Arrive in London on suggested flights and make your way to the hotel. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including travel insurance (a condition of travel), accommodation before or after the tour and a room category upgrade.

Join your tour leader Elizabeth Swane and fellow travellers for a welcome briefing and late-afternoon tea enjoying the remainder of the evening at leisure.

After breakfast, depart London and travel south-west to Wiltshire, stopping en route at Stourhead, one of England’s finest 18th-century landscape gardens. Designed by Henry Hoare II and laid out between 1741 and 1780, the garden centres on a magnificent lake surrounded by classical temples, grottoes and follies, set within a backdrop of rare trees and sweeping seasonal colour.

Continue to Exeter, one of England’s most historically rich cities, renowned for its magnificent Gothic cathedral, Roman walls and vibrant quayside. Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at leisure.

(BLD)

This morning, drive into central Devon for an exclusive, private tour of Plaz Metaxu, widely regarded as one of the most significant contemporary gardens created in Britain in recent decades. Set in a 32-acre west-facing valley at Coombe House near Witheridge, the garden was created from scratch in 1992 by art historian Alasdair Forbes and draws on Greek mythology, poetry and post-Jungian psychology. There, discover an extraordinary sequence of spaces including linked walled gardens, lakes, hedged enclosures, panoramic pastoral views and a collection of sculptures.

Return to Exeter and enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure to relax or to explore the city further at your own pace. You may wish to visit the 900-year-old Norman cathedral, explore the historic quayside or browse the city’s galleries.

(BL)

Depart Exeter this morning and travel into Cornwall, visiting Tregrehan Garden near Par – one of the Great Gardens of Cornwall. Tucked into the head of St Austell Bay, Tregrehan is a sheltered botanical oasis: a temperate rainforest of towering Victorian conifers, over 150 champion trees, a magnificent walled garden and glasshouse range. The family-run estate has been the home of the Carlyon family since 1565.

Continue to Trewithen House and Gardens Estate, renowned for magnificent woodland gardens filled with rare global specimens and Champion Trees.

Later, drive to Truro, the only designated city in Cornwall, and check in to the hotel.

(BD)

This morning, visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan – one of Europe’s largest garden restoration projects and among the most romantic horticultural stories of the 20th century. The estate, overgrown and forgotten after World War I, has been painstakingly restored to reveal a network of immaculate walled gardens, a productive kitchen garden, subtropical jungle and farmland stretching over 200 acres.

In the afternoon, explore Caerhays Castle and Spring Garden, a magnificent 200-year-old estate on the south Cornish coast with an international reputation for magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons, and home to the renowned National Magnolia Collection.

(BL)

Travel this morning to Trebah Gardens, a subtropical valley garden descending towards the Helford River. Originally established in the 19th century, the 26-acre garden flourishes thanks to Cornwall’s mild climate and is renowned for its vast collection of exotic plants, towering tree ferns, ancient rhododendrons and colourful seasonal displays.

Continue to the charming fishing town of St Ives, home to one of the most celebrated artistic communities in Britain. Visit the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden and Museum, set in the artist’s former studio and home, where almost five decades of her monumental bronzes are displayed amongst lush planting – one of the most moving and distinctive garden experiences in England.

Return to Truro in the late afternoon for some time at leisure before dinner at a local restaurant.

(BD)

Depart Truro this morning and travel into Dorset, stopping for a visit to home of world-renowned furniture designer John Makepeace and his wife Jennie. Tucked behind bulging yew hedges in the centre of Beaminster’s charming town, the garden is an extraordinary escape: sweeping lawns, giant topiary, a distinctive grass garden, walled kitchen garden and orchard.

Later drive to Dorchester, the Dorset County town made famous by Thomas Hardy, and check in to the hotel. Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at leisure before dinner at the hotel.

(BD)

This morning, visit Minterne Gardens in the heart of Dorset’s Cerne Valley. The celebrated woodland garden is renowned for its extraordinary collection of Himalayan rhododendrons and azaleas, with a peaceful mile-long trail winding past a chain of secluded lakes, cascading waterfalls and streams.

Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon and evening at leisure.

(B)

Depart Dorchester this morning and travel east towards Poole, to board the ferry and sail across the English Channel to Guernsey. Arrive at St Peter Port, the island’s charming capital, in the afternoon and transfer to the hotel. This evening, enjoy dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

(BD)

This morning, explore Sausmarez Manor, Guernsey’s only stately home open to the public, occupied by the de Sausmarez family for over 800 years. Enjoy a guided tour of the Queen Anne manor house before wandering through the award-winning Wild Subtropical Garden – an ancient woodland threaded with tree ferns from New Zealand and Australia, alongside camellias, palms, bamboos and ginger lilies – as well as one of the most varied outdoor sculpture parks in Britain.

After lunch visit Hauteville House in St Peter Port, where French author Victor Hugo lived for 14 years during his exile from France. The extraordinary house – entirely furnished and decorated by Hugo himself – is considered a work of art in its own right and one of the great literary and artistic landmarks of the Channel Islands.

(BLD)

Today, travel by ferry to Sark Island, the smallest self-governing territory in the British Isles and one of the last places in the world to ban motor vehicles. Ride the famous tractor bus to the top of the island before enjoying some time at leisure in the village.

In the afternoon, visit La Seigneurie Gardens – one of the finest formal gardens in the Channel Islands and recommended by the Royal Horticultural Society. Set within the grounds of the 17th-century island manor, the walled garden overflows with fascinating flowers and shrubs sheltered by ancient granite walls; beyond lie a potager, sensory garden, Victorian greenhouse, rose garden and a charming hedge maze.

Return by ferry to Guernsey in the late afternoon.

(B)

After breakfast, check out of the hotel and take the ferry to Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. Arrive in St Helier in time for lunch before checking in to the hotel.

In the afternoon, enjoy a private visit to Domaine des Vaux in St Lawrence, the extensive valley garden and woodland estate of writer and heritage campaigner Marcus Binney and his wife Anne. The garden contains magnolias, camellias, a Mediterranean garden, a productive potager and a glasshouse.

Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at leisure before dinner at a nearby restaurant.

(BLD)

This morning, visit La Hougue Bie Museum and explore the Neolithic passage grave, one of the finest prehistoric monuments in Western Europe, dating from 4000 to 3500 BC. Continue to Mont Orgueil Castle, an imposing medieval fortress overlooking Gorey harbour on Jersey’s east coast, with panoramic views stretching across to Normandy on a clear day.

In the afternoon, transfer to Samarès Manor and Gardens. Created in the 1920s by millionaire philanthropist Sir James Knott, the 14-acre gardens are a distinctive collection due to the fertile soil of the surrounding coastal marshes. Highlights include the celebrated herb garden designed by renowned garden designer John Brookes, a Japanese garden, arboretum, rose and lavender garden, exotics border and a willow labyrinth.

(B)

This morning, visit the Jersey War Tunnels – built during the five-year German occupation of World War II. The underground hospital tunnels, excavated by more than 5,000 slave labourers and stretching over 1,000 metres, tell the story of the island’s occupation, resistance and eventual liberation.

Later, visit a private garden in St Ouen. Measuring just over a quarter of an acre, the garden is nonetheless home to more than 2,000 rare and unusual herbaceous perennials from around the world, nurtured organically over decades. A large bog garden houses over 80 water-loving irises; the rest of the garden is a glorious tapestry of geraniums, salvias, clematis and sculptures.

This evening, celebrate the conclusion of the tour with a special farewell dinner with Elizabeth and fellow travellers.

(BD)

This morning, fly from Jersey to London Heathrow airport (Economy class flight included in tour price). Tour arrangements conclude upon arrival at Heathrow airport.

Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your international flights and other travel arrangements, including private airport transfers, additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour and travel insurance (a condition of travel).

(B)

Note: At time of publication (June 2026), most but not all garden visits were confirmed. Private owners are reluctant to commit more than two to three months prior to the visit. Therefore, while we undertake to operate the tour as published, there may be some changes to the itinerary.