English Summer Garden with Hampton Court Garden Festival –sorry this tour is now fully booked. If you would like to go on the waiting list, please email tours@sisley.co.uk
Sunday 4th July – Saturday 10th July 2021 (6 nights)
This spectacular high-season tour explores some of our very best English gardens and houses. We will enjoy extraordinary gardens in their full summer profusion, private tours, fascinating historic houses, attractive scenery and experience members-only day at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival – the largest of its kind in the world.
- Private tour of the Royal Garden at Highgrove
- A day at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival
- Visits to the iconic gardens of Great Dixter and Painswick Rococo Garden
- Pre-opening tour of Sissinghurst Castle
- Lunch at Barnsley House, the Rosemary Verey garden
- Exclusive lunch and garden tour at Gravetye Manor
- Beautiful Cotswolds scenery
- Tour of RHS Gardens at Wisley
Photo credits: Images copyright of Claire Takacs & Sisley Garden Tours.
After our morning pick-up at Heathrow Airport, we head north to the charming, 4-star King’s Head Hotel, in the heart of the historic market town of Cirencester. En-route we make a stop at the magnificent Waterperry Garden. Made famous by Beatrix Havergal who established her School of Horticulture for Ladies here from 1932 to 1971, Waterperry is now home to 8 acres of beautifully landscaped ornamental gardens. There is free time for lunch (independent). This evening join your tour director and travel companions for dinner at the hotel (included).
Monday 5th July
Today we begin with a drive through through the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to Painswick Rococo Garden. This rare Rococo survival has been sensitively restored based on a 1748 painting of the gardens. The ‘softened’ French style gardens were planted originally in 1735 and delight with a combination of formal geometric features and winding woodland paths, studded with quirky architectural features and follies. After, there is time in the village of Painswick for lunch (independent).
In the afternoon we visit the private garden of Trench Hill. We’ll meet the owners who will show us around their 3 acre garden, set in a small woodland with panoramic views. We conclude the day with a visit to Miserden Garden, a delightful Cotswolds garden designed in part by Edwin Lutyens, surrounding the beautiful Miserden House. Here we meet the owner who will give us an introduction to the estate, then there will be free time to explore. For dinner, we enjoy a private event in the ‘pop-up’ garden restaurant at Miserden (included).
Tuesday 6th July
Today we visit the Royal Gardens at Highgrove, home to HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. These gardens have been created by the Prince of Wales during his thirty years of ownership and are widely regarded as some of the most inspired and innovative gardens in the UK. After the guided gardens tour, we’ll enjoy lunch in the Orchard Restaurant (included). Please see the note below regarding Highgrove Gardens.
We return to Cirencester where the afternoon and evening is at leisure for you to enjoy this attractive market town with its many eateries, fascinating church and Roman heritage.
Wednesday 7th July
We wave good-bye to the Cotswolds and begin our journey south. Our destination is the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, the largest flower show in the world and a highlight every time this world-class show is on our itinerary. Explore magnificent floral displays, extraordinary show gardens, cookery demonstrations, a host of garden structures and artifacts, entertaining live music and gardening talks. If you need a quiet moment, step into the beautiful Hampton Court Palace gardens adjacent. Lunch is at leisure at the show (independent). Wednesday is a members-only day so the cost of the tour includes a year’s membership to the Royal Horticultural Society. In the afternoon, we check into our hotel, the 4-star Nutfield Priory. Dinner in the hotel is included.
Thursday 8th July
We make an early start to enjoy a private ‘pre-opening’ guided tour of Sissinghurst Castle, a romantic garden created around a slender brick-built castle tower – this is always one of our most enjoyed visits. Its designer Vita Sackville-West’s own words describe the garden: “Profusion, even extravagance and exuberance within the confines of the utmost linear severity”.
En route to our next garden, we enjoy lunch (included) in a traditional Kentish Pub. In the afternoon enjoy a guided tour of Great Dixter House and Garden, a cottage garden on a grand scale. In 1910 the English architect Edwin Lutyens restored the house and designed the gardens. The well-known gardening writer and lecturer Christopher Lloyd who further developed the garden until his passing in 2006, liked to tease the followers of garden fashion with bold experimentation. The gardens are now superbly curated by internationally renowned gardener, Fergus Garrett. We return to the hotel. Dinner in the hotel is included.
Friday 9th July
This morning we enjoy a visit to Nymans Garden, one of the most fashionable and romantic gardens of the Edwardian and interwar years, and the creation of the Messel family. The house was devastated by fire, leaving just a romantic ruin to dominate the garden. There is time to wander and explore the house and gardens.
We then head to Gravetye Manor, the spectacular home of William Robinson, author, botanist and gardener. Gravetye is considered to be amongst the most influential in English gardening history. Robinson’s ideas about naturalised plantings, allowing nature to flow into the garden were ground breaking. The house is now a boutique hotel. We are treated to lunch in the hotel restaurant (included), followed by a guided tour of the gardens with the Head Gardener. We return to our hotel for a light supper (included).
Saturday 10th July
For our final visit of the tour, we go to RHS Wisley, the home of the Royal Horticultural Society. Full of ideas and information, the garden delights and inspires in any season of the year. We enjoy a guided tour so you’ll be sure to see the very best of these impressive gardens. The shop offers a large collection of books on gardening and all sorts of garden-related gifts. We stay for lunch (independent) at Wisley.
We will make one drop off at the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel and one at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3. From here, you can take the Heathrow Express train into central London (Paddington Station) or use the free inter-terminal transport to reach another terminal. We can advise on departure planning.
Please read our Tour Joining and Departure Arrangements information sheet here or to download a printable version of this itinerary, please click here.
Notes:
- This tour includes one year’s individual membership of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
- The Royal Garden at Highgrove: In February each year, the Prince of Wales’ office at Highgrove releases dates on which pre-booked visits to the gardens will be available for the period April – October. Dates are limited and dependent on the Prince’s diary. It is therefore not possible to guarantee tickets to Highgrove before these dates are released. Our itinerary may be re-ordered to accommodate the visit to Highgrove or an alternative garden will be included should tickets not be available.
Our Hotels
Our hotels are 4-star and selected for their high standards of comfort and service. All rooms are ensuite and offer free wifi access.
King’s Head Hotel, Cirencester (3 nights)
The Kings Head Hotel is an elegant boutique hotel with 45 stylish bedrooms, located in the heart of Cotswolds in the historic market town of Cirencester. The exact age of the Kings Head is not known, but it was certainly in existence as a coaching inn in the middle of the 14th century. The Kings Head is listed as a building of special architectural and historical interest with strong links to the English Civil War. Happily, today it is a haven of peace and comfort.
Nutfield Priory, Redhill (3 nights)
Nutfield Priory is a 4-star country house hotel and spa inspired by the Neo-Gothic splendour of the Palace of Westminster.This unique Victorian mansion house in Surrey, which dates back to 1872, delights with its stylish interiors hung with fine paintings, unique artwork and many original features. The hotel is set in 12 acres of private grounds and has a lovely English garden and fully equipped health club including indoor pool, squash courts, gym and spa.
| Tour cost per person (sharing twin or double room) | Single Supplement (for single occupancy of a double room) |
| £3,500 (GBP) | £500 (GBP) |
PRICES INCLUDE: Accommodation at 4-star hotels with en-suite facilities based on twin/double room share; buffet breakfast daily; 3 lunches and 5 dinners; admissions to gardens and RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival on members-only day; one year’s membership to the RHS; deluxe coach travel with professional driver; guided tours as described in an information pack provided at the start of the tour; services of your Sisley tour director throughout; all tour gratuities; arrival transfers are included only if you are joining the tour at Heathrow Airport on the first morning of the tour.
PRICES EXCLUDE: Airfares; passport and/or visa fees; beverages; laundry; telephone calls; lunches and dinners (except where included in the itinerary); souvenirs and items of a personal nature.
EXCHANGE RATE INFORMATION: You can get an idea of the cost of the tour in your local currency by using a currency converter. Conversion rates are based on institutional or inter-bank daily rates. Retail conversation rates include fees and will generally differ from these rates.
We are delighted that you have decided to join us. It is straightforward to book places on our tours.
Firstly, please complete our booking form (link below). The booking form will ask you to indicate how you would like to book the tour from the following options:
- In $USD by check or credit card with our appointed travel agent in the USA, Worldwide Traveler
- In your local currency through your own travel agent. The booking form asks for their contact details so that we can contact them to progress your booking
- In £GBP by credit card via Paypal or by direct bank transfer directly with Sisley Garden Tours
Once we have received your booking form, we will confirm that places are available and ask you (or your preferred travel agent) for a 10% deposit to secure your booking. Tour balance payment is due 90 days prior to the tour.
BOOK NOWWe very much look forward to welcoming you, but please email tours@sisley.co.uk if you have any queries.
