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Introduction

Time: April to September

Accommodation: First Class Hotels

Start Date: 4 Nights / 5 Days

Group Size: Singles, Couples, Families and Small Groups

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) was founded over 200 years ago to promote gardens through inspirational flower shows, gardens and education.

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On this tour, we combine a day at one of the RHS shows with some of the gardens and landscapes that have influenced designers all over the World. The exact route of the tour would be dependent on the show you want to visit, but in general, we start out from London.  You will pass through some of the best countryside in England such as the Cotswolds, Kent and Cornwall and visit some of the loveliest towns like Rye and Bath. You will cover a perfect cross-section of the English obsession.

NB:This tour is designed to visit the Chelsea Flower Show – please contact us for the other shows.

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Itinerary

Day 1: Kew Gardens - Flower Show

KEW GARDENS started as a Royal playground in the C16th when Charles Bridgeman was employed by George II to develop land bordering the River Thames. Subsequent monarchs added to the gardens and Queen Victoria added the greenhouses and entrance. They were opened to the public in 1898 and are now a World Heritage Site. Across the Thames is the Chelsea Hospital – the site of the CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW. As the Worlds premier garden show, there is much to see including the show gardens and numerous garden related trade exhibitors - don’t miss the grand marquee.

Day 2: Walmer - Sissinghurst - Great Dixter

KENT is the Garden of England with many fantastic gardens. WALMER CASTLE GARDEN was once the home of Winston Churchill and the Duke of Wellington. The gardens have an outstanding historical interest including the Queen Mother’s Gardens. Arguably, the best C20th garden is SISSINGHURST CASTLE. Created around the remains of an Elizabethan mansion by Vita Sackville West, it forms a series of enclosed compartments and outstanding design. Finally, GREAT DIXTER to the pioneering garden of Christopher Lloyd, famed for his carpets of wildflowers and exuberant exotic garden.

Day 3: Wakehurst Place - Stourhead

In the beautiful Weald is country home of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew - WAKEHURST PLACE. Here plants from throughout the world are carefully planted in a secluded valley. Continuing west to SHEFFIELD PARK GARDEN, an outstanding landscape garden which offers different vistas depending on the time of year. The pioneering STOURHEAD - a superb landscape created by Henry Hoare the eminent C18th banker. Set around a huge central lake, the paths moves through magnificent woodland and exotic trees, offering different vistas of the classic temples.

Day 4: Eden Project - Lost Gardens of Heligan

The EDEN PROJECT was at started by Tim Smit as a Millennium project. The revolutionary glass biomes have plants from different global climates. It has become one on the best loved attractions in England with over 3 million visitors a year. Tim Smit’s first garden project was the LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN. Hidden and overgrown since the earliest part of the C20th the gardens offer a fascinating insight into an Edwardian estate with long carriage drives, an exotic kitchen garden and unusual plants. The warm climate of the area allows tropical flora and the main drive displays amazing world famous swamp.

Day 5: Hidcote - Rousham - Stowe

Travelling through the beautiful Cotswolds, our first stop is the Arts and Crafts masterpiece of Major Lawrence Johnston, HIDCOTE MANOR GARDEN. The garden is famous for outstanding herbaceous borders and rare trees and shrubs, all developed in a series of outdoor rooms. ROUSHAM PARK was one of the first landscape gardens created by William Kent. He also remodelled the C17th castle . Finally, STOWE, one of the finest Georgian landscape gardens; the gardens have been influential in the development of design throughout the world. There are over 30 temples and monuments.