The 7 best garden holidays for 2024
Love exploring beautiful gardens? We've rounded up the best green-fingered garden holidays and tours, from Kent to Madeira.
On these wonderful garden tours around the world, you can soak up the subtropical gardens of the Isles of Scilly and explore the dazzling Madeira Flower Festival with a gardening expert.
Whether you're after a spring holiday with gorgeous gardens in bloom or a late summer getaway to explore glorious gardens after the crowds have gone home, we've got you covered with our selection of incredible horticultural escapes.
Luckily, you don't need to know your hyacinths from your hydrangeas to enjoy one of Good Housekeeping's garden holidays. Enjoy the acres of rainbow-coloured tulips as you cruise through Holland's canals to Keukenhof Gardens or wander around the Grade I gardens designed by Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. Our hand-crafted itineraries bring together some of the finest horticultural displays in Europe.
Add in the guided tours and Q&As from experts such as Sarah Raven and Gardeners' World presenter Adam Frost and you'll return home with increased knowledge and appreciation of all things green.
Check out our best garden holidays in the UK and Europe for 2024.
Delve Deep into the gardens and plant-inspired art of northern France
Monet’s two-metre-tall artwork Les Nymphéas (The Water Lilies) were inspired by his iconic gardens in Giverny, and you can see them them in Paris’ gorgeous Musée de l’Orangerie as a wonderful prelude to this look at some of northern France’s loveliest gardens. Monet’s gardens have been maintained as they were in his time, along with his house, while the surrounding village is lovely for a wander, with artists’ studios to peer into.
From there you’ll head to fairytale-like Château de Chantilly, with glorious landscaped gardens and vast estate to lose yourself in. You will also spend time with garden columnist Paula McWaters.
When? July 2024
Visit walled gardens and other English gems from a Peak District manor
You’ll discover the once-abandoned, gorgeously renovated 16th-century Easton Walled Gardens with their Victorian flourishes with young horticulturalist Arthur Parkinson as part of this trip.
You’ll also get to wander around the Royal Horticultural Society's innovative northern flagship, the RHS Harlow Carr, one of the oldest medieval manor houses in the UK, Haddon Hall, and Hardwick Hall, a Elizabethan country house amid orchards, woodlands, and roses - and in-between those relax in a Peak District manor-house hotel and spa.
When? June 2024
Combine Loire châteaux and Monet’s garden on a tour of the 'Garden of France'
The Loire Valley is world-famous for its magnificent châteaux and their superb gardens, along with churches and cathedrals and fabulous French cuisine. Among icons you’ll visit on this marvellous tour are Chenonceau, Villandry, Chinon, and Amboise, while you’ll also enjoy idyllic landscapes in spades in this vineyard-dotted region with its wine-cellar tours with tastings.
You’ll also get to venture up to Monet's house and garden at Giverny, to see the sublime Japanese water garden that inspired some of his most famous works, and the spectacular Château de Fontainebleau, which includes the largest formal garden in Europe, Le Grand Parterre.
When? May 2024
A horticultural hurrah in the Atlantic's 'floating garden'
Renowned for its volcanic landscape and lush gardens, Madeira – a.k.a 'The Floating Garden in the Atlantic' – grows a diverse array of flora from the purple-bloomed jacaranda trees, rare orchids to bird of paradise flowers. See them all in their glory on a garden tour of the Botanical Gardens, Monte Palace Tropical Garden and Palheiro Gardens.
A highlight of this trip is tickets to the annual Madeira Flower Festival, where floral-filled classic cars parade along Avenida do Mar and Comunidades Madeirenses in Funchal.
When? May 2024
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Visit the rolling estate gardens in the Garden of England
Stay a little closer to home and enjoy a quintessential garden holiday in Kent, aka the Garden of England. Named after its sheer abundance of orchards and hop gardens, the southeastern county and bordering Sussex are jam-packed with some magnificent gardens to explore. Take a garden tour of the roses and lavender beds in Pashley Manor, visit the romantic woodland glades and walled gardens in Scotney Castle or enjoy a stroll around Great Comp Garden, the grounds of a beautiful Georgian farmhouse.
A highlight of any trip to Kent is Sissinghurst Castle, home to possibly Kent's most famous gardens. The Grade I parkland was created by poet and author, Vita Sackville-West, and her husband, Harold Nicolson, who were particularly charmed by the views of the estate from the top of the castle's Elizabethan Tower. You'll also get to meet designer Sarah Raven and listen to a special talk.
When? June 2024
Go garden Scilly on the UK's most southwesterly archipelago
White-sand beaches, crystal clear waters and some spectacular gardens, the Isles of Scilly are often confused with somewhere more tropical. While the archipelago off the southwest of England has five inhabited islands, this trip is based on the main island of St Marys. After breakfast in The Atlantic Hotel, take a boat trip over to the other islands and witness some of its famous wildlife, including dolphins, whales and the Atlantic grey seal.
Another highlight of the trip is a day tour of Tresco, where you'll discover Tresco Abbey Garden, a 19th-century garden. Known as 'Kew without the glass', this beautiful botanical gardens grows legions of subtropical plants and rare species from more than 80 countries. You'll be joined by Julian Branscombe, Chief Executive of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.
When? April and September 2024
Looking for more inspiration for your next holiday? Grab a cuppa and browse our brochure packed with unique escapes.
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