Great Gardens

Welcome to the Great Gardens of Southern England…

This 10-day tour takes us across the South of England, from Somerset in the west to Kent in the east, across chalk plains and rolling downs, along the routes of ancient trackways and Roman roads…

To say that we visit some of England’s finest gardens is something of an understatement – not only are these gardens some of the very finest gardens in Southern England, but many of them are internationally important or historically significant, or both.

We take pride in where we stay and what we eat, and this tour is no exception. Three charming, comfortable and independently, family-run hotels, all with excellent kitchens producing wonderful food.

It will be a brilliant tour.

D1 Friday, 1 May

The Savill Garden & The Manor House

The tour starts from the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, where Tim will meet you at 10 am and, once we’re loaded, we’ll set off to The Savill Garden, nearby in Windsor Great Park. At this time of the year we’ll be treated to collections of azaleas, magnolias and exotic blooms.

After lunch, at the visitor centre, we visit The Manor House at Upton Grey. Gertrude Jekyll designed this garden in 1908 and John & Rosamund Wallinger, who bought the property in 1984 and who, by their own admission, had little idea of gardening, have restored it – and restored it magnificently (see here for their story).

From Upton Grey, we make our way southwest to Oborne, to the Grange at Oborne, our home for the next three nights, where we will arrive in good time to settle in before drinks and dinner.

Today's driving is about 150 miles/240 km

D2 Saturday, 2 May

Stourhead & Hestercombe

We start the day at Stourhead, to visit this world-famous, eighteenth-century landscape garden. When it first opened in the 1740s, one magazine described Stourhead as “A living work of art”. 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.

We’ll have lunch at Stourhead before driving west for the afternoon at Hestercombe to explore three centuries of garden history, from the Lutyens and Jekyll Arts & Crafts gardens to the earlier, Georgian pleasure grounds.

We’ll return to Oborne via dinner at The Barrington Boar.

Today's driving is about 110 miles/175 km

D3 Sunday, 3 May

Forde Abbey & NGS

Our day starts at Forde Abbey, a former 12th-century Cistercian Abbey surrounded by wonderful gardens. The buildings still retain their original kitchens, refectories and the chapter house. Unusual aspects of the Kennard family home, who continue to garden as the monks once used to.

As we frequently do on a spring Sunday afternoon, we’ll find an NGS garden to visit or, failing that, we might explore one of the many local Castles and Iron Age Hill Forts.

Whatever we do, we’ll return to our hotel for dinner.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km

D4 Monday, 4 May

Sherborne Abbey & Mottisfont

We will visit neighbouring Sherborne, one of the most beautiful towns in England, to visit the Abbey and explore the town, before we commence our journey to Sussex.

We’ll break the journey in Hampshire, for lunch and the early afternoon at Mottisfont to visit its walled garden, home to the National Collection of Pre-1900 Shrub Roses, a few of which will be coming into bloom.

We continue our journey to Midhurst and our next hotel, The Spread Eagle, where we’ll arrive in good time to relax before drinks and dinner.

Today's driving is about 120 miles/190 km

D5 Tuesday, 5 May

Arundel Castle & Petworth House

We start the day at Arundel Castle, the family home of the Duke of Norfolk and one of the largest inhabited castles in England, where we’ll have time to explore the castle, its magnificent gardens and the town too.

No less grand is Petworth House, an extraordinary 17th-century house where we’ll spend the afternoon admiring its important art collection, including works by Van Dyck, Turner and Gainsborough and enjoying the delights of its 18th-century garden, laid out by ‘Capability’ Brown.

We’ll have dinner is on the way home at The Merry Harriers.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km

D6 Wednesday, 6 May

Midhurst & Parham House

Our day starts on our doorstep, with the morning enjoying the delights of Midhurst, an historic market town with a wealth of independent shops, or a morning relaxing in the hotel’s modern spa or, if you fancy it, a longer walk onto the South Downs – all accessible from the hotel.

In the afternoon we’ll visit Parham House, for a guided tour of the house and a thorough exploration of its seven-acre, 18th-century Pleasure Grounds. The house is Elizabethan, its foundation stone laid in 1577, and had been largely derilict until the present owner’s great-grandparents bought the place in 1922 and restored the house.

We return to our hotel for a relaxing evening and dinner.

Today's driving is about 40 miles/65 km

D7 Thursday, 7 May

Nymans & Sheffield Park

We leave Midhurst and continue our progress eastward, stopping at Nymans to enjoy these wonderful gardens, with their collections of rare and unusual plants and far-reaching views across the Sussex Weald. After lunch, at Nymans, we’ll visit Sheffield Park, a Grade I listed garden, with influences of 'Capability' Brown and Humphry Repton. It is a delightful garden, especially at this time of the year, when its lakes are surrounded by blooming Rhododendrons.

We leave Sheffield Park and drive to the medieval hilltop town of Rye, for our final three nights at the historic Mermaid Inn where we’ll arrive in good time to settle in before drinks and dinner.

Today's driving is about 90 miles/145 km

D8 Friday, 8 May

Pashley Manor & Great Dixter

The day starts with a scenic, circuitous drive across Romney Marsh for the morning at Pashley Manor, a handsome garden, surrounding a most delightful mid-sixteenth-century half-timbered house. It is one of our customers’ favourite gardens, and rightly so.

We’ll have lunch at Pashley and then visit Great Dixter, the late Christopher Lloyd’s famous garden, now in the trusted hands of Fergus Garrett. It is every bit as good as they say it is, and then some!

Picking up on our earlier scenic drive, we’ll continue it, westward, onto the High Weald for glorious views across the coast, perhaps stopping at Battle, where the invading Normans defeated the Saxons, before dinner at The Plough, on our way home.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km

D9 Saturday, 9 May

Sissinghurst & Old Bladbean Stud

Our penultimate day is spent, firstly, at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, a garden created in the 1930s, by husband-and-wife team Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West. These gardens have stood the test of time and are famous the world over.

We will have lunch at Sissinghurst before our second visit, to Old Bladbean Stud, a new garden to us, where we’ll enjoy a private guided tour of the garden by its owner.

From Old Bladbean Stud we’ll return to Rye early, so that you’ll have an hour or two to explore this extraordinary hilltop town before drinks and our end-of-tour dinner at the Mermaid Inn.

Today's total driving is about 60 miles/95 km

D10 Sunday, 10 May

RHS Garden, Wisley

Our final visit of the tour is, fittingly, one of the most exciting gardens in Britain today. It is, of course, the headquarters of the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Garden, Wisley, a Mecca of British gardening.

We will have plenty of time to explore these internationally renowned gardens before we return to the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, where the tour ends.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km