Overseas Garden Tours

Climate, mostly. A garden abroad is solving a different problem from a garden in Britain, whether that is heat, drought, monsoon or a growing season that runs the other way round, and the solutions are what make them interesting to anyone who gardens at home. 

Expert Tour Managers and horticulturalists who know these gardens and their conditions. Understanding why a plant thrives in one place and sulks in another is a good deal more useful than being told its name, and it tends to change what you try when you get home. 

Whenever the garden is at its best, which is rarely the British season. Madeira and the Canaries suit the winter months, Japan is timed for blossom or autumn colour, Namaqualand flowers only in the southern spring, and the Mediterranean gardens are at their peak well before high summer

Yes. Most pair the gardens with the architecture, landscape and culture around them, since a villa garden makes little sense without the villa and a Moroccan garden makes little sense without the city it cools. 

Gardens are walked rather than viewed, often on gravel, grass and uneven terraced paths, and heat adds to it on the warmer itineraries. Each itinerary carries an activity level of light, moderate or active so you know what to expect before you book.

Very much so, and many guests travel solo. Shared interest naturally leads to easy conversation, and conversation tends to start with whatever you have just walked round. 

Rules vary by country and are stricter than most people expect. Your Tour Manager will know what applies where you are travelling, and it is worth checking before you buy anything you hope to bring back.