Depart From: North America for overnight transatlantic flights.

Morning: Transfers by private car to Chatham.

Lunch: In hotel dining room.

Afternoon: Free afternoon. Introduction to the programme with Jane Longland, our Course Director, at 5:00 pm. Welcome meeting and introductions.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Bridgewood Manor

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in hotel dining room.

Morning: Our lecture this morning considers "10th to 17th Century Gardens" and "The 18th Century English Landscape School"

Lunch: Lunch out.

Afternoon: Explore the town of Rye whilst taking the coastal route to Great Dixter in Sussex. Marvel at the colour schemes of Christopher Lloyd's garden at Great Dixter and see Lutyens' original garden designs as they remain today. Great Dixter was the family home of Christopher Lloyd, who devoted his lifetime to creating one of the most experimental, exciting and constantly changing gardens of our time. Incorporating many medieval buildings, the gardens surround the house, each complementing the other. There is a wide variety of interest from yew topiary, carpets of meadow flowers, the colourful tapestry of mixed borders (including the famous Long Border), natural ponds, a formal pool and the exuberant Exotic Garden.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Bridgewood Manor

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in hotel dining room.

Morning: Hear two lectures: "Victorian Gardens" and "Edwardian Gardens".

Lunch: Packed lunch.

Afternoon: Take an excursion to Canterbury, then discover Goodnestone Park Gardens-a haven of beautiful tranquillity hidden away in south-east Kent. The gardens have many centuries of history behind them and have been created by generations of the FitzWalter family who have lived here since they built the house. The gardens have been brought to their present level of acclaimed quality during the last forty years.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Bridgewood Manor

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in hotel dining room.

Morning: This morning our lecture brings us up to date with "Modern Gardens" before a video of the Chelsea Flower Show. We then travel to one of England's most famous gardens at Sissinghurst Castle.

Lunch: Lunch out.

Afternoon: Sissinghurst Castle Gardens is the creation of Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson. Surrounded by lovely unspoilt Wealden countryside Sissinghurst is a treasure trove for gardeners with romantic little compartments (rooms) filled with colourful floral displays, lakeside and woodland walks all in the intimate setting in the grounds of an Elizabethan mansion.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Bridgewood Manor

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel.

Morning: Transfer by coach to the Cotswolds via RHS Wisley, Woking. The Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley is one of Britain’s best loved garden with 97ha (240 acres) offering a fascinating blend of the beautiful with practical and innovative design and cultivation techniques. For many, it is the beauty and tranquility of the garden that captures the imagination, with its richly planted borders, luscious rose gardens and the exotica of the glasshouses, but a closer look reveals the real value of Wisley. In the trials fields, the finest flowers and vegetables are identified from the countless new introductions. Elsewhere in the garden, cultivation techniques, such as composting or pleaching, are tried and tested, and a series of model gardens answers the needs of a variety of conditions and circumstances.

Lunch: Lunch out.

Afternoon: Transfer continues.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Cheltenham Chase Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Explore the "Jewel of the Cotswolds" on a field trip to Chipping Campden as we pass through the surrounding landscape of undulating valleys , quiet rivers and idyllic villages. We then visit Hidcote Manor Gardens, one of celebrated 20th-century garden in the beautiful North Cotswolds. Walks around the garden reveal an Arts & Crafts masterpiece with a series of outdoor rooms each with its own unique character. Hidcote is nestled in the Cotswolds with stunning panoramas across the Vale of Evesham.

Lunch: We take lunch out at Kiftsgate.

Afternoon: The Arts and Crafts theme continues at Kiftsgate Court Garden-made by Heather Muir with much help from Major Johnston of Hidcote. A woodland garden steps down the hillside to a half-moon swimming pool. Many features are typical of the Arts and Crafts period: herbaceous borders, a four square garden, a white garden, a yellow border, a rockery, lawns and a bluebell wood. We have a brief stop in Stow on the Wold before returning to the hotel.

Dinner: In the hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Cheltenham Chase Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Journeying to the beautiful Cotswold town of Painswick we explore the honey-stone architecture before stepping back in time to the flamboyant English Rococo period at Painswick Rococo Garden. This gem of a garden, which was originally laid out in the 18th century, is set in a hidden Cotswold valley with magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. Enjoy an exclusive introduction by the Director of the Painswick Rococo Garden Trust, who also happens to be a remote decendent of the original 18th century creator

Lunch: Participants own choice.

Afternoon: Free afternoon.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Cheltenham Chase Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: After an early breakfast and start our excursion to Bath takes us through history from Roman Baths to magnificent Georgian crescents . Then explore one of the finest examples of 18th century landscape gardens at Stourhead. Stourhead is more a work of art than a garden with its classical Italianate temples, grottoes, lake and bridges and Palladian-style house.

Lunch: Lunch out at Stourhead gardens restaurant.

Afternoon: Field trip continues.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Cheltenham Chase Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: We transfer to London via the birthplace of Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace. The Palace is a Baroque masterpiece surrounded by a Capability Brown designed park and lake. The magnificent water terrace gardens are the work of French architect Achille Duchene.

Lunch: Packed lunch.

Afternoon: The transfer continues and we arrive at the hotel for check-in.

Dinner: In the hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Radisson Vanderbilt.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Our gardens experience culminates in a field trip to world famous Chelsea Flower Show. We depart early to avoid the crowds.

Lunch: Participants own choice.

Afternoon: The coach returns to the hotel at 2:30pm.

Dinner: In hotel dining room.

Evening: Free evening.

Lodging: Radisson Vanderbilt.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: Full English breakfast in the hotel dining room unless departures are too early.

Morning: Car transfers to the airport for transatlantic flights.

Meals Included: Breakfast