Charles Rennie Mackintosh is arguably Scotland’s most famous architect and designer of the 20th Century, and his works were influential in European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism. Living most of his life in Glasgow, there are many buildings around the city that are to Mackintosh’s architectural design, including the Glasgow School of Art, Queens Cross Church and the Daily Record Building. Later in life, Mackintosh focussed more on his work as a watercolour artist painting a wide collection of landscapes and flower studies.

No Mackintosh tour would be complete without a visit to the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow, where we will enjoy a traditional afternoon tea, and we also visit his finest domestic creation at Hill House, which sits high above the River Clyde with commanding views of the Firth, its air of restrained elegance still appealing to modern tastes.

Other highlights include the Burrell Collection, which includes medieval art, tapestries, alabasters, stained glass and European paintings, the Walled Garden at Geilston with its impressive herbaceous borders and Glenarn with its superb collection of Asiatic shrubs. We also sail across the Firth of Clyde for a visit to Mount Stuart, one of the largest High Gothic houses in Britain, which offers the perfect combination of architectural grandeur and captivating gardens, along with the unique Ascog Fernery, a tiny piece of sub-tropical jungle on the Isle of Bute.