D0 Friday, 26 April

The joining point for this tour is Ashtree House Hotel, and we ask that you arrive at Ashtree House at any time during the course of today. Your accommodation is included in the price of the tour, but dinner is not. Please let us know if you would like to arrive earlier than 26 April, likewise, please let us know if you are staying elsewhere and do not require the room, but will join us on the morning of 26 April. We will depart Ashtree House at 09.30

Ashtree House is a 15-room independent, family-run establishment in central Paisley, some ten minutes by taxi from Glasgow International Airport. Paisley is a town southwest of central Glasgow.

D1 Saturday, 27 April

We leave Ashtree House and head west, to Ardrossan, for the Calmac ferry to the Isle of Arran and the afternoon at Brodick Castle.

Now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, Brodick Castle is the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Hamilton who, in common with many other great landowners, upgraded their medieval castle in the mid-1800s and made it more homely. Outside, they were equally as busy and, by marriage into one of the great Cornish plant-breeding families, Brodick is now famous for the vast number of its Magnolias and three national collections of Rhododendrons, including a collection of Horlick hybrids, raised at Ascot, in Surrey, and at Achamore House, on Gigha.

Later in the afternoon, we continue our journey, crossing Arran to Lochranza, for the ferry onto the Kintyre peninsula, and onward to the Crinan Hotel, our home for the next few days. We’ll arrive at Crinan in good time to settle in and enjoy a relaxing evening over drinks and dinner in the Sea Food Bar and, just perhaps, see a stunning sunset over the Sound of Jura.

NB. Please note that we plan to take the 11.05 ferry from Ardrossan and will depart Ashtree House by 09.30 – please be at Ashtree House by 09.00 if you are not staying there.

Today's driving is about 70 miles/112 km

D2 Sunday, 28 April

We spend today on the Kintyre peninsula, starting with a brief visit to Stonefield Castle, to see the historic gardens first laid out in the 1840s, and then onto Tayinloan, for the 20-minute crossing to the Isle of Gigha, to visit Achamore Gardens. Created by Colonel Sir James Horlick in 1944, with inheritance from the family-owned hot drinks company, and with the assistance of Kitty Lloyd Jones, Achamore Gardens is the home of Horlick’s renowned Rhododendron and Camellia collection. The garden flourishes in Gigha's warm microclimate but hasn’t always been lavished with the love it deserves, happily though, the Island Community has found some funding and the garden is in much better shape.

We’ll take a picnic lunch with us, as we always do, and return to the mainland on the early afternoon ferry for our final visit, to Ormsary House. Sitting on the shores of Loch Caolisport, Ormsary House garden is a woodland garden with azaleas, rhododendrons and a collection of trees and shrubs, and a beautiful and productive walled garden, including a serene secret garden on a lower level.

Just a few minutes south of Ormsary House is the award-winning Kilberry Inn, where we’ll have dinner, before returning to Crinan.

Today's driving is about 130 miles/210 km

D3 Monday, 29 April

Our day starts north of Crinan, crossing the ‘Bridge over the Atlantic’ to the Isle of Seil for a private visit to An Cala, the home and charming garden of Sheila Downie. Sitting snuggly inside a horseshoe-shaped slate cliff, this pretty 1930s garden has azaleas, rhododendrons, spring cherry blossom – and views to die for.

Returning south, we stop for lunch and the early afternoon at Arduaine Garden, a justly-famous garden created by James Arthur Campbell who, according to his journal, started planting in August 1895 and, by the time he died, in 1929, the garden contained some 220 different rhododendrons. It’s a windswept, seaside hillside, and difficult gardening, but it’s a wonderful garden and a tranquil oasis overlooking the sea on a beautiful stretch of coastline.

South of Arduaine, lies the fascinating and historically important, Kilmartin Glen. Spanning some 5,000 years, Kilmartin Glen has one of Europe's greatest concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains. We will visit the new museum and their excellent café, and return to Crinan through the ancient landscape, exploring one or two of the more accessible standing stones, cairns and cists on foot.

Dinner at Crinan in the Westward Restaurant.

Today's driving is about 90 miles/145 km

D5 Wednesday, 1 May

We leave Crinan and cross Loch Fyne, from Tarbert to the Cowal Peninsula, to visit Benmore Botanic Garden. One of three satellite gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), Benmore was once part of the hunting grounds of the Dukes of Argyll until 1889, when Henry Younger, a wealthy Edinburgh brewer, bought the estate. He made many improvements and introduced exotic shrubs and trees to the woodland garden and, in 1924, his son gifted the estate to the nation, with the RBGE taking it on, to house a large collection of plants, brought from China by George Forrest.

Benmore is famous for its collection of magnificent trees, including an imposing avenue of Giant Sequoias, one of the finest collections of plants from Bhutan, and a charming, recently restored Victorian Fernery.

We’ll spend much of the day at Benmore, before a short drive to Loch Fyne and The Creggans Inn, our home for the next three nights, where, if time allows, we will walk to neighbouring Strachur House, for an early-evening stroll through their garden, before dinner at Creggans Inn.

Today's driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D6 Thursday, 2 May

We return south, through beautiful countryside, for the day on the Isle of Bute, a charming island just a stone’s throw from the coast. We’ll spend much of our day at Mount Stuart, the home of the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who, when he built Mount Stuart, was possibly the world's wealthiest man.

It is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding Gothic Revival houses in Britain, a real showstopper with exquisite interiors, the result of fabulous wealth, the finest materials and superb craftsmanship. You will have tickets for the excellent guided tour of the house and plenty of time, too, to explore the vast grounds and gardens surrounding the house. Its 300 acres boast arboricultural and horticultural collections of global significance.

Later in the afternoon, we will explore a little more of the island, stopping for a brief visit at Ardencraig, the local authority's nursery, famous for its bedding plants and glasshouse, and stopping too, for a stroll around Rothesay, Bute's chief town.

Returning to the mainland, we’ll take the scenic route to Otter Ferry, hidden away on the shores of Loch Fyne, for dinner at the Oystercatcher Inn – an excellent eaterie in a stunning location.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km

D7 Friday, 3 May

We start our day on the far shores of Loch Fyne, at Crarae Garden, one of the finest Himalayan-style woodland gardens in Britain. The garden was created in 1912 by Lady Grace Campbell, the aunt of Reginald Farrer, an intrepid plant hunter who sourced trees and shrubs from China, Nepal and Tibet, many of which still grow along the garden’s steeply-sided 'Himalayan' gorge.

Thence to Inveraray, to explore Inveraray Castle, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Argyll and seat of Clan Campbell. There has been a castle here since the 1400s, although the present castle dates to only 1746, with later additions, and we will enjoy a tour of the castle and time in the garden too.

We may have time to explore Inveraray, a planned Georgian town, and stop at the world-famous Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and its neighbouring Tree Shop Garden Centre, before our final visit to the ever-magical Ardkinglas Woodland Garden, a stream-side woodland garden with no fewer than five of Britain's largest conifers, underplanted with some stunning Rhododendrons.

And back to Creggans Inn, for a relaxing evening over drinks and an end-of-tour dinner.

Today's driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D8 Saturday, 4 May

After loading the minibus and saying our farewells, we set off to Dunoon for the Western Ferries ferry across the Clyde and onward to Glasgow Airport or Ashtree House, for those of you catching flights, and to central Glasgow, for those of you who are either staying in the city or continuing your journey by rail.

Please note that we plan to arrive at Glasgow Airport by about 10:30 and the city centre by about 11.30 and, although we can adjust timings slightly, if you need to be at the airport significantly earlier than this we will need to arrange transport for you, to the airport, at your expense.

If you are staying in the UK and don't need, or wish, to return to Glasgow, then please let us know your travel plans, so that we may assist you.

Today's driving is about 50 miles/80 km