ballet aged 15 and lives with her fiancé Thiago Soares, a fellow principal, in Covent Garden.

Restaurants: I always go to Mark's Deli (avenida El Salvador 4701) in Palermo, the largest area of the city, with my brother Sebastian. They do these incredible salads. But what is nice is that the restaurant is in an old townhouse, and while the inside is modern, the outside has been kept the same. El Club de la Milanesa nearby (Gorriti 5702) is good for local food. A Milanesa is a typical Argentinian meal, a thin piece of veal in breadcrumbs. I had it a lot as a kid and I miss it. The portions are huge and I go there with my family. By the river is Puerto Madero, an area full of steakhouses where they do parrilladas and asados (grills and barbecues). La Vaca Loca is fantastic for that (lavacalocarosenda.com). You pay a fixed price and they carry on bringing you different kinds of meat until you say, 'OK, enough.' It's like eating a food safari.

Breakfast: The Alvear Palace Hotel (alvearpalace.com) does an amazing breakfast with everything from wonderful fruit to all kinds of medialunas (croissants). In La Recoleta, one of the richest areas of Buenos Aires, there is a huge cemetery where Eva Peron is buried, and you can find little coffee places full of characters who have worked there their whole life. Coffee cups are really small compared to London ones, and coffee is very cheap.

Shopping: In Palermo Soho, which is a very bohemian area within Palermo, there are lots of boutiques full of Argentine designers. I always go to Las Oreiro (avenida Honduras 4780), which does really cute, 1950s-style dresses. Besha (avenida Armenia 1712) is a very small shop that does great handbags and wallets. Argentina has amazing leather goods and the exchange rate is incredible at the moment; for £1 you get six pesos, so Europeans can really splurge. But not on designer brands, they are even more expensive there.

Presents: La Boca is the oldest neighbourhood in the city and is full of colourful corrugated-iron houses and shops where you can buy little souvenirs and textiles and other things for the house. I always buy alfajores, which are little cakes with dulce de leche inside. You can find them everywhere and they are a must. On a Sunday, go to San Telmo, which is famous for its antiques shops and little stalls. People dance the tango in the streets and you get a real Argentine flavour. This is also the best place to go to a milonga, a tango club.

Nightlife: Go to an area called Palermo Hollywood and just get lost. It is full of little bars and clubs and it is very trendy; it is where all the young people hang out. We have a lot of pubs downtown that have arrived in the past few years. They try to do an English or Irish thing, which reminds me of London. I don't drink wine, although I shouldn't say this because we have some incredible vineyards in Mendoza and the wine in the restaurants is always great.

Day out: I have three nephews and two nieces and they love the zoo (zoobuenosaires.com.ar). It's in the middle of the city and they have weird indigenous animals from the Amazon. The Jardin Botanico (jardinbotanico.gov.ar) has beautiful gardens; even though the city is very busy, it is surrounded by parks. Marianela will be dancing in La Fille Mal Gardée from 9 March to 28 April (roh.org.uk)