The Gardens of Cornwall: June 6-16, 2025
About this trip
Cornwall may be well-known for its beloved television characters, Doc Martin and Poldark, but it’s the area’s gardens that capture the hearts of locals and visitors alike. The county enjoys the warmth of the Gulf Stream giving it a unique microclimate that results in gardens full of the most exciting, rare and beautiful plants and trees in the British Isles.
Over the course of eleven days, we’ll visit a wide range of properties, from the formal to the informal, from modern to ancient and much more. All of them contain spectacularly diverse collections of plants and sculptures from around the world, and we’ll have a private guided tour of each one, with some gardens open exclusively for us.
The complete itinerary and details are below. Other trip highlights include a presentation / Q&A with author and broadcaster Tim Hubbard (The Great Gardens of Cornwall), a flower arranging class, seaweed foraging and more. Along the way, we’ll enjoy incredible meals at local restaurants.
PLEASE NOTE: The booking deadline is January 15, 2025, and the deposit is $850. Space on this tour is limited to 12 guests, and you should be able to walk for a couple of hours on sometimes-uneven paths. The trip to Tresco Abbey is on a first come, first serve basis. Travelers must purchase their helicopter flight at time of booking. If you have any questions about the tour, please feel free to contact me.
PRICES:
Single: $5,295-$5,360
Double/Twin: $4,220-$4,510
St Ives
Sample Itinerary
Caerhays Estate
Day 1: Arrival in Cornwall & Welcome Lunch
Upon our morning arrival at Newquay, we will be greeted and transported to our hotel near St Austell. En route, we’ll visit our first garden, the Caerhays Castle and Gardens. We’ll start with lunch and then enjoy a tour of the house and gardens. We will see their huge rhododendrons and learn how they thrive in the Cornish climate, which can have as much as 60 inches a year!
Then, we travel through the beautiful Cornish countryside to our hotel and check-in. There will be time to relax or enjoy the spa before our welcome dinner at the hotel.
Lanhydrock Gardens
Day 2: Lanhydrock House and the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery
After breakfast, depart for Lanhydrock House. This beautiful National Trust property has been the seat of the Earls of Radnor since the 1600s. Walk around the garden and enjoy its beautiful herbaceous borders, a fabulous formal parterre and colorful higher gardens. Afterwards, there will be time to visit the house.
In the afternoon we’ll visit the Duchy’s nursery, a showcase for Cornwall’s abundant native plants and an astounding variety of exotic specimens. After a tour of their cutting garden, we will participate in a cut-flower arranging class. You’ll depart with your own vase and bouquet to enjoy during your stay.
Head gardener's office, Heligan
Day 3: Lost Garden of Heligan and Tregothnan
Heligan was once one of Cornwall’s finest estates. Its exotic gardens were “lost” in 1914 when the estate’s workforce of gardeners marched off to war…only four returned. Heligan re-awakened in 1990 to become Europe’s largest garden restoration project. Today, Heligan’s 200 acres are a paradise for the explorer, wildlife, plant lover and garden romantic. We’ll enjoy a guided tour of the highlights of the gardens and take some free time for lunch (and the shop.)
Afterwards, we’ll drive to Tregothnan Garden & Arboretum which is unique in its diversity of plants and trees, rare collections, sweeping vistas and peaceful secluded groves. The garden contains some ‘Red List’ endangered plants and trees which are larger than any remaining in the wild. They are also famous for their tea, reputed to be the first tea to be grown in England. We’ll have a guided tour of the tea plantation and enjoy a tasting of some of their superb tea blends.
Tregrehan
Day 4: Tregrehan and Lamorran Gardens
This morning we will visit the nearby Tregrehan Garden. A family estate from 1565, it feels if it came from the pages of a Jane Austen novel with its formal walled and sunken gardens, a greenhouse, champion yew and cedar of Lebanon trees, and much more. Expansive views from its Parkland, across sheep meadows, to neighboring estates, suggest rambling walks, just as Elizabeth and Darcy would have done.
After lunch in St Mawes, we’ll continue to Lamorran Gardens. A deep passion for the gardens of Japan and the Mediterranean inspired this idyll 40 years ago by a pair of renowned London landscape architects. Stroll through dense alleyways of native and exotic specimens to emerge at stunning views of the Roseland Peninsula and the English Channel. This garden truly represents the Cornish tradition of gardening “on the edge.”
Seaweed on the beach at Helston
Day 5: The Seaweed Institute -> Penzance
Today we’ll say good bye to St Austell and move to West Cornwall. On the way, we’ll enjoy a very special food and art experience with the Seaweed Institute. Foraging on the beach, you will learn to identify and forage local seaweed species at the ocean foreshore. The cultural history of seaweed in Cornwall will be discussed, as well its agricultural, scientific and ecological uses. Then we’ll go back inside to to the art room to make a pressing, a Victorian practice that captures the beauty of seaweeds. After laying out your designs they will be loaded into our seaweed press where they will dry over the next weeks in their studio. (To be delivered when you’re back home.)
Afterwards, continue to Penzance and check into the hotel. Enjoy the rest of the late afternoon and evening on your own.
Tresco Abbey on Tresco Island, part of the Scilly Isles, a 15-minute flight from Penzance.
Day 6: Tresco Abbey Garden, Isles of Scilly
Tresco, one of the Scilly Isles, lies 28 miles off the Cornish coast of England. A subtropical island, blessed with white sand and turquoise sea, it is home to just 150 people. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the climate is unique in the UK and makes it possible to grow rare and exotic species out in the open air. The gardens are considered of such importance they have been designated Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. This horticultural paradise hosts a spectacular collection of more than 20,000 exotic plants from all corners of the world – many of which cannot be grown anywhere else in Britain. There will be time to walk around the island and explore its beaches and wildlife. Please book your flight here. This tour is on a first come, first serve basis due to flight availability.
Option two is a relaxed visit to Tregwainton Garden with free time in the afternoon.
Tremenheere Sculpture Garden
Day 7: Tremenheere & Bronze Age Cornwall
We’ll begin the day at Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, one of Cornwall’s most modern gardens. Art and nature merge seamlessly in this stunning garden and sculpture park. Encompassing works by internationally renowned works of art such as James Turrell’s Sky Space, it also has thoughtful plantings of subtropical species. After enjoying a leisurely lunch and some free time, we will go to Marazion to explore the art galleries and take a walk on the beach. For those who want to really stretch their legs, take the causeway out to St Michael’s Mount. The Mount also has a beautiful, fragile, terraced garden. Designed in 1878, it comes with a walled garden and a unique Victorian ‘Seagull Seat’.
Trewidden Garden
Day 8: Trewidden and a presentation by writer & broadcaster Tim Hubbard
This morning we’re going to the nearby Trewidden Estate. Lovingly nurtured by generations of the Bolitho family and their devoted local gardeners, this sanctuary—just minutes from the historic fishing villages of Newlyn and Mousehole—is compact, gentle, and a perfect encapsulation of all the best Cornish gardens have to offer. There is a truly remarkable stand of tree ferns, said to be the finest in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Walled Garden has mixed borders to provide a riot of color.
In the late afternoon we’ll gather for a presentation by author and broadcaster Tim Hubbard about the great gardens of Cornwall, many of which we have visited on this tour. Hailed as “a glorious celebration of the finest gardens of a county whose climate makes them especially breathtaking,” In addition to his presentation, Tim hold a Q&A session. We’ll gather for a cream tea in Solomon Browne Hall with some local gardeners joining us, this will be a special afternoon.
Barbara Hepworth Museum
Day 9: St Ives & Barbara Hepworth Museum & Garden
St Ives is known for its pottery, boats, beaches and beatniks. We travel there by train on one of the most scenic routes in Britain. Enjoy spectacular views as the line sweeps along the coast past the golden sands of Hayle Towans and Carbis Bay before arriving in St Ives.
Upon arrival, we’ll walk about ten minutes to the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Afterwards, head over to the Tate St Ives or enjoy free time to explore the shops and galleries of St Ives.
St Michael's Mount
Day 10: Cornwall Tour: From the Bronze Age to the Modern Age
Today will be an unforgettable circular tour of West Cornwall, starting with Bronze Age sites. Life in Cornwall dates back over 4500 years, and today we’ll visit one of the area’s oldest Bronze Age sites, the Merry Maidens stone circle (late neolithic), a 2300-year-old tinsmiths’ village, and a 1200-year-old church. All of this is to be found in the middle of Poldark country, so the views will look very familiar! Then we’ll explore other iconic sites, local fishing villages and learn about the important role Penzance and West Cornwall played in global communications as well as WWII.
Train to St Ives
Day 11: Departure
This morning we say goodbye to Cornwall. Return home with new friends and great memories. There will be one group transfer to Newquay Airport and Penzance Station.
