Glorious British Gardens, 2024

Edinburgh, UK

SS
Sheila Stone Tours
  • Email address verified
12 reviews
May 11 - 24, 2024
Group size: 5 - 12
Glorious British Gardens, 2024
Edinburgh, UK

Sheila Stone Tours
  • Email address verified
12 reviews

May 11 - 24, 2024
Group size: 5 - 12

About this trip

This is a perfect tour for gardeners, dabblers, or just women who love to be in gardens. It starts in Edinburgh, where we visit secret gardens, have a catered picnic beside a hidden lake, and visit the Royal Botanic Gardens. We spend a morning learning about chocolate (with lots of tasting!) and go on a literary pub crawl in which we learn not a single thing about Scottish lit but have a great time anyway. In Glasgow, we make a stop at one of my favorite museums anywhere, eat lunch at a place recommended by Anthony Bourdain, and visit a very-different Royal Botanic Gardens there. Heading south, we stop at Alnwick Castle Gardens to see the largest cascading fountain in the country, tour their Poison Garden, and enjoy watering-can cocktails in a treehouse. From there, we spend a couple of nights in the ancient city of York, exploring the city and spending a day at the stately home and formal gardens of Castle Howard (featured in Brideshead Revisited and Downton Abbey). We end our tour in London seeking out tiny hidden gardens, gardens on top of skyscrapers, gardens in the ruins of churches, and a garden created in the 1600s to grow medicinal herbs. We spend a day at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and another day at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show.   


We eat great food, drink lovely drinks (either alcoholic or not), and get to know other fun garden girls!


Each participant gets a year membership in the Royal Horticultural Society, which gives free access to hundreds of gardens and a subscription to their esteemed magazine, The Garden.



What’s included

  • Accommodation
    ALL SINGLE ROOMS, NO EXTRA CHARGE
  • Ground transportation
    Trains, Trams, Buses, and the London Underground (Tube)
  • 23 Meals
  • All group admissions
  • All guided tours
    Local guides

What’s not included

  • International airfare
  • Airport transportation
    To and from the airport
  • Alcohol
  • Free time experiences
  • Trip Insurance
    Recommended

Available Packages

REGULAR PRICE

 Balance due by March 31, 2023.  PLEASE NOTE - AMEX IS NOT ACCEPTED. 

Deposit is non-refundable unless tour is cancelled, in which case, all monies will be returned.

$5,700
Deposit:$500

Available options

Edinburgh extra night
$300

Extra night in Edinburgh, Friday April 10th.  This is including breakfast.

Itinerary

DAY 1, SATURDAY
ARRIVAL IN EDINBURGH!

Arrival in Scotland!  Once you reach the hotel, you have time to settle in, freshen up, and relax a bit - or maybe go for a cobweb-clearing stroll down the Royal Mile. 

Dinner will be at a pub with street cred – Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. It was named after one of the inspirations behind Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Steak & ale pie?  Fish & chips? Or could you be tempted to try Haggis?? There are great veggie options too.  (Believe me, bad British food is a myth.)
 

In the evening, we go for a walk through Princes Street Gardens, underneath Edinburgh Castle, and past the Gothic spaceship that is the Scott Memorial.
 

Meal included: Dinner. 

Your Organizer


SS
Sheila Stone Tours
12 reviews
I’m Sheila Stone and I love travel so much that I started a tour company when I was 60. (Have I mentioned that I’m also a late bloomer?) I create and lead small groups of women to interesting places in Europe & Japan. I have also created some Speed Date a City weekends here in the States. My tours give women an opportunity to meet other women travelers and local women too. We support local businesses by staying in small hotels and eating at family restaurants as much as possible so this is travel you can feel good about!

Reviews

There was something for everyone on this trip: planned outings; suggested extras; free time to do whatever. Sheila, our tour guide, was her usual wonderful, fun self and that made the tour extra special. I especially enjoyed the chocolate factory tour, the outing to the Alps, the tramp through the Lavaux vineyards and the Olympic museum. Hearing some Queen tribute music at Montreux was an unexpected bonus. If one is looking for beautiful scenery, great history, delicious food and wine, this tour in Switzerland is a good choice.
By Berit H for Switzerland - Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, & Spa! 2024 on Oct 01, 2024
SG
I don’t know where I should even start this was my first tour with Sheila Stone and I had an amazing experience from the beginning as I had many questions about the tour. My tour from arriving to the airport to returning was all scheduled perfectly. My experience on the wine and cheese tour was absolutely stellar the group was amazing we all became family. The wine tour a must, Chillon Castle a must, the spa a must oh let me tell you the hotels we stayed absolutely beautiful. I absolutely love how professional and accommodating Sheila was with everyone in the group which is so important when traveling abroad. If you haven’t gone on a tour with Sheila you are missing out on an incredible experience. This is my truly personal experience I loved every single moment. I’ll be touring again with Sheila Tours next year 2025 to Austria and I can’t wait.
By Shunta G for Switzerland - Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, & Spa! 2024 on Sep 27, 2024
I loved the Switzerland tour with Sheila. We stayed in Montreux and Lausanne, exploring the cities and the surrounding area. We had a wonderful time at a chocolate factory and a cheese factory, on a walking tour of a winery (that had delicious wines), on a private tour of the 13th century Zylglogge (clock tower) in Bern, took in some of the Freddie Mercury celebrations, and visited Chillon Castle. We also experienced a clog-wheel train into the mountains to see some wonderful views of Lake Geneva and the Alps, and a funicular tram in the French town of Evian. We met new friends on our trip, ate delicious food, and enjoyed comfortable accommodation. Thanks, Sheila, for a great experience. Meredith Y.
By Meredith Y for Switzerland - Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, & Spa! 2024 on Sep 21, 2024
I had a great time and met some wonderful people. The accommodations was fantastic and food was amazing. Thanks Sheila!!!
By Quinzella M for Switzerland - Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, & Spa! 2024 on Sep 21, 2024
I recently traveled with Sheila Stone to Switzerland, for the Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, and Spa! 2024 tour. I had such a great time! I loved the cog-wheel train journey into the mountains, and the visit to Evian-les-Bains across Lake Geneva in France. the Zytglogge clock tour in Bern was fascinating, and Chillon Castle was magical. the hotels were lovely, the food was fantastic, the spa was wonderful, the company was exceptional. I highly recommend traveling with Sheila Stone!
By Colleen H for Switzerland - Chocolate, Cheese, Wine, & Spa! 2024 on Sep 16, 2024
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References

I recently traveled with Sheila and 11 wonderful women on the 2024 Glorious British Gardens Tour and, indeed, it was a glorious experience! Sheila worked extremely hard to plan an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime tour for us, and her hard work clearly paid off! We visited gardens in Scotland and England of every size, shape and context from the personal "back garden" of the Edinburgh caterer who treated us to a fabulous luncheon in her home, to huge RHS gardens like Harlow Carr--and everything in between! And the Chelsea Flower Show (top of my bucket list!) was absolutely astounding!! As a mad gardener, myself, these experiences were extremely special for me. But as you will clearly note from other reviews, Sheila also has an amazing talent at selecting incredibly delicious restaurants for each day. So if you are lucky enough to experience this tour, come hungry and be charmed by all the surprising and delicious meals you will eat! Overall, I highly recommend this tour! Sheila is thoughtful about every detail in her travel planning. She makes sure each traveler has what they need, be it a special dietary accommodation or detailed information about each day. She is energetic, well-organized, and flexible, as needed. So do yourself a favor--just go!!!
By Susie M on 23 Jul, 2024
We saw so many beautiful gardens, flowers, plants on the Glorious British Gardens trip! Highlights were the Royal Botanical Garden (Rhododendrons and azaleas - oh my!), Dr. Neal's garden, Alnwick Garden, Harlowe Carr (my fave!), Chelsea Physic Garden (wonderful!) and the Chelsea Flower Show was incredible - did not disappoint and I'd have loved several days at it! Sheila has great taste in food - all the restaurants she chose were delicious. Hotel location in Edinburgh was perfect! The timing for the trip gave us a wonderful opportunity to see SO many gorgeous flowers!
By Amy G on 22 Jul, 2024
I traveled with Sheila on the Japanese Gardens tour in April 2024. The tour was jam packed with gardens -- one more beautiful than the next. Sheila knows her gardens! And she is UNFLAPPABLE. All tours are made up of people whose personalities and priorities are not always in sync, and Shelia handled this with diplomacy and aplomb. She is a very kind person, and is sensitive to everyone's needs. I highly recommend her tours.
By Margaret B on 21 Jul, 2024
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