8-Nights English Gardens & The Chelsea Flower Show - Luxury Small Group Journeys — CALL

Abercrombie & Kent: English Gardens & The Chelsea Flower Show

DAY 1 London, England

Upon arrival, you are met and transferred to your luxuryhotel set among gardens. Enjoy a private welcome dinner atthis historic manor house.

Journey to Storrington for a private tour of the 16th-centuryParham House and its landscaped Pleasure Grounds. StrollVeronica’s Maze and The Walled Garden, learning howthey are organically maintained. After lunch at ParhamHouse, visit nearby Borde Hill Garden, set on 200 acres oftraditional English landscape.

Today, enjoy a private tour of the late Christopher Lloyd’sgarden at Great Dixter, conducted before opening hours.Built in the Arts and Crafts style, it mingles vegetables andflowers, a large orchard with pockets of wildflowers and amagnificent herbaceous border. Later, drive to SissinghurstCastle and stroll its garden. Learn how Sir Harold Nicolson, a diplomat and author, laid down its main lines while his wife,Vita Sackville-West, a poet and gardening writer, handledthe planting. View the influential White Garden, whichexemplifies early 20th-century garden designer GertrudeJekyll’s use of color themes.

Drive north to the quaint and charming Cotswolds area, pausingin a wooded corner of North Hampshire for a visit to the gardensof West Green House. Learn how acclaimed designer MarylynAbbott fused neoclassical and contemporary influences as youtour the grounds with the senior gardener. Then, stay on sitefor lunch. Later, toast your day with a Scenic Sundowner beforedining at your hotel.

Drive to the lovely town of Chipping Campden to visit itsHigh Street, Jacobean Market Hall and impressive Churchof St. James. Afterward, enjoy a private visit to KiftsgateCourt Gardens and stroll the harmonious, color-schemedupper gardens. Continue to nearby Hidcote Manor — oneof England’s greatest gardens and a true Arts and Craftsmasterpiece — to explore its series of unique outdoor“rooms.” Nestled in the Cotswolds, a range of hills known fortheir beauty, the garden offers stunning panoramas acrossthe Vale of Evesham.

Visit Jackdaws Castle, a renowned facility for British jumpracing. Follow horses from their indoor school outdoors towatch them work on their various gallops under the watchfuleye of the owner-trainer and his team, all the while takingin the stunning scenery of this magical setting. Return to the yard to watch a horse swim in an equine pool and thenjoin a guide who introduces you to some of the amazingthoroughbreds. Finish with a cordial visit to the owners’suite. This afternoon, explore Sudeley Castle (resting place ofKatherine Parr) or stroll the scenic Cotswolds Way to enjoythe idyllic English countryside.

Drive to Blenheim Palace, a magnificent edifice set among2,100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by Lancelot“Capability” Brown. Enjoy a special talk and tour focused onthe life of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born here in 1874.Examine the breadth of his talent and achievement, frombricklayer to the “Greatest Briton.” After lunch at leisure,continue to London.

Attend the world-renowned Chelsea Flower Show on anexclusive Royal Horticultural Society Members’ Day. Enjoya four-course luncheon and an open bar, as well as morningand afternoon tea, in an exclusive Royal HorticulturalSociety hospitality area. Walk countless exhibits showcasingthe finest examples of English gardening and some of themost avant-garde show-garden designs in the world. Returnto the hotel in the late afternoon, gathering in the evening fora farewell dinner.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport and depart.