Chelsea Flower Show 2027 & Gardens in the Cotswolds Tour

Guests can check into the RIU Plaza Victoria from 14:00. Located in central London with easy access from Heathrow Airport, the hotel is close to Victoria station and a short walk from many of London's most visited landmarks and neighbourhoods.

From here, Covent Garden, Regent Street, Soho, Hyde Park, Oxford Street and the West End are all within easy reach on foot.

In the evening, meet your tour leader and fellow travellers for a welcome dinner (included).

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the world's most prestigious garden event, held each May in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The show runs over five days; we give you a full day to explore at your own pace.

We leave the hotel early to arrive when the show opens. Every exhibitor — whether show garden, nursery or floral display — has been selected and judged to the same high standards. The Chelsea Gold Medal is one of the most coveted awards in horticulture, and the quality of work on display reflects the level of competition.

If this is your first visit, your tour leader will offer guidance on what to prioritise. After the show, the coach returns the group to the hotel. Those who prefer to stay on and explore Chelsea or the surrounding area are welcome to make their own way back in the evening.

Make your own arrangements for lunch and dinner.

After an early breakfast, we'll check out of our hotel and leave for the Cotswolds by private coach. Our first visit of the day is Pettifers. Behind a 17th century house we find a superb garden set in an open and elevated landscape. Pettifers is a plantsman's garden with deep borders planted with tulips, alliums, grasses and perennials, providing interest from spring to autumn. There is a paddock with an avenue of camassias. Many plants found in this garden are rare and unusual and will be of great interest to all who visit.

We then continue to Hidcote Manor, an Arts and Crafts masterpiece and one of Britain's greatest gardens. Its owner, the American plant collector Major Lawrence Johnston, started building a garden here after the First World War. He took inspiration from French and Italian garden styles and created walks, hedges and outdoor rooms, each with a different character. Over the years Johnston made many new plant introductions and rediscovered many forgotten species, many of which now bear the Hidcote name.

Later we make our way to the Arden Hotel, an elegant and sophisticated boutique hotel centrally located in Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the perfect place for us to stay for the next three nights of our tour.

Lunch is at your own arrangement today. We have arranged for you to join us for dinner at our hotel.

This morning we visit Cerney House Gardens , near Cheltenham. Set around a Victorian walled garden, Cerney House is a much loved family garden with an informal style of planting. Herbaceous borders are filled with old-fashioned favourites, roses and companion climbers, and there is also a productive kitchen garden, woodland walks and a wildflower bank.

Later we continue to Rodmarton Manor , an 8-acre Cotswold garden laid out as a series of outdoor rooms. The original design by Ernest Barnsley still survives today in the terraces, topiary, walled garden and herbaceous borders. Closer to the house the garden is formal in style, becoming less formal as it opens out into the surrounding countryside. Highlights include white borders, roses, lawns and a large kitchen garden.

We return to Stratford-upon-Avon in time to relax before dinner. Lunch is at your own arrangement today.

We have arranged for you to join us for dinner at our hotel.

This morning, we visit the gardens of Coughton Court, a 16th-century moated house. At the side of the house we find a white garden of clematis and perennials and an award-winning rose labyrinth. At the rear of the house we find formal beds planted with roses and perennials. Some of the signature plants in late spring and early summer are repeated plantings of roses, alliums, geraniums, violas and alchemilla, whilst the herbaceous borders are more sophisticated in both plant choice and colour palette.

Later we continue to Kiftsgate Court, our second garden of the day. Mention Kiftsgate to any gardener and roses immediately spring to mind, especially the legendary Rosa filipes 'Kiftsgate'. Kiftsgate Court house was built in the late 19th century on a magnificent hillside site, and the garden for which it has become famous was created just after the First World War. The garden is full of character and drama, with terraces, rich planting and far-reaching views across the countryside. Kiftsgate is all about texture, atmosphere and the use of colour, and our tour is timed to experience the garden at a particularly rewarding moment in the season.

Lunch is at your own arrangement today. After a full day of garden visits, we return to the Arden Hotel with enough time to rest before dinner.

We have arranged for you to join us for dinner at our hotel.

After breakfast and checkout, we begin our journey back towards London. Before leaving Stratford-upon-Avon, we take time to explore this historic market town on the River Avon, forever associated with William Shakespeare, the most famous writer in the English language. On arrival, we'll be joined by our local guide who will lead us through the town as we visit its principal attractions and hear more about its history and literary associations.

We then continue to Broughton Castle. Broughton Castle is a moated Elizabethan manor house with a walled garden laid out by Gertrude Jekyll. Around the house are lawns and herbaceous and mixed colour-themed borders which, weather permitting, should be looking especially fine during our visit. Elsewhere in the garden we'll come across a knot garden created in the 1890s from roses and lavender.

At the end of the visit, we return to London and check back into the RIU Plaza Victoria.

Make your own arrangements for lunch and dinner this evening.

This morning we visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The Temperate House is the largest remaining Victorian glasshouse in the world and houses a remarkable collection of rare and threatened temperate zone plants. Kew is one of the world's great botanic gardens, offering botanical richness alongside magnificent landscapes, historic glasshouses and inspiring horticultural displays.

We return to central London in the early afternoon, allowing you time to relax or explore more of the city at your own pace for the remainder of the day.

Please join us this evening for a group farewell dinner.

Checkout of the hotel will be at 12 noon. After check-out, travel the short distance to London Heathrow Airport for your onward flight or perhaps stay in the UK a little longer. You depart with lasting memories of the Chelsea Flower Show, the Cotswolds, and the exceptional gardens of the Cotswolds and surrounding counties.