England: Highgrove and Autumn Tints of the Cotswolds16th Oct 2024
From:£676
Summary
What finer place could there be to visit in the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness” than the timeless English landscape of the Cotswolds.
The highlight of this short break is a guided tour of the gardens of Highgrove, the country home of His Majesty The King. This will be a rare opportunity to see these fascinating gardens which of course are cultivated using wholly organic methods. After our visit we will enjoy a delightful lunch, making this a truly memorable, once in a lifetime visit.
As we walk through Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, we will see the first tints of autumn colour, as the leaves adorning over 15,000 trees from all around the world begin to turn. The Treetop Walkway lends a unique perspective to this impressive collection of woody wonders.
There are more sylvan delights to enjoy at Batsford Arboretum, which contains over 1500 trees with species from all over the world, including Maples, Bamboo, Magnolias, Oaks and Sorbus. The landscaping includes rockeries, streams and waterfalls, a lake, statues and a hermit’s cave.
Elsewhere we visit Sezincote Garden with its incongruous yet romantic echoes of a Moghul Indian palace; Snowshill Manor, where an Arts & Crafts garden surrounds a house stuffed full of curiosities, and the unique Painswick Rococo Gardens. All will be taking on autumnal shades or filled with fruit and vegetables that have ripened to perfection over the summer.
What to Expect
- Autumn leaf colour at Westonbirt and Batsford arboreta
- In the footsteps of the King and Queen at Highgrove
- Evocative and unusual gardens at Sezincote
- Rococo style at Painswick
Departure Routes
| Location | Pickup Time | Dropoff Time |
|---|---|---|
| To be advised | 00:00 | 00:00 |
| London - Coach Bays on Tothill Street, Westminster | 08:00 | 19:00 |
| Reading - Outside Sainsbury’s, Jcn 12, M4 | 09:15 | 17:45 |
| Swindon - Holiday Inn Express, Frankland Rd | 10:30 | 16:30 |
| Bristol - Bus stop outside DoubleTree Hilton, Redcliffe Way | 12:00 | 15:00 |
** Please note that all timings are approximate and subject to change. Final timings and pick-up points will be confirmed with your joining instructions approximately 10 days prior to departure. **
Day by Day Itinerary
We depart from our pick-ups points in London, Reading, Swindon and Bristol and head for a visit to the unique Snowshill Manor. Snowshill is no ordinary manor, just as Charles Paget Wade was no ordinary Edwardian gentleman. Mr Wade embodied his family motto ‘Let nothing perish’, spending his life and his inherited wealth amassing a spectacular collection of everyday and extraordinary objects. Laid out theatrically, the Manor is literally packed to the rafters with 22,000 or so unusual objects – from tiny toys to splendid suits of Samurai armour. The Manor is surrounded by an intriguing terraced hillside garden designed in the Arts & Crafts style and, like so many of the gardens here, split into a number of different ‘rooms’. The garden and the valley running alongside typically put on a lovely display of autumn colour.
We continue to our comfortable hotel in the Cotswolds. Dinner is served in the evening.
Meals includedDinner
