D1 Wednesday, 9 July

Wallington

Tim will meet you at the Hampton by Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh Airport, at about 9.30 am from where we’ll drive south to Wallington, the much-loved home to generations of the unconventional Trevelyan family. Traditionally a Liberal family, Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan joined the Labour Party, an unusual move for a titled member of the gentry, and served in the first two Labour administrations of Ramsay MacDonald (Britain’s first Labour Prime Minister). Sir Charles gave Wallington to the National Trust in 1942, allowing us to enjoy the house and all its attendant treasures, its wonderful gardens, especially the East Wood, with its red squirrels, and the hidden walled garden nestled in the woods.

We’ll have lunch and the middle part of the day at Wallington, exploring the house and its gardens before continuing our journey south to The Pheasant Inn, our home for the next four nights. Set in the lovely village of Harome, we will arrive in good time to check in, relax and enjoy drinks and dinner at the hotel.

Today’s driving is approx. 200 miles/320 km

D2 Thursday, 10 July

Helmsley, Duncombe & Rievaulx

We have stayed at The Pheasant for the better part of twenty years and, in all that time, we’ve driven blithely through Helmsley, Harome’s neighbouring market town, never once stopping to enjoy its riches.

Today we atone for our indifference. We’ll spend the day visiting Helmsley Walled Garden, originally built to provide fruit and vegetables to Duncombe Park. Today, thanks to the vision of a local practice nurse, it is a community garden maintained by a dedicated band of volunteers. Next door is Helmsley Castle, a once mighty medieval fortress, where we’ll have a brief visit before lunch in, and an exploration of, Hemlsley itself.

After lunch, we’ll visit Duncombe Park, the seat of the Duncombe family who have held the estate since 1694, before a final, late-afternoon visit to Rievaulx Abbey. Founded in 1132, Rievaulx was the first Cistercian abbey in the north of England and quickly became one of the most powerful monasteries in Britain. Dissolved in 1538 it had, at its peak, been a community of some 650 monks.

Michelin-starred dinner at The Star Inn.

Today’s driving is approx. 30 miles/50 km

D3 Friday, 11 July

Castle Howard, Scampston & the Moors

We start the day at nearby Castle Howard, a fabulous house, forever linked with Brideshead Revisited. It is, and has been, the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for over 300 years. Designed by Sir John Vanbrugh (of Blenheim Palace fame), work began in 1699, but took over 100 years to complete! We will have plenty of time to explore the house, walk through the parkland and enjoy its wonderful walled garden.

After lunch, at Castle Howard, we’ll head east to visit Scampston Walled Garden, a contemporary garden designed by the renowned Dutch plantsman, Piet Oudolf, set within the 18th-century walls of the original kitchen garden. Derelict for nearly fifty years, the design for the walled garden was conceived in 1999 and opened to the public, to much critical acclaim, in 2005.

From Scampston we cross the North York Moors, for a scenic drive to Whitby, a wonderful harbour town, the birthplace of Capt James Cook, Dracula and a set date for Easter, set in 644 at the Synod of Whitby!

Fantastic Fish & Chips at the Magpie Cafe.

Today’s driving is approx. 100 miles/160 km

D4 Saturday, 12 July

Fountains Abbey, Studley Royal & Newby Hall

We start at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, a combination of the hauntingly beautiful ruins of Fountains Abbey, a magnificent 12th-century Cistercian abbey, and Studley Royal, one of Britain's finest landscaped water gardens, itself a landscape of lakes, formal canals, water features and sweeping lawns. The whole is unique, historically important and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After lunch, at Fountains, we stop in neighbouring Ripon, for a brief visit to the Saturday Market, then continue to Newby Hall for the rest of the afternoon. Designed by Christopher Wren, architect of St Paul's Cathedral, Newby Hall is a handsome William & Mary house surrounded by 25 acres of stunning gardens. Largely created in the early 1920s, the gardens comprise several individual and distinct gardens, sitting either side of its famous double herbaceous border which, at 172m in length, is one of the longest in the country.

We return to The Pheasant for dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 75 miles/120 km

D5 Sunday, 13 July

Parceval Hall & the Yorkshire Dales

We leave Harome, cross the Vale of York and spend the day in the Yorkshire Dales, an iconic landscape largely of upland pasture grazed by sheep and cattle – and an estimated 5,000 miles/8,000 km of dry-stone walls! We’ll stop for coffee and stretch our legs in Leyburn, a lovely market town sitting above the River Ure in lower Wensleydale, before driving through pretty Dales villages for a picnic lunch in Grassington. You may have seen Grassington, it is where the most recent rendition of All Creatures Great & Small was filmed, it’s where the world watched the start of the 2014 Tour de France and is the setting for the film Calendar Girls!

After lunch we’ll visit Parceval Hall, a once-derelict 16th-century shell of a house, rebuilt in 1927 by Sir William Milner (1893-1960). He made Parcevall Hall his home and designed the ‘Arts & Crafts’ garden, with its stunning views across Wharfedale and its broad terraces cut across the steep slope of the hillside. We leave the Pennines for Harrogate, a Victorian Spa Town, and West Park Hotel, our home for the final three nights of the tour, where we will arrive in good time to check in, relax and enjoy drinks and dinner at the hotel.

Today’s driving is approx. 120 miles/190 km

D6 Monday, 14 July

Harlow, Harewood & Harrogate

Our day starts at RHS Garden Harlow Carr. Sitting on the outskirts of Harrogate, Harlow Carr was formerly the home of the Northern Horticultural Society but since its merger, in 2001, with the RHS, it is now one of the family of five RHS gardens. With some justification, it has long been regarded as the 'Wisley of the North'. It is an extensive and superbly maintained garden, with some exceptional features. It also boasts a branch of Bettys Tea Rooms and that, alone, is worth the visit.

After lunch, at Harlow Carr, we visit Harewood House, an Adam-designed 18th-century house built for Edwin Lascelles, a wealthy West Indian plantation and slave owner. The 100 acres of gardens include the Terrace, the Lakeside Garden, the Himalayan Garden and the Walled Garden, and they are all set within a 1,000-acre landscape, designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown.

We’ll leave Harewood in the late afternoon and return to Harrogate, for a couple of hours exploring this lovely former spa town.

Gastro-pub dinner in Harrogate at The Fat Badger. 

Today’s driving is approx. 25 miles/40 km

D7 Tuesday, 15 July

A free day in York

Harrogate Railway Station is a ten-minute walk from our hotel and we will take the 09:34 train into York, where we’ll spend the day exploring this great, historic city.

We will assist you in the planning of your day, and ensure that you have everything you need to get the best out of it but otherwise, the day is yours – that said, for those who wish to, we will organise a private guided tour of York Minister to start the day.

We particularly recommend taking a walking tour, to orientate yourself, with our friends at Footprint Tours, or a hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus tour.

Of the many attractions in York, the National Railway Museum and Jorvik, a journey into Viking York, are probably the most popular and equally well worth it.

Whatever we do, we will meet back at the railway station for a late afternoon train back to Harrogate and an end-of-tour dinner at our hotel.

D8 Wednesday, 16 July

The Alnwick Garden

We return to Edinburgh Airport, pausing our journey at The Alnwick Garden, a millennium project driven by the Duchess of Northumberland who, with her husband and family, lives next door at Alnwick Castle.

The garden occupies the castle’s former 12-acre/5 ha 18th-century kitchen garden, which, like so many other walled kitchen gardens, had become derelict.

Today it’s an award-winning and important regional attraction, home to the world’s largest Tai Haku Cherry Orchard, a Rose garden, a Poison garden, a Grand Cascade with 120 water jets, and the world’s largest Treehouse Restaurant!

From Alnwick, we return to the Hampton by Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh Airport, where the tour ends. If you are staying in the UK and don't need, or don’t wish, to return to Edinburgh Airport, please let us know your onward travel plans, so that we may assist you in getting to your next destination.

Today’s driving is approx. 265 miles/425 km