DAY 1 MON 18 MAY

LONDON (D)

Check into your hotel and meet up with your Tour Leader, Colin Barlow, for an optional afternoon walk down Sloane Street for ‘Chelsea in Bloom’. Welcome Dinner at our hotel.

Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel

DAY 2 TUE 19 MAY

CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW (B)

Special tickets for Opening Day at the Chelsea Flower Show. Enjoy multimillion dollar show gardens and the smaller artisan gardens. Browse flower exhibits in the Great Pavilion and treat yourself in the shopping avenue! Late afternoon transfer to your hotel. Evening free.

Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel

DAY 3 WED 20 MAY

WEST GREEN (B/L/D)

West Green House, Hampshire is the gorgeous Opera Garden of Australian expat Marylyn Abbott. The garden pays homage to its 18th-century origins with Marylyn’s sense of fun and exquisite planting scheme. Lunch in her greenhouse before we travel on to Oxford. Check into Hotel Randolph in the city centre, for the next four nights. Watch out for Morse in the Morse Bar! Dinner is included.

Randolph Hotel, Oxford

DAY 4 THU 21 MAY

THE COTSWOLDS (B/L)

Travel into the Cotswolds today to visit two grand gardens! Kiftsgate Court in its magnificent setting on the top of the Cotswold escarpment, is one of the most romantic gardens in Britain. Meet owner Anne Chambers, whose mother Diany Binny and grandmother, Heather Muir created the garden. Lunch is included here before we go next door to Hidcote, Lawrence Johnson’s influential Arts and Crafts garden, made between the two World Wars.

Randolph Hotel, Oxford

DAY 5 FRI 22 MAY

SUDELEY CASTLE (B/L)

Sudeley Castle, a romantic ruin on the edge of the Cotswolds, surrounded by an extraordinary suite of gardens. Pettifers is next, the garden of the late Gina Price. Her genius is enduring in sumptuous colour themed borders. Afternoon tea in Gina’s garden will be unforgettable. Travel to Oxford with the evening free. 

Randolph Hotel, Oxford

DAY 6 SAT 23 MAY

WATERPERRY GARDENS (B)

Morning visit to Waterperry, an exciting complex of gardens, the legacy of a horticultural college for women, run by the redoubtable Beatrix Havergal. Gardeners are keeping faith to its origins. Guided stroll around Oxford this afternoon to learn its fascinating history. Option to attend evensong at Christ Church Cathedral.

Randolph Hotel, Oxford

DAY 7 SUN 24 MAY

OXFORD TO CORNWALL (B/L/D)

Travel through Somerset into Devon to Hestercombe Garden for lunch. It’s a remarkable example of the collaboration between British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. Travel on to Cornwall, check in to your hotel for the next three nights.

The Cornwall Hotel, Spa and Estate

DAY 8 MON 25 MAY

LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN (B/L/D)

Discover The Lost Gardens of Heligan, asleep for 70 years under a blanket of ivy, bramble and rampant laurel. It’s the largest garden restoration project in Europe. To Caerhays this afternoon, a castle by the sea in Cornwall, a treasure trove of magnolia, camellia and rhododendron.

The Cornwall Hotel, Spa and Estate

DAY 9 TUE 26 MAY

EDEN PROJECT (B/D)

The revolutionary Eden Project is monumental with an area under glass the size of 30 football fields. Here plants of different climatic zones grow in environmentally controlled spaces. Lanhydrock House stands in its magnificent estate above the River Fowey with a splendid suite of gardens. 

The Cornwall Hotel, Spa and Estate

DAY 10 WED 27 MAY

CORNWALL TO BATH (B)

Head through Somerset and North Devon to RHS Garden Rosemoor in Great Torrington. Rosemoor has been developed as a sophisticated series of garden spaces. Travel on to Bath. Check into your city centre hotel for 2 nights.

Apex City Of Bath Hotel

DAY 11 THU 28 MAY

BATH (B/D)

First stop is Claverton Manor, home to the American Museum. Next is 18th C. Prior Park Garden, set in a lush green sweeping valley with panoramic views of Bath and exquisite Palladian Bridge. Royal Crescent is next, with its fine sweep of Georgian terraces. Last stop is Parade Gardens overlooking Pulteney Bridge and Weir. Meet up in our hotel this evening for a Farewell Dinner.

Apex City Of Bath Hotel

DAY 12 FRI 29 MAY

BATH TO LONDON (B)

Morning visit to Iford Manor, built by Harold Peto above the River Frome. It’s a gem, highly structured and well planted. Tour ends at Heathrow this afternoon.