Gardens of Essex & Constable Country

Today we meet with our expert guide Brona Dore at Dublin airport for our flight to London Stansted where we will transfer to RHS Garden Hyde Hall. Set in a landscape of rolling hills with panoramic views it is an oasis of peace and tranquillity with highlights that include the Dry Garden, Hilltop Garden and Courtyard Gardens.          

Later this afternoon we will transfer to Colchester where our tour will be based.   Dine as a group this evening in our hotel.

Following a leisurely breakfast, we depart our hotel for a visit to Bridge End Garden. Created in 1840 by Francis Gibson the Garden is designed as a series of ‘interlocking rooms’ each with their own unique character. Features include a maze , formal Rose Garden, Walled Garden and Dutch Garden.

Our next visit today is to Audley End House & Gardens where we will explore the idyllic gardens designed by Capability Brown creating extensive views, a serpentine lake and natural planting.

This morning is at leisure to relax in your hotel or explore Colchester before our afternoon excursion.

Join us this afternoon for a visit Beth Chatto's Garden & Nursery. Beth transformed desolate wasteland that was deemed unfit for fruit farming into a series of gardens. The landscape varied dramatically so that each garden within the garden has become an example of working with nature to find the right plants for the right place.

Experience the views that inspired Constable’s paintings and discover the history behind them at the charming hamlet of Flatford.

After checking out of our hotel we will depart for a morning visit to the National Trust site of Wimpole Estate. The gardens are home to many rare, exotic and unusual plants sourced from all over the world. Explore the Walled Garden, Pleasure Ground, the Parterre and walnut tree collection amongst other highlights.

This afternoon join us on a visit to Saling Hall Garden – a seventeenth century manor house with a garden which has been carefully replanted since 1971. The manor house, dating back to 1570, is surrounded by 12 acres of grounds including woods, a walled garden, valley garden , water garden and rose glade.

Transfer to London Stansted airport in the late afternoon after a wonderful few days discovering the Gardens of Essex.