Garden Tours

Garden Tours

GARDEN TOURS and holidays with the groups company appeal to people who have perhaps an active interest in gardening themselves, and perhaps belong togardening society, and wish to combine this with a taste of overseas travel An itinerary may take in several famous gardens, situated in dramatic or unusual locations or created by masters of the craft. Visits might also be arranged to gardens where the work done in the workshops of the garden can be visited and discussed with the staff there.Whether the group simply visits gardens of note or more actively engages with the horticultural staff working there is your choice. You and your group choose the style of garden holiday that you want.

We operate Garden Tours to the following destinations:-

France, Italy, South Africa & Sri Lanka

A typical day...

After a leisurely breakfast we may drive to the garden chosen for our morning visit. This may be the garden of a villa, for example, or an estate of note. Or it may be a more commercial establishment operated as a business, with workshops which can be visited, for discussion with the garden staff. There may be a guided tour by staff at the garden, and a talk or a tour led by your garden expert from the UK, if you have chosen to have one as part of your arrangements. No doubt there will also be that all-important time built in for exploring the gardens on your own, at your own pace. How much time is built for this is decided by you at the planning stage. After lunch a second visit of the day; unless your group is travelling on an itinerary involving several different night-stops, in which case travelling may have replaced the morning visit. In the evening, you may choose to just relax over a pleasant dinner, or your may prefer to precede this by a talk from the gardening expert accompanying you, perhaps with illustrations of the flora you will encounter tomorrow.

Whether you choose to take a gardening expert along with you, or to simply have the groups company make the travel arrangements and arrange the visits to the gardens of your choice is up to you. You and your group decide the style of gardening holiday you want.

Sample itineraries ...

The itineraries below are intended only to give an indication of what might be possible in a particular country, following an itinerary catering for a particular special interest.

No details of meals or accommodation are included in the itineraries as it would be your decision, at the planning stage, as to what is included. You would decide whether your tour included all meals, just Bed and Breakfast, or Bed and Breakfast plus some lunches or dinners at certain points on the itinerary. Similarly you would decide what standard of accommodation you wanted to use.

The itineraries detailed are deliberately short ones. It is intended to give a flavour, an outline, of an itinerary. If you have more time, then extra time can be built into each stop on the itinerary, and additional places of interest and overnight stops can be added. Lengthening the itinerary, to 10 days or two weeks, for example, and adding further night-stops will enrich your journey; shown below is just a brief skeletal itinerary as a basis for discussion and more detailed planning.

Sri Lanka – 8 days - 1. Fly Colombo. 2. Arrive Colombo; city tour. 3. Drive to Kandy; visit Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. 4. In Kandy, visit Kandy Rainforest. 5 Drive to Nuwara Eliya; visit Hagala Gardens. 6. Drive to Sigiriya and visit the 5th century fortress and Gardens. 7. Return to Colombo; visit Royal Orchid House. 8. Fly London.
Italy – 8 days - 1. Fly Naples, drive to Sorrento. 2. Ferry to Capri. Visit Gardens of Villa San Michele and Giardini di Augusta. Return to Sorrento. 3. Drive along the Amalfi coast to Ravello; visit Villa Cimbrone and return to Sorrento. 4. Ferry to Ischia, visit Gardens of La Mortella, return Sorrento. 5. Visit Pompei; drive to Rome. 6. In Rome; visit Villa Dei Medici Gardens. 7.Drive to Bagnia; visit Villa Lante Gardens, return to Rome. 8 Fly London.