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Old 01-07-2013, 11:02 AM
HolidayGardener HolidayGardener is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Oct 2009
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Default Special Offer Garden Tours from Beautiful Garden Holidays

Kent and Sussex - The Gardens of - 16th August 3 Nights from £ 365.00 now £315
Kent and Sussex are home to some of the finest gardens in the country and well deserve a tour of their own to be enjoyed to the full. Even if you have visited some of these properties before, such is their allure that you can return again and again, just as you would re-read your favourite novel. First-time visitors will be bowled over by the sheer quality and pedigree of these gardens, which epitomise that indefinable but much-imitated essence of the English country garden.


We start with Lullingstone Castle, home to the innovative World Garden of Plants, followed by Great Comp, a plantsman’s delight filled with rare and beautiful shrubs. Nymans Garden offers an outstanding collection of plants in a theatrical setting and is twinned with Bedgebury National Pinetum, the premier outdoor site in the South East. A mouth-watering double-bill follows as we visit stunning Sissinghurst, surely the most-copied flower garden in the world, and Great Dixter, where Edwin Lutyen’s original design was embellished by the late Christopher Lloyd. The spectacular gardens of Hever Castle complete a heavenly tour.

We will be based on the outskirts of Sevenoaks at the Best Western Donnington Manor Hotel, a 15th century extended manor house with leisure facilities.

London’s Secret Gardens - NGS 9th July - 2 Nightsfrom £ 295.00 now £245
Penny Snell, the County Organiser for London, has helped us pick out some super private gardens here, which are not normally open to the public. Often hidden behind unassuming suburban houses, these gardens provide havens of colour and reflect the pride and dedication of their owners.

Penny’s own romantic garden of Moleshill features informal planting contrasted with formal topiary box and garlanded cisterns, as well as a colourful courtyard with pots, a conservatory, fountains and a bog garden. In Alexandra Drive we find a quirky garden with a host of interesting features, including a giant’s head hidden behind a screen of bamboo, while in Hook Road there is a contemporary flower garden owned by a garden photographer, featuring a colour-themed herbaceous border, a fernery, a pond and a rose tunnel. Our garden in Sibella Road features a formal garden with a lily pool and potager, and in Turret Grove we discover a perfect example of what can be done with a small space by disregarding the rule book. A visit to the excellent Garden Museum, which covers 400 years of British gardening history, completes a capital tour.


Monet’s Garden and the Orangerie Museum by Eurostar 19th July - 3 Nights from £ 635.00 now £585
Just across the channel in northern France are to be found some of the most beautiful gardens in all of Europe, with those at Giverny continuing to give as much pleasure and inspiration today as they did to their creator, Claude Monet. The lovingly restored gardens give a vivid impression of Monet's favorite subjects. The gardens are filled with poppies, lupins, delphiniums and peonies, and throughout the year the atmosphere is of abundant colour and luxuriant growth. Arched bridges, painted an acid apple green, are festooned with wisteria and the draped fronds of weeping willow frame the water lilies - Monet's paintings brought unnervingly to life.

The perfect complement to Giverny is the Orangerie Museum in Paris, which has just re-opened after an extensive renovation. The centerpiece of this outstanding collection is Monet’s breathtaking series of murals, Les Nymphéas. Housed in two vast elliptical rooms, the 2-metre high murals extend to almost 200m in length and provide a moving and unforgettable testament to the genius of a painter at the height of his powers.

Besides Giverny, we visit the Château de Chantilly, with its extensive collection of fine art and its gardens designed by Le Nôtre, the charming Potager des Princes, which recreates the romance, spirit and extravagance of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the pleasant market town of Senlis.

Your Hotel Set in 15 acres of parkland in the Forest of Chantilly, the Château de Montvillargenne is a magnificent 19th century château hotel, a former home of the Rothschild family. The hotel boasts a heated indoor swimming pool, sauna, solarium, gym and tennis court. Along with a welcome glass of kir on the first night a bottle of wine per couple is included with dinner each evening.

Bedroom upgrades are also available to executive deluxe rooms, they are all individually designed and offer a higher level of comfort including a private whirlpool bath.


Sandringham and Gardens of Norfolk 11th July - 3 Nightsfrom £ 375.00 now £325
Sandringham is the much-loved country retreat of Her Majesty The Queen, and has been the private home of four generations of British monarchs since 1862. It’s a friendly and informal place to visit, with knowledgeable guides in every room of the house and acres of beautiful gardens to explore, while the museum houses extraordinary collections of Royal vehicles, rare ceramics and memorabilia.

The gentle climate and diverse landscape of Norfolk means that plants of all kinds thrive in these flat lands, but it is perhaps best known for its lavender, and we will visit the world famous Norfolk Lavender, with its distillery, herb garden and National Collection. We also visit a wonderful collection of private gardens large and small along with the opportunity to purchase unusual plants for your own garden.

We start with the famous Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market, six acres of attractively landscaped garden stuffed full of unusual plants, and continue to the Exotic Garden, the brainchild of Will Giles, with a real subtropical feel and towering exotic plants.

We travel into Norfolk’s ‘big sky’ countryside, visiting Oulton Hall, a Chelsea designer’s garden with emphasis on structure, height and texture; Corpusty Mill, the private garden of Roger Last and the outstanding East Ruston Old Vicarage, perhaps the highlight of our visit to Norfolk, home of the unstoppable gardeners Alan Gray and Graham Robeson. We conclude with a visit to Devils End, a romantic enthusiast’s garden of the highest quality and call in at the specialist plant grower Woottens of Wenhaston.




The above tours are operated by Brigh****er Holidays.

Please call for all local joining points in the UK & more tour information. All the above tours must be booked by Friday 14th June.

Please call Derek or Angela at Beautiful Garden Holidays on 0208 8586677 or email
If you like the idea of a holiday spending some time visiting beautiful gardens, in the company of garden lovers, then 'Beautiful Garden Holidays' was designed with you in mind!