Experience a world famous flower showing, explore Stourhead (below) and Stonehenge, and visit the National Gallery & Royal Academy. Also see the Chelsea Flower Show, The National Trust Gardens of Stowe, the Hampshire/Surrey area gardens. Visit Museums such as the National Gallery & Royal Academy, Tate Modern, Vermeer Museum, Musée d’’Orsey, Monet’’s home in Giverny and the Louvre.
Approximate Rate: $5,400 per person, includes round trip airfare. For complete itinerary visit www.nbmaa.org.
Peggy Coonley invites you to join her annual tour of  The Gardens of England and the Chelsea Flower Show 2012, a thoughtful itinerary  created for savvy women travelers who appreciate the culture of classic Britain.  You will visit notable beloved English gardens and The Royal Horticultural Society’s famous Chelsea Flower Show on RHS Member’s only day.  The itinerary is artfully arranged to include Sissinghurst in Kent and Hidcote in The Cotswolds, two of the world’s beloved gardens.  You will visit The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, take a docent led tour at Wisley, and relish your visit to Scotney Castle and Great Dixter.  We take Tea at The Ritz in London and attend the theatre. Women who love to garden will be inspired by England’s pastoral beauty, history and the pure pleasure of taking time for tea.  Whether yours is a secret garden behind a wall, a wildflower meadow open to the sea or a courtyard plot in the urban landscape, you will be enchanted.  Serendipity Traveler takes time to savour classic British country living, the history and diverse landscapes of London, Kent, Bath and The Cotswolds. This trip is for women who appreciate the fine art of traveling well with a smaller group. For complete details please call Serendipity Traveler’s President, Peggy Coonley in Rockport, Mass. 978 879 7464 or reserve easily online at  www.serendipitytraveler.com.
On Sundays, April 3 and April 10, come to Heritage Museum & Gardens, 67 Grove Street in Sandwich, and travel to exotic gardens vicariously through the exploits of other Garden Adventurers! On April 3, Jonathan Shaw will share his visits to Japan’s most beautiful and unique gardens, including Kenrokuen Garden (The Six Sublimities, pictured below) in Kanazawa and Saihoji (The Temple Moss Garden). Mr. Shaw was formerly Director of the New England Wildflower Society at the Garden in the Woods near Boston, and is the retired President of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. He lives in Sandwich, his native town, where he has an extensive garden in the Village that he and Norwegian wife Eugenie maintain. Then on April 10, Linda Calmes Jones, who chairs Heritage’s Board of Trustees, will share her garden travel experience to London’s Chelsea Flower Show (The Great Spring Show) and various English gardens. Join them for both of these inspiring presentations, free with museum admission. For more information, log on to www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org, or call 508-888-3300. Image from www.kanazawa-tourism.com.
Yale Educational Travel announces an exclusive trip, Gracious Gardens & Architectural Gems of London, Sussex & Hampshire, featuring Yale Faculty Linda Peterson and Fred Strebeigh, May 22 to May 31. This unforgettable journey through the English countryside in late spring, when glorious gardens are in full bloom, will provide a privileged look at great houses built by the English aristocracy – many carefully restored by the families who live there. You will, by special arrangement, attend the celebrated Chelsea Flower Show on Members’ Day, a visit to Down House, where Charles Darwin worked on his scientific theories and wrote On the Origin of Species, and 17th century Bateman’s, home to Rudyard Kipling from 1902 – 1936.. Then, travel south to East Sussex, including a visit to Scotney Castle, whose gardens are renowned for spectacular displays of rhododendrons and azaleas. In Hampshire, you will stop en route at Petworth House, a late 17th century mansion housing a fine collection of works by Turner and Van Dyck. You will also visit Firle Place, an intriguing mix of Tudor and Georgian style, and Highclere Castle, a Victorian home in high Elizabethan style, with a park designed by Capability Brown, and Osborne House (below) on the Isle of Wight. $6,995 per person, double occupancy, with a single supplement of $1,125. For a brochure and complete information, call 203-432-1952, or make a reservation on line at www.YaleEdTravel.org/england11.
Please join Peggy Coonley on her annual May visit to England and the Chelsea Flower Show 2011, a tour created for savvy women travelers who appreciate the culture of classic Britain, May 21 – 30, 2011. You will visit notable beloved English gardens and The Royal Horticultural Society’s infamous Chelsea Flower Show on Member’s Only day. The itinerary is thoughtfully arranged to include Sissinghurst in Kent and Hidcote in The Cotswolds, two of the world’s beloved gardens. You will visit The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, take a private tour at Wisley, and relish your visit to Scotney Castle (pictured below. ) Women who love to garden will be inspired by England’s pastoral beauty, history and the pure pleasure of taking time for tea. Whether yours is a secret garden behind a wall, a wildflower meadow open to the sea or a courtyard plot in the urban landscape, you will be enchanted. Serendipity Traveler take time to savour classic British country living, the history and diverse landscapes of London, Kent, Bath and The Cotswolds. This trip is for women who appreciate the fine art of traveling well with a small group. For complete details please call Serendipity Traveler’s President, Peggy Coonley in Rockport, Mass. 978 879 7464 or visit www.serendipitytraveler.com
Travel Unlimited is preparing now for its 2011 Chelsea Flower Show and English Gardens Tour, to take place May 21 – 28. The trip includes such highlights as the 465 country estate of Wakehurst Place, an afternoon in Brighton, Arundel Castle in Norfolk, Borde Hill Gardens‘ annual “Sculpture in the Garden” exhibition (below), the Chelsea Flower Show, and the RHS Gardens at Wisley. For complete itinerary, call Fred Blumenfeld at 800-645-6969. The cost per person, including round trip airfare from New York, six nights accommodations with breakfast, 3 dinners, sightseeing, admissions, tour escort, taxes, transfers and baggage handling, is $2,799, double occupancy, with a single supplement of $595.
Do you need to give someone a Christmas gift wish list? The Education Department of Tower Hill Botanic Garden is sponsoring a guided tour of the Chelsea Flower Show and English Gardens from Saturday, May 22 through Saturday, May 29. The Chelsea Flower show is considered to be the world’s pre-eminent horticultural event. Its Show Gardens are created by leading international landscape architects and garden designers. The Great Pavilion is the spectacular centerpiece of the CFS. Nurseries and growers dazzle visitors with displays of color from the world’s finest plant collections. The show also features the continuous Learning section that gives visitors insight into the gardens of the future. The Gardening Matters Marquee hosts talks by gardening experts, covering all aspects of gardening and design and gives the visitor the opportunity to pose questions to the experts. As added incentive, you will enjoy High Tea at a private estate overlooking magnificent gardens. The price per person is $2,749, double occupancy, with a $585 single supplement. Contact Tower Hill at 508-869-6111, ext. 124 for a brochure, itinerary and purchase information. You may also email registrar@towerhillbg.org.
Spend an inspiring afternoon at the Heritage Art Museum in Sandwich, Massachusetts, with Paul Miskovsky, an award winning landscape designer/horticulturist from Falmouth, MA. In 2007, Miskovsky had the opportunity to work at the world’s most prestigious horticultural event, The Chelsea Flower Show, in London England for The Blooms Of Bressingham as a volunteer. Join him for a behind the scenes photo journey of the show’s setup to the completion – you will be astounded at the scale and quality of this event! For more information, log on to www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org/event. The lecture will take place in the North Wing of the Art Museum. Free with Museum admission.
