Chelsea Flower Show 2027 & Gardens in Kent & Sussex Tour

With direct access from London Heathrow Airport, guests can check into the RIU Plaza Victoria hotel from 14:00. We've chosen this hotel not only for its comfort but also its location. From here you can explore some of the iconic London landmarks and areas on foot, including the British Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Covent Garden, Regent Street, Soho, Hyde Park and Oxford Street.

Join your tour guide and fellow garden enthusiasts for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant (included).

Doddington Place is a 10-acre garden surrounding a Victorian mansion. The garden features terraced lawns, a formal sunken garden, a rock garden and a recently restored Edwardian wild garden. The wooded areas offer tranquil walking and wide views of the surrounding countryside.

The Italianate terrace is adorned with statues, urns and a stone balustrade. In spring, the wooded areas have strong displays of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias alongside a variety of bulbs and perennials.

The rock garden holds a variety of alpine plants and succulents set among rock formations and small ponds. The Edwardian wild garden, with its winding paths and diverse plantings, provides a quieter contrast to the formal areas of the garden.

Hole Park is a privately owned estate set within 200 acres of classic parkland, with wide views across the hills, woodlands and fields of the Kentish Weald. In May, the gardens are at their best: tulips, roses and clematis in the formal areas, impressive standard wisterias in the vineyard garden, and broad plantings of rhododendrons and azaleas.

The meadows hold wild orchids alongside the architectural spires of camassia. The sundial garden features an oval window cut through the topiary hedge with a view across the Wealden countryside.

We leave Hole Park and head to Ashdown Park Hotel, one of the finest country house hotels in Sussex. We'll spend the next three nights at this hotel. Dinner here is included during our stay.

Long Barn's three-acre formal garden was created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson in the early 20th century. They acquired the house in 1915, attaching a 16th-century barn to create the distinctive property seen today. Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived here from 1936 to 1938 and left their mark on the garden. After Sackville-West and Nicolson moved to Sissinghurst in 1932, the property was sold in 1945. The garden remains largely original and is maintained with care by its current owners.

We then continue to Goddards Green, an atmospheric private garden full of character and interest. This is a garden where thoughtful planting, structure and setting come together beautifully, offering a more intimate contrast to some of the grander estates on the tour. Gardens such as this provide a valuable insight into the diversity of English garden-making and the creativity that can be achieved on a more personal scale.

After our visits, we return to Ashdown Park Hotel to rest before dinner (included).

After breakfast we travel to High Beeches, one of the outstanding Sussex woodland and water gardens on this tour. Created in 1906 by Colonel Giles Loder, a cousin of the owner of Leonardslee, High Beeches extends over 25 acres and holds the UK's National Collection of Stewartia, a relative of the camellia.

As we are visiting the garden in spring we expect to see sheets of bluebells in between glades of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias, all of which should be in flower at the time of our visit, as well as many rare trees and shrubs. The many benches spread throughout the property will entice you to explore and admire the spring colours at leisure.

We next travel to Lower Beeding and visit Leonardslee, one of the finest and largest woodland gardens in England. Leonardslee was created by the plantsman Sir Edmund Loder in 1887 on 250 acres of land on the edge of Wealden Forest. With panoramic views towards the South Downs, Leonardslee was designed around the site's natural features. There are woodland walks, grassy glades and seven lakes, all of which provide a perfect setting for the many rare plants we will see in blossom during our visit to this exceptional woodland garden.

Leonardslee is especially noted for its rhododendrons and during our tour we will be sure to come across the very special scented Rhododendron x loderi, first cultivated on the property. With rhododendrons lining the paths in abundance, we will also come across sheets of bluebells in the woodland and on the banks of the lakes and streams we will find densely planted candelabra primulas, lysichitons and gunneras.

We return to our hotel for dinner (included).

In 1930 Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson created Sissinghurst Castle Garden around a moated Elizabethan mansion. Their garden has become extremely influential, helped partly by Sackville-West's writing in which she documents the garden's development. The garden is designed around a series of axial walks, each terminating with a statue or some other garden element. Enclosed garden compartments open out from each walkway and many have a seasonal theme.

During our spring visit we'll experience the spectacular Lime Walk, where drifts of bulbs create a rich tapestry of colour in keeping with Nicolson's original meticulous planning. Other parts of the garden have specific colour schemes. For example, you'll find the White Garden next to the Priest's House and the Cottage Garden, which is planted mainly in orange and yellow. Sissinghurst Castle Garden was given to the National Trust on the understanding that, as per Nicolson's wishes, it should be kept up to date with new plants. Although the original design thankfully remains unaltered, new plants are introduced very much in line with principles set out by Gertrude Jekyll.

Great Dixter is one of the great historic gardens in East Sussex. Built in 1450, the large timber-framed house was bought by Christopher Lloyd's father in 1910 and restored by the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The gardens, once a farmyard, were designed by Lutyens. Part of the reason why Great Dixter has become so famous and influential is because of the planting style introduced there by Christopher Lloyd and taught by him over many years at the local horticultural college. His planting style is characterised by the way in which he managed to combine plants in harmonious groupings where plants of different heights, colours and leaf texture weave together into a unified whole.

This style of gardening is often referred to as tapestry gardening and has been copied throughout the world. Experimentation has always been central to Lloyd's gardening approach and nowhere more can this be seen than in his long border, a spectacular mixture of shrubs, climbers, perennials and annuals. After Lloyd's death the garden has been looked after by Fergus Garrett and remains one of the most exciting and influential gardens in England.

After our visit, we travel back to our London hotel and get ready to attend the Chelsea Flower Show the following morning.

Make your own arrangements for dinner.

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 RIU Plaza Victoria. 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.

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 the hotel in the early afternoon, allowing you to relax or explore London for the rest of the day.

Please join us this evening for a group farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Checkout of the hotel will be 12 noon. After check-out, travel the short distance to London Heathrow Airport for your onward flight or perhaps you'll stay in the UK for a little longer. Either way, you leave with lasting memories of some exceptional gardens.