Cornwall & Bath

2501 | 9 to 16 April | 8 days | maximum number 12

Stourhead, Trewithen, Caerhays Castle, Trelissick, Lost Gardens of Heligan, Eden Project, Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, Chygurno, Burncoose Nurseries, Trebah, Bonython, Castle Drogo, Iford Manor, two-nights in Bath & more…

Welcome to Britain’s far southwest…

Jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, almost wholly encircled by the sea, Cornwall is Britain’s most southwesterly county and its long and dramatic coastline, with its picturesque fishing villages and spectacular beaches, has long drawn visitors to it.

So too have its gardens. Washed by the Gulf Stream, Cornwall’s mild coastal climate sustains some of England’s finest gardens and a breathtaking array of plants from around the world. The season starts early, with some gardens opening as early as January and this tour takes you to the very best of them.

Cornwall played an important part in the industrial revolution, and its tin mining and world-leading China Clay deposits provided much of the wealth that created today’s gardens. It has a proud maritime heritage too, an excellent reputation for its seafood and its dairy produce, and is fiercely Celtic! It is one of the Celtic Nations and you will see signs of this heritage throughout the county, most obviously in its place names.

Main image: Rhododendrons at Caerhays Castle

Prices

Per person, sharing

2,950 GBP | 4,130 USD | 3,245 EUR | 35.400 SEK

Prices, per person, sharing a double or twin room

Per person, single occupancy

3,300 GBP | 4,620 USD | 3,630 EUR | 39.600 SEK

Prices, per person, for the single occupancy of a double room

Prices, reservations & payments

Please read the Booking & Paying page and the comments in the additional tour information, below the tour itinerary.

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Itinerary

Scroll down to see Additional Tour Information – tour area map, hotels and dining etc

D1 Wednesday, 9 April

D2 Thursday, 10 April

D3 Friday, 11 April

Stourhead

Tim will collect you at 09.30 from the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, immediately north of Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport, and we’ll then drive southwest to Stourhead for lunch and a walk around these world-famous, eighteenth-century landscape gardens.

“A living work of art” is how one magazine described Stourhead when it first opened in the 1740s. It is a classical garden of its time and has, as its centrepiece, a magnificent lake designed to reflect the surrounding classical temples, mystical grottoes and other follies.

Stourhead is about halfway to The Alverton, our hotel, where we plan to arrive late in the afternoon, in good time to check in and relax, before dinner at the hotel. The Alverton, our home for the next five nights, is quietly located, a 5-minute walk from the centre of Truro, Cornwall's county town and only cathedral city.

Today's total driving is about 250 miles/400 km

Trewithen, Caerhays & Trelissick

Our first full day in Cornwall is spent exploring the ever-picturesque Roseland peninsula – all wooded valleys and sunken lanes one moment, and wide-open views the next. We start with a visit to Trewithen, an historic private estate, internationally renowned for its collection of magnolias and camellias and, more recently, its red squirrels! Lunch, and yet more magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons await us at nearby Caerhays, where, according to an old copy of The Good Gardens Guide “…its collection of camellias and rhododendrons to be amongst the finest and its magnolias to be unrivalled”.

From Caerhays we visit what Sir John Betjeman called “the most beautiful churchyard on earth” at St Just in Roseland, before crossing the Fal on the historic King Harry Ferry, to Trelissick, to take in the views of the Fal on the estate walk.

We return to The Alverton, freshen up and walk into Truro for dinner at Tabb's, one of our favourite restaurants.

Today's total driving is about 40 miles/65 km

Heligan & Eden

We start the day with a private introduction to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the world-famous gardens rediscovered in 1990. Lost to a blanket of brambles and weeds, Heligan's gardens were unseen since its gardeners marched to the trenches in 1914 – a story repeated across Britain. The story may have been very different had it not been for the chance discovery of a motto, etched into the limestone walls in barely legible pencil, “Don’t come here to sleep or slumber” with the names of those who worked there signed under the date – August 1914. Enough to pique the interest of those who set about Heligan’s rescue.

After lunch, in Heligan’s excellent café, we’ll spend the rest of the day at Eden Project, again, an internationally renowned project since its inception at the turn of the millennium.

We’ll end the day at Bedruthan Steps, a famous sightseeing spot on the north coast before returning to The Alverton for dinner.

Today's total driving is about 55 miles/90 km

D4 Saturday, 12 April

D5 Sunday, 13 April

Tremenheere Sculpture Garden & Chygurno

Our entire day is spent on the Land's End peninsula, Britain’s most southwesterly headland, firstly at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, one of a new breed of Cornish gardens, the work of one couple, first opening in 2012. The garden’s natural prospect, combined with some clever large-scale planting, provides the perfect backdrop to contemporary artwork by renowned artists, including pieces by the American artist James Turrell.

After lunch, at Tremenheere’s superb café, and after stopping for the obligatory photos of St Michael’s Mount, we continue west for a private visit to Chygurno, Carol and Robert Moule’s unique, 3-acre cliffside garden overlooking Lamorna Cove. Begun in 1998, with mainly southern-hemisphere shrubs and exotics, it is the nearest thing to vertical gardening we visit.

If time allows, we’ll stop for a brief visit to the Minack Theatre before continuing westward for photographs and a stroll at Cape Cornwall and thence to The Gurnard’s Head for supper.

Today's total driving is about 90 miles/145 km

Burncoose Nurseries, Trebah & ,,,

We start the day at Burncoose Nurseries, a superb and well-known nursery, owned by the Williams family of Caerhays Castle, for a walk around their nursery and the old garden.

And then to Trebah, one of our favourite gardens, a magnificent sub-tropical paradise, the cumulative result of almost 200 years of gardening. Charles Fox, a wealthy local businessman, bought the house and garden in 1838 and created a 26-acre pleasure garden. The Fox family were responsible for creating 6 gardens locally, stocking them with exotic plants, many of which were wholly unknown in Britain.

After lunch, at Trebah, we drive onto the Lizard Peninsula to visit Bonython, a relatively new garden we visited when it first opened, and it will be interesting to see how it is developing.

We return to The Alverton for dinner.

Today's driving is about 40 miles/65 km

Bath is one of Europe's most elegant towns.

Founded by the Celts, stolen by the Romans, made important by the Saxons and rediscovered by the Georgians, it is the perfect town to spend a free day. Bath is independent, creative, unique and stylish – and the only place in Britain where one can bathe in naturally hot spa water.

Named Aquae Sulis when the Romans built their baths in the Avon valley c. 60 AD, in 675 the Saxons founded a Convent, and Bath became a religious centre. In the 17th century claims were made for the therapeutic properties of the spring water, and Bath became the popular Georgian spa town of Jane Austen’s lifetime.

Bath became a World Heritage site in 1987.

D6 Monday, 14 April

D7 Tuesday, 15 April

D8 Wednesday, 16 April

Castle Drogo

We leave Cornwall for Bath, stopping for lunch and to visit Castle Drogo, reputedly the last castle to be built in England. More accurately, it is a country house built between 1911 and 1930 for the fabulously wealthy Julius Drewe, founder of the Home and Colonial Stores, designed by the equally successful society architect, Edwin Lutyens. Alas, its flat roof leaked from the outset and, now in the care of the National Trust, Castle Drogo has been undergoing a six-year conservation project to save the very fabric of the building and make it watertight. A task involving the removal of some 2,355 granite blocks weighing 680 tonnes, and removing, refurbishing and resealing each of the 913 windows!

Continuing our journey to Bath, we plan to arrive at our hotel, The Queensberry, late in the afternoon, in time to check in and enjoy an early evening stroll through the city, before dinner at The Circus Restaurant – a five-minute around the corner from our hotel.

Today's total driving is about 175 miles/280 km

Bath

You have the whole day, free to explore Bath, a fabulous city, bustling with tourists, students and shoppers alike – where Roman history, medieval heritage, stunning Georgian architecture, two universities and some of the finest shopping in southwest England all collide. It is a wealthy city, financially, historically and culturally.

There is much to see and do but, together with the local tourist information centre, we will assist you in planning your day. One suggestion is to start with a tour of the city, on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city – or a walking tour with Footprint Tours, before embarking on the likes of Bath Abbey, the Assembly Rooms, Georgian Bath and the Jane Austen Centre.

Alternatively, you may just want to relax, take it easy and watch the world go by, in which case we suggest you try a roof-top plunge at Bath's new Thermal Spa. Whatever you do, we will all meet at 3 o'clock for afternoon tea.

Later, we’ll gather for drinks and our end-of-tour dinner at The Olive Tree, The Queensberry's very own Michelin-starred restaurant.

Iford Manor

Our final visit of the tour is to nearby Iford Manor, home to the Cartwright-Hignett family since 1965, but with a rich history dating to Domesday Book. The garden is a unique example of classical and international design, largely created by the famous Edwardian architect and landscape designer Harold Peto when Iford was his home from 1899-1933. It is, in short, one of the finest and most enjoyable gardens we visit on this or any other of our tours.

After a light lunch in their newly-built café, we take our leave and, depending upon customers' travel plans, we will go either to Chippenham, for those of you wanting to take direct rail services into central London, or return directly to the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, where the tour ends.

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

Today's total driving is about 110 miles/175 km

Additional tour information

Tour area map

Sleeping & eating

We spend the first five nights of the tour in Truro, Cornwall’s county town and cathedral city, at The Alverton, a recently renovated comfortable hotel perfectly located for touring Cornwall, and our final two nights at The Queensberry, a stylish, though thoroughly laidback hotel, in the heart of Bath. We know both hotels well, having used The Alverton for over 12 years and The Queensberry for over ten.

The Queensberry is listed in The Good Hotel Guide, the independent guide to Britain's best hotels.

We dine in, at The Alverton, on three evenings and dine out on two evenings, once at Tabb's, where we have enjoyed Nigel’s superb cooking for over a dozen years, and at The Gurnard’s Head, a new establishment to us, but the sister of The Old Coastguard in Mousehole, which we know well. In Bath, we dine at The Circus, a wonderful restaurant which we discovered a few years ago and dine in, at the Olive Tree, for our end-of-tour dinner at the hotel's Michelin-starred, award-winning restaurant.

The Olive Tree is Bath’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, both The Alverton and Tabb’s have AA 2-Red Rosettes and both The Gurnard’s Head and The Circus are in the Good Food Guide.

Gardens & attractions

The great Cornish gardens, typified by their collections of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias, are the product of 19th-century plant hunting expeditions, and the wealthy owners who subscribed to them – those packets of seeds and parcels of cuttings are now the mature plants, and their offspring, we see today.

But Cornish gardeners have not stood still and, proud though they are of the county’s horticultural heritage, new gardens, of various styles, are being created for this and for future generations to enjoy.

Bedrooms & upgrades

Generally, we book standard rooms (however they are described) for the group, although these may vary from room to room in the hotel.

Single travellers
Single travellers will have their own room, typically a small double room or, very occasionally, a single-bedded room.

Upgrades
If you would like to upgrade your room, please look at the hotel’s website and then contact us with your request.

Rhododendrons at Lost Gardens of Heligan

Joining instructions

The meeting arrangements, as outlined in Day 1 of the itinerary, above, will be confirmed by email at least 12 weeks before the start of the tour.

NB. Where we specify a hotel as the meeting point, it is because of its location, the ease of access to it for the minibus and because it affords customers, whether staying at the hotel or not, a comfortable and secure place to wait.

It is not because we endorse the hotel.

Accuracy & faithfulness

We try to be as accurate as we can, when describing the tour, and as faithful to the itinerary as we can, when undertaking it, but changes do occur, either necessarily or unavoidably, and we ask for your understanding when this happens.

Useful links

Click here for some useful links to other websites, notably websites of our national and regional tourism, heritage, horticultural, cultural organisations, and travel and transport websites.

Please let us know if any website links are dysfunctional.

Acknowledgements

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of the many guide books and websites we use in planning our tours.

Thank you.

“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”

— Quote Source