The above Trip is SOLD OUT
Dates and Pricing for the 2025 Group Travel have yet to be determined but they will be similar to what is shown below. Contact Jana Wagner at, wagnerjana60@gmail.com or call her at 847-940-9208 for more details. Act now since the trip will fill up fast.
Nowhere in the world is the passion for horticulture expressed more vividly than in Britain, where gardens have served as inspiration for painters, writers and poets for centuries. From great country estates to miniscule inner-city gardens, the British use their exceptionally long growing season to its fullest advantage, and we’ve timed your visit to bring you the best of English gardens.
This is your invitation to see some of England’s most famous gardens at a time of year when color runs rampant. You will visit the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden at Wisley.. Kiftsgate and Hidcote Manor. Royal schedules permitting, you will also take a private tour of King Charles’ estate at Highgrove. You’ll explore Christopher Lloyd’s gardens at Great Dixter, that offer innovative ideas set against a backdrop of topiary, mixed borders and natural ponds. Additional highlights include time in the Georgian city of Bath, and visits to many other magnificent gardens, including Sissinghurst, Iford Manor and Stourhead.
Back in London, you will have a full day at the Chelsea Flower Show. Your tour includes membership in the Royal Horticultural Society so that you may attend the show on members-only day when the crowds are smaller than on the public days. There will also be free time in London to explore famous sights, museums and galleries, from the Tate to the tiny Museum of Garden History.
Come along with other garden lovers for a stroll through the most impressive English gardens. This trip is a quintessential celebration of springtime.
Day One, Tuesday, May 14:
Depart on an overnight flight from your chosen US gateway city to the London Heathrow Airport. Note: you will arrive in London on Wednesday, May 15.
Day Two, Wednesday, May 15:
Upon arrival at London’s Heathrow Airport, you will be met for the transfer to your hotel in Windsor for a single-night stay. Depending upon your arrival time, you may not be able to check into your rooms, however the hotel will store your luggage.
Join your guide on an excursion to nearby Savill Garden, created by Sir Eric Savill in the 1930s, in Windsor Great Park.
Regroup this evening for a welcome dinner served at the hotel.
Day Three, Thursday, May 16:
Start your day with an included breakfast served in the hotel. This morningm you head for the hills— the Cotswold Hills. Your first stop of the day will be Iford Manor, home of the Peto Garden. Iford was rated among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland," by Condé Nast Traveler in 2020, with the manor taking "center stage.” The origins of the present house are as early as the late 15th century or the early 16th.
Iford is best known for its beautiful gardens, which are designated Grade I in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England. They were designed during the early part of the 20th century by the garden architect, Harold Peto. He lived at Iford from 1899 until his death in 1933, during which time he built up an extensive collection of antiquities and artifacts, brought back from his travels abroad. His great love of the Italian garden style is plainly evident at Iford, where flowers occupy a subordinate place amongst the more structural elements of cypress, statuary, hedges, water features and broad walks.
Depart Iford and travel to the city of Bath, where you will visit the Roman Baths, perhaps the best-preserved Roman remains in Britain. Before you leave Bath, there will be time for lunch on your own.
Continue on to the village of Stourton, where you’ll walk around the magnificent Stourhead Gardens, that surround a series of peaceful lakes in the middle of a 2,650-acre estate nestled among rolling hills. The property is the site of one of the most famous gardens in the English landscape garden style, farmland and woodland.
The gardens were designed by Henry Hoare II and laid out between 1741 and 1780 in a classical 18th-century design set around a large lake, achieved by damming a small stream. The inspiration behind their creation were the painters Claude Lorrain, Poussin, and, in particular, Gaspard Dughet, who painted Utopian-type views of Italian landscapes.
Monuments are used to frame one another; for example the Pantheon entices the visitor over, but once reached, views from the opposite shore of the lake beckon. The use of the sunken path allows the landscape to continue on into neighboring landscapes, allowing the viewer to contemplate the surrounding panorama. The Pantheon was thought to be the most important visual feature of the gardens. It appears in many pieces of artwork owned by Hoare. The plantings in the garden were arranged in a manner that would evoke different moods, drawing visitors through realms of thought. According to Henry Hoare, 'The greens should be ranged together in large masses as the shades are in painting: To contrast the dark masses with the light ones, and to relieve each dark mass itself with little sprinklings of lighter greens here and there.”
Travel just a short distance to your hotel. There will be time to unpack and relax before an included dinner.
Day Four, Friday, May 17:
After breakfast your first visit to Pettifers Garden*. Pettifers has taken some 15 years to create, but continues to evolve, and has a peaceful feeling that comes with the extraordinary views over the landscape. Now mature, this is a plantsman’s garden with plenty of interest all year round.
Continue through the east Cotswolds to the village of Whichford, where you visit the Whichford Pottery. This family business has been making garden pottery for 40 years, and is licensed by the RHS to provide a special series of commemorative flower pots and planters.
After a break for lunch on your own, you’ll visit Rousham. This landscape garden is a place of pilgrimage for students of the work of William Kent (1685-1748). Rousham represents the first phase of English landscape design and remains almost as Kent left it, one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration.
Return to your hotel and gather for an included dinner served at a local pub.
Day Five, Saturday, May 18:
Enjoy a leisurely start this morning with a beautiful drive through the Cotswolds’ quintessentially English landscape of honey-colored villages and green meadows.
After an included lunch in a nearby country pub, you’ll visit the Hidcote Manor garden, England’s foremost 20th-century garden. Here you will witness a series of horticultural “rooms” that have been created, each different in color, character and intention. Hidcote is one of the best-known and most influential Arts and Crafts gardens in Britain.
Next, you’ll visit the beautiful Kiftsgate Court gardens. The gardens, famed for its roses, are the creation of three generations of women gardeners. They were started by Heather Muir in the 1920s, continued by Diany Binny until 1950 and now looked after by Anne Chambers and her husband. Heather Muir was a pioneer in the rediscovery of shrub roses, including the celebrated rambling Rosa filipes “Kiftsgate.” It is claimed that the Rosa filipes “Kiftsgate” is the largest rose in Britain, measuring 80 feet x 90 feet x 50 feet high. Kiftsgate first became well known to the gardening public after Graham Stuart Thomas's article in the Royal Horticultural Society Journal, May 1951, in which the great plantsman observed, "I regard this as the finest piece of skilled color work that it has been my pleasure to see.”
Once back at the hotel, the evening is on your own to dine at a local pub.
Day Six, Sunday, May 19:
Following an included breakfast served in the hotel, prepare yourself for a real treat. Board the coach and travel a short distance to Barnsley House. Here you will spend the morning at Rosemary Verey’s personal garden where you will have a tour led by the head gardener. You’ll have an opportunity to see how the ideas and designs from her many books and articles are reflected everywhere in this glorious space.
After your visit, gather for an included lunch at the Village Pub.
After lunch, you will visit Highgrove House, HRH King Charles’ private estate. The gardens at Highgrove have been open to the public since 1996. The gardens of the late 18th century home were over grown and untended when Charles first moved in but have since flourished and now include rare trees, flowers and heirloom seeds. Current organic gardening techniques have allowed the gardens to serve also as a sustainable habitat for birds and wildlife.
The gardens were designed by King Charles III in consultation with highly regarded gardeners like Rosemary Verey and noted naturalist, Miriam Rothschild. The gardens receive more than 30,000 visitors a year. The house and gardens are run according to the King’s environmental principles and have been the subject of several books and television programs. Your visit includes a private tour. (Visit is subject to the Royal schedules. In the event that Highgrove becomes unavailable, another landmark destination will be added.)
Depart the gardens late afternoon and travel back to the hotel. There will be time at your leisure to visit the shops and explore the charming village. Dinner is on your own . Your tour guide will offer suggestions for places to eat.
Day Seven, Monday, May 20:
Check out of your rooms after breakfast and say goodbye to the Cotswolds. On your way to London, you will stop at the 240-acre flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley. Wisley is the second most visited paid entry garden in the United Kingdom. It is the jewel in the crown of the RHS and has been a living encyclopedia for gardeners for the past 100 years. In addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes small scale "model gardens" which are intended to show visitors what they can achieve in their own gardens. There is also a trials field where new cultivars are assessed.
There will be time for lunch on your own followed by a tour the garden’s highlights led by one of the local gardeners. You will also have free time to browse the charming Wisley store.
Depart Wisley and travel on to London where you will arrive at your hotel for a three-night stay. There will be time to explore the area around the hotel and to relax and refresh. Gather for an included dinner served in the hotel’s lovely restaurant.
Day Eight, Tuesday, May 21:
After breakfast in the hotel, head out to Great Dixter House and Gardens. Upon arrival, you will have a tour of the garden of Christopher Lloyd, who devoted his life to developing one of the most exciting and experimental gardens of our time. His gardens incorporate medieval buildings, yew topiary and a tapestry of mixed borders, including the famous Long Border.
After a stop for lunch on your own, you’re off to Sissinghurst. Sissinghurst was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her husband, Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. She and Nicolson transformed a farmstead of "squalor and slovenly disorder" into one of the world's most influential gardens. They created 10 gardens spread over a 6-acre area. Harold, a classicist, utilized the walls and buildings that were already in place, while Vita devised the inspired planting schemes, grouping plants according to color, texture and season. It is among the most famous gardens in England.
Once back at the hotel, the evening is free for you to dine at one of the city’s many fine restaurants.
Day Nine, Wednesday, May 22:
Start your day with an included breakfast served in the hotel. Today is your day to visit Britain’s most famous spring garden event, the Chelsea Flower Show. Your included membership in the Royal Horticultural Society, allows you to attend the show on the less-crowded members-only day.
The show gardens, each an exquisite jewel of design and execution, are designed by the finest international horticulturists. Spend as much time as you choose among the inspiring exhibits.
During your visit, have lunch on your own at one of the restaurants, cafes or food courts positioned around the show.
After a full day of exploring the exhibits at your leisure, make your way back to the hotel to relax and refresh. As an option, you may wish to visit some of the nearby attractions.
Regroup this evening for an included farewell dinner served at the hotel.
Day Ten, Thursday, May 23:
Check out of your rooms after breakfast in the hotel. Board your included morning transfer to the London Heathrow Airport for return flights to the USA departing after 2:00 pm.
Your Package Includes:
Note: Airfare is not included in the prices below.
Pricing information:
Featured will be unusual and beautiful garden elements at five different locations. If you have a garden to showcase as part of this Lincolnshire Garden Club fundraiser, please contact Jana Wagner at wagnerjana60@gmail.com or call her at 847-940-9208. Watch for ticket info in the near future.
Over 250 perennials and annuals, including more than 50 varieties, will be available at 28 Fox Trail in Lincolnshire from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.
Funds raised allow the Lincolnshire Garden Club to continue its tradition of providing grants to community organizations and scholarships that support our goals of education, beautification and nature restoration. Since inception, the Lincolnshire Garden Club has donated over a quarter of a million dollars to support our community.