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The Garden of England: The Gardens of Kent and Sussex
3 days, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday
The county of Kent is known as 'The Garden of England' and this tour is designed as a brief introduction, to show you a range from the iconic to the small cottages and allotments. There are flower-filled gardens, formal and informal, large and small, planned and wild, all bursting into riots of color and overloading the senses with fragrant smells and sights.
In addition to gardens and the marvelously scenic countryside, dotted with oast houses and sometimes lavender fields, this region offers opulent stately homes, historic castles and a rich history dating from the time England began.
Going beyond the usual tourist route, we will introduce you to some local treasures as well as the major sites. Your multi-talented driver/guide will fill in each touring day as time will permit, with visits to some little local gems, participants in the National Gardens Scheme – Gardens open for Charity. This delightful tour is sure to please everyone, avid gardeners and beginners alike!
Available at any date for private groups of 2 – 15 people, subject to availability. Rates are based upon vehicle and guide hire per day; groups of 7 - 15 would have a per person rate same/similar to one of our scheduled tours of the same length.
Price: dependent upon how many are in your party; please contact us for a quote. Contact us for availability and rate quote: specialgrouptours@yahoo.com
Please note, this is a suggested itinerary. It may be revised to suit your individual group needs.
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
Day 1, Monday
We begin our gardens adventure with a garden that requires no introduction – the RHS Wisley is known the world over, and with good reason! We will spend ample time here, exploring the rock garden, alpine garden, wild garden, formal rose courtyards and all that this wonderful place has to offer.
Ightham Mote is deservedly one of the most popular small gardens in the region. Here you can explore 650 years of history in the most complete examples of a mediaeval moated manor house.
Our night stop location for these two nights is in a lovely Kentish village.
NIGHT STOP: Sevenoaks or Cranbrook
Day 2, Tuesday
Today, the fabulous Sissinghurst, Vita Sackville-West and Sir Harold Nicholson's world famous garden. You'll have plenty of time to explore this intimate and intricate garden and to visit those parts of her home open to the public. Here, we’ll find a Tudor tower complete with Vita’s workshop, a walled herb garden, mixed border gardens, an oast house museum, a white garden and a cottage garden. Certainly something to delight all interests!
Another iconic garden and house is that of Great Dixter. This is the largest half-timbered house in England but it's the garden that really grabs the attention with it topiary, wild meadows and famed Long Border. It is yet another attraction that cannot be missed.
NIGHT STOP: as above, Sevenoaks or Cranbrook
Day 3, Wednesday
This morning, a lovely local garden will begin our day.
Our ‘big ticket’ stop will be Leonardslee, a 200 acre spectacular featuring 7 lakes, a sculpture garden, ample wildlife and what’s been called “the most stunning rhododendrons and azaleas in the world.”
This afternoon, we will make our way back into London where you will be dropped off at your hotel.
Please note: All garden opening times are correct at time of printing this website.
To comply with the opening hours at the mentioned popular gardens, we recommend to stay with the described days of operation. Gardens can be substituted for travel on different operating days, as appropriate. While we will do our utmost to include all of the properties mentioned as central visits, we reserve the right to change an attraction should it become impossible to deliver a planned visit due to changes in opening days or times that we could not have been aware of at the time of loading this tour to our website.
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