England | Springtime Gardens of Europe & UK
This wonderful tour combines the comfort of rail travel with some of the best English and European gardens, including a day at the Chelsea Flower Show and Keukenhof Garden, one of the world's finest bulb fields, a full day at Floriade, Venlo - plus sightseeing in Paris, Amsterdam and London. You'll also delight in the time spent exploring the countryside and gardens of Yorkshire, the Lake District and the Cotswolds.
| Duration: | 20 Days |
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| Tour Code: | ITW641 |
| Trip Style: | Superior - 4 star |
| Departure Dates: | 06 May 2012 |
| Price: | Please Contact Us |
| Single Supplement: | $2,000 |
| Places you'll visit: |
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| Highlights: |
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Ideal for Solo Travellers
People who do this tour are usually in the 35+ age bracket, but with a sprinkling of younger singles and couples. They have an interest in history and art but don't want in-depth lectures from professors; they love food and wine but don't take too kindly to 'pompous git' experts; they enjoy new experiences and have a sense of humour. Solo travellers who enjoy train travel and have an interest in gardens will especially enjoy this tour, enjoying the company of like minded people.
Trip Details
GROUP SIZE: 25 max.
Day 1, Sunday May 6th: AMSTERDAM
The tour commences at check-in to our city centre hotel, our home for four nights. We rest from the flight, or take an afternoon canal cruise to get our bearings, before meeting our fellow travellers for a Welcome Drink and Dinner. D
Day 2, Monday May 7th: AMSTERDAM
Every day on a Great Trains of Europe Tour begins with a full buffet breakfast. We spend a full day in one of the world's finest bulbfields, the Keukenhof Garden, with 80 acres of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowering bulbs, shrubs, ancient trees, exhibitions, gurgling streams, flower parades, and seven themed gardens. Little wonder we need all day to visit the Keukenhof! There are restaurants and tea shops. B
Day 3, Tuesday May 8th: AMSTERDAM
We spend a full day in one of the world's finest bulb fields, the Keukenhof Garden, with 80 acres of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowering bulbs, shrubs, ancient trees, exhibitions, gurgling streams, flower parades, and seven themed gardens. Little wonder we need all day to visit the Keukenhof! There are restaurants and tea shops in the garden. B
Day 4, Wednesday May 9th: AMSTERDAM
The fabulous Floriade happens just once a decade, and this is the year. An early start by train to Venlo gives us the full day to enjoy this rare feast of flowers. B
Day 5, Thursday May 10th: PARIS
A great rail journey today. Our luggage is taken on ahead as we take our reserved First Class seats in the sleek Thalys train, for Paris at 300kph. On arrival we settle in to our boutique 4 star hotel on the Left Bank. On our city sightseeing tour we begin our acquaintance with the City of Lights. B,D
Day 6, Friday May 11th: PARIS
A quiet morning to stroll in the nearby Luxembourg Gardens or to visit a museum. Monet's waterlilies are finally on view in their original context at l'Orangerie. See them in real life this afternoon on our visit to Giverney and Monet's Garden. We enjoy the flower garden called Clos Normand and the water garden with its famous Japanese Bridge covered with wisteria, which should be at its best this week. Then the weeping willows, and the famous nympheas (water lilies). B
Day 7, Saturday May 12th: PARIS
A high speed French TGV train today into the Loire Valley and the Garden of Villandry, created by Dr Joachim Carvallo, from 1906, in complete harmony with the Renaissance architecture of the chateau. Great horticultural skill was deployed, especially in the use of vegetables. An arbour of grape vines leads to a great parterre, conceived as a Garden of Music. On the other side of the canal is a Garden of Love. B
Day 8, Sunday May 13th: To NORTH YORK MOORS
Another of the great rail journeys of the world as we farewell Paris and join the 300 kph Eurostar through the Chunnel. Customs requires that we travel with our luggage today. In London we join British Rail in the tracks of the Flying Scotsman to the mediaeval city of York. We see the Minster and the Shambles, then transfer to our inn in the North York Moors village of Pickering. A pub dinner tonight. B,D
Day 9, Monday May 14th: NORTH YORK MOORS
This morning we visit the gardens of Castle Howard, laid out by Sir John Vanburgh in the early 18th century. Castle Howard is the palace of the Flyte family in "Brideshead Revisited". We lunch (with Claude Jeremiah Greengrass?) in the village of Goathland, "Aidens field" in the TV series "Heartbeat". Here we join the historic North York Steam Railway home to Pickering. B
Day 10, Tuesday May 15th: NORTH YORK MOORS
This morning we visit historic Harewood House. Its garden is classic Capability Brown - forming an idyllic rural setting. We move on to the spa and garden town of Harrogate for a cream tea or a stroll around Harrogate's famous public gardens. Can you spot Agatha Christie? She "disappeared" here in 1926. B
Day 11, Wednesday May 16th: LAKES DISTRICT
We journey this morning through the Yorkshire Dales, immortalized in James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" novels and television series. A village pub lunch stop, then on to the Lakes District where we settle into our Lakeside hotel. B,D
Day 12, Thursday May 17th: LAKES DISTRICT
We take a magical rail journey today through some of the Dales' and England's finest scenery on the historic Settle to Carlisle Railway. A pub lunch, an afternoon cream tea and visits to some more of the Yorkshire Dales' picturesque villages. B
Day 13, Friday May 18th: LAKES DISTRICT
This morning we visit Beatrix Potter's garden, Hill Top - watch out for the fierce bad rabbit - and then move on to the National Trust's 14th century Sizergh Castle, with gardens dating from the 18th, loved for their ponds, borders, lawns and avenue of lowering cherries. B
Day 14, Saturday May 19th: to the COTSWOLDS
Our British Rail journey south today brings us to the Peak District of Derbyshire, to visit the gardens of historic Chatsworth House, dating from 1687. Another Capability Brown garden, Chatsworth has been famous for its beauty since Jane Austen's Day. We move on in the late afternoon to the Cotswolds where we stay in a village inn in the pretty riverside village of Bourton-on-the-Water. B,D
Day 15, Sunday May 20th: COTSWOLDS
This morning's sightseeing takes us to picturesque Cotswold villages of honey-golden stone: Lower Slaughter, Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden. After a village pub lunch we visit one of England's favourite gardens - Hidcote Manor, designed and developed by Maj. Lawrence Johnston, who scoured the world to secure rare and exotic species for this extremely pretty garden, a series of "outdoor rooms". B
Day 16, Monday May 21st: COTSWOLDS
Today we visit Stowe Landscape Gardens, covering 750 acres and including 40 listed historic monuments and temples. It is considered one of England's most important landscape gardens and the greatest names in English garden design were involved in its creation from Bridgeman in the 1710s to Vanbrugh, Kent, Gibbs and "Capability " Brown. Afternoon tea in the Cotswold village of Burford, serious about antiques. B
Day 17, Tuesday May 22nd: to LONDON
Back on British Rail today we journey through more of the Cotswolds' rolling hills, as our luggage is taken on ahead to await our arrival in our London hotel. We enjoy London's sights from a double-decker bus. The Oxford Street shops are only a bus ride away from the hotel. A West End Show tonight? B
Day 18, Wednesday May 23rd: LONDON
The Oxford Street shops or Harrods this morning before an afternoon excursion into Kent, to Sissinghurst, one of the world's most celebrated gardens, the creation of Vita Sackville-West. It is located in an intimate setting in the grounds of an Elizabethan mansion, with romantic compartments filled with colourful floral displays. B
Day 19, Thursday May 24th: LONDON
A full day today at the Chelsea Flower Show, arguably the world's greatest and best known. Our Farewell Dinner tonight. B,D
Day 20, Friday May 25th: HEADING HOME
Our tour ends this morning after breakfast. B
Inclusions
- First Class rail travel in reserved seats
- 4 star boutique city centre hotels
- 3 star historic village inns
- 6 three course dinners with drinks
- Full luggage handling [not on Eurostar]
- Local expert garden guide [where permitted]
- Full time Tour Leader who is the Tour Company Principal
- Porterage on one suitcase per person
- All tips
Terms & Conditions
Click here for our Terms & Conditions
For more information, availability and pricing and options, please contact our expert travel specialists at Inspired Travel Worldwide on (02) 9449 8598 or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.
