Arrive in Sydney on suggested Qantas flights. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including extra nights’ accommodation and a private transfer from the airport.

Meet Elizabeth and fellow travellers at a Sydney CBD hotel (venue to be confirmed) at 9:00am. Depart Sydney for Bathurst and enjoy a private tour of Bishop’s Court Estate. The focal point of the property is its beautifully decorated Victorian manor house surrounded by an acre of parkland gardens and its historic stone chapel, built in 1908.

After lunch, continue to Orange and check-in to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Tonight, enjoy a welcome dinner with Elizabeth and fellow tour members.

(LD)

Today, explore a series of private gardens near the old gold mining town of Lucknow. First, visit a large English-style garden at the base of Mt Canobolas with a wide variety of cool-climate plants, many deciduous trees and different garden areas, including an Italianate garden, a pergola and charming water features.

Then, visit a private estate with an original nineteenth-century house and a colourful garden showcasing clusters of shrubs, formal hedges and a vegetable patch.

Return to Orange in the afternoon and enjoy the remainder of the afternoon and evening at leisure.

(BL)

This morning, visit an extensive six-hectare property with its lush garden displayed across themed areas with their own individual character, linked by winding paths.

After some time at leisure in the charming heritage-listed village of Millthorpe, enjoy a wine tasting at Patina Winery, known for its mature cool-climate wines and scenic gardens.

This evening, enjoy dinner at a nearby restaurant.

(BD)

Travel to Canowindra to visit a newly renovated local nursery with its own picturesque garden, and then a private garden full of hardy exotic plants and sculptures, utilising the unique colours, textures and forms of drought- and frost-tolerant perennials and shrubs.

Enjoy lunch at Wallington Wines, a boutique family-owned winery. Then continue to Noojee Lea, a private estate with an early-1900s homestead, an orchard filled with citrus, stone fruit, almond, pistachio, pear, mulberry and fig trees and a landscape garden successfully reshaped by renowned garden designer Paul Bangay.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon and enjoy the evening at leisure.

(BL)

Today, explore the multi-award-winning Cowra Japanese Garden. Opened in 1979, the peaceful garden with its manicured hedges, waterfalls and streams also includes a strolling garden that symbolises the Japanese landscape, a traditional Edo cottage, an authentic open-air tea house and a bonsai house.

After lunch, enjoy a stroll through the historic village of Carcoar before returning to Orange in the late afternoon. The evening is at leisure.

(BL)

This morning, visit the stunning Abercrombie House near Bathurst, considered a heritage treasure of the region. The mansion is a Victorian-Tudor-style house of the 1870s with an impressive façade and extensive grounds.

Then, visit Old Government Cottage, a rare and intact example of an early Bathurst home, and wander through its quaint cottage garden.

Enjoy some time at leisure in Bathurst, rich with history and gold rush heritage, before returning to Orange.

This evening, delight in a farewell dinner with Elizabeth and fellow travellers at a local restaurant.

(BD)

This morning, check out of the hotel and travel to a private garden for the morning. Then, enjoy high tea at a restaurant in the Blue Mountains before returning to Sydney.

Tour arrangements conclude upon arrival in the Sydney CBD (venue to be confirmed) around 5:00pm. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including any additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour, travel insurance (strongly advised) and a private airport transfer.

(BL)

Note: At time of publication (May 2022), most but not all garden visits were confirmed. Private owners, in particular, 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.