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DAY
ONE - FRIDAY
Arrival day. You'll be met on arrival
at the airport and transferred to our London hotel. The rest of the
day is free for you to relax and unwind but we also recommend taking
the ten-minute walk from our hotel base to the nearby Chiswick House.
This classic, Inigo Jones designed property boasts several acres of
lovely gardens and a leisurely visit makes a fitting start to this tour.
This evening, all tour participants will gather for our welcome dinner,
hosted by your guide.
DAY TWO- SATURDAY
We leave London behind us as we head to the Garden of England, Kent.
Our first stop today is at Down House, the home of evolutionist Charles
Darwin. One wonders if any of his revolutionary theories came to him
while watching his flowers grow! Hever Castle, originally owned by Anne
Boleyn's family and restored by the wealth of the Astor family, is our
next stop. A short drive away is the home of Winston Churchill, Chartwell.
One can almost smell the great man's cigars. We'll end today's explorations
at Emmetts, a hillside garden originally laid out around the turn of
the century and now owned by the National Trust, if time - before making
our way to our base for the next three nights.
DAY THREE - SUNDAY
Today we will concentrate on Great Dixter, a Lutyens medieval reconstruction.
There'll also be Scotney Castle and hopefully, if time allows, we'll
also visit Batemans, home of one of England greatest story-tellers and
Victorian/Edwardian poets, Rudyard Kipling.
Naturally, between these major stops we'll be seeing some of the splendid
Kent and Sussex countryside and perhaps stopping to see private gardens
en route.
DAY FOUR - MONDAY
Our last day in this southeast corner of England finds us exploring
three more magnificent gardens. We'll begin at Leonardslee Gardens,
started by Sir Edmund Loder and well-known for its rhododendron collection.
From here we'll drive the short distance to Nymans, one of the great
South Weald gardens - thirty acres of rare and beautiful trees, shrubs
and plants collected from all corners of the world. Finally, we'll end
today at Sheffield Park Garden, a highly impressive one hundred-acre
garden with five lakes, laid out in the 18th century by 'Capability'
Brown.
DAY FIVE - TUESDAY
As we travel westwards today, we'll take time to visit some of the lesser-known
and more unusual gardens of the area. First today is the garden at Highdown,
created by Sir Frederick Stern from a bare chalk pit in 1910. We then
move onto Denmans where we'll see a gravel garden which needs no mowing
- plants grow informally from gravel in a vast greenhouse, in a walled
garden, and along a dry winding riverbed. We'll end the day with a visit
to Mottisfont Abbey Garden. Here we'll find the national collection
of old-fashioned roses housed in the walled garden of the 12th century
Augustinian Priory.
DAY SIX - WEDNESDAY
Winchester, the ancient Saxon capital of England, is first on today's
itinerary. Here we'll visit the Great Hall, birthplace of modern democracy
and see King Arthur's Round Table. We'll then head south to discover
the hidden delights of the New Forest. If we have time, we'll visit
Wilton House, stately home to the Earls of Pembroke for 450 years, and
explore the house and gardens before making our way back to our base
for the night.
DAY SEVEN - THURSDAY
This morning will be spent exploring the delightful cathedral city of
Salisbury. As we head back to London we pay our final visit of the day
to Savill Garden, one of the finest woodland gardens anywhere, or the
Royal Horticultural Gardens at Wisley. Depending on time spent at Salisbury
there may just be time to visit either Windsor Castle or Hampton Court
to round off a perfect couple of days outside of London.
DAY EIGHT - FRIDAY
THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
You've a full day to explore the show. Getting there early will give
you time to see the show and perhaps to leave in mid-afternoon to do
some final last minute shopping at nearby Harrods.
Dinner is taken independently this evening in case any tour participant
wishes to attend a West End theatre production.
DAY NINE- SATURDAY
Return airport transfer. Perhaps you'd enjoy staying a day longer and
exploring one or two of London's own historic homes and gardens? |
