Private Gardens of Southwest UK including Wildflowers, Birdlife and History of the Remote Islands cruise

On the way to Portsmouth, we visit the RHS Garden Wisley, where your Botanical Guide, Colin Crosbie, was head gardener for many years. Enjoy a tour here with Colin to learn more about this garden, which is important for the Royal Horticultural Society. We then visit Painshill Garden, a beautiful landscape garden created in the 18th century by Charles Hamilton as a living painting. This afternoon, we board the MS Hebridean Sky in Portsmouth. The ship will be our home for the next 10 nights; settle into your cabin before enjoying a Welcome Dinner. 

Stay: 10 Nights, MS Hebridean Sky

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Arrive this morning in Fowey, along the Cornish Coast. Visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which occupy one of England’s most mysterious estates. Continue to Caerhays Estate, with its vast collection of camellias and rhododendrons and home to the National Magnolia Collection.  Head back to the ship as we set sail for the Scilly Isles. 

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Spend the morning on traffic-free Tresco, walking its idyllic lanes from the beach to the subtropical Abbey Gardens, home to more than 20,000 species of plants from over 80 countries. Enjoy time to wander the paths at your own pace before sailing to St Martins Island with its expansive beaches, dramatic coastline and cosy granite cottages. A frost-free island, it is home to a host of exotic plants, colonies of seabirds and rare marine life. We take a walk around the island in search of wildflowers, including the scarlet pimpernel and Jersey cudweed. 

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Arrive at Fishguard where you will have the option of spending the morning walking Pembrokeshire’s most dramatic coastal headland on the rugged circular walk, just a few miles away from St David’s, Wales’s smallest city. Marvel at the island-dotted seascape as you traverse the wild landscape, teeming with rocky outcrops, prehistoric monuments, and diverse coastal wildlife. Alternatively visit Dyffryn Fernant Garden, a relatively new garden created from scratch in 1996. It has quickly become one of the most interesting and innovative gardens in Wales. The garden is known for its eclectic mix of plants and planting styles, and it is nestled in a secluded valley with stunning views of the Preseli Mountains. Enjoy free time in Fishguard this afternoon.

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Spend the day in Ireland visiting three exceptional gardens around the Waterford region. Mount Congreve Gardens is home to one of the ‘Great Gardens of the World’, including one of the world’s largest private collections of plants. Curraghmore Estate was the home of the 9th Marquess of Waterford. Explore the house and gardens, including the Shell House, and artwork from the 18th and 19th centuries. This afternoon, choose to either visit Lismore Castle, where you can explore the garden, as well as one of Ireland’s most famous fisheries and contemporary art gallery. Alternatively, take a tour of the famous Waterford Crystal Factory. Afterwards, follow the Waterford Viking Triangle, whose cluster of museums detail the city’s history.  

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Arrive in the Dublin port of Dún Laoghaire, then travel south to Powerscourt Estate, which is comprised of a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statues and ornamental lakes. Continue to Mt Usher, one of Monty Don’s favourite gardens, and a world-class example of a Robinsonian garden. This afternoon, choose to either visit a private garden or perhaps take a city tour of Dublin. 

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Arrive back in Wales, where we visit Bodnant Garden, renowned as one of the most beautiful gardens in the UK. This Grade I-listed historic garden comprises formal gardens, shrub-filled glades, meadows and water gardens. Afterwards, visit Snowdonia National Park and travel aboard the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which has been described as one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world. On a clear day, the view from the train extends all the way to Ireland. 

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Arrive into Belfast to enjoy a tour of the city including the Cathedral Quarter, St Geroge’s Market and learn about the layers of history that make Belfast such a compelling place to visit. We also visit the Titanic Experience to learn more about the ill-fated vessels history. This afternoon visit Northern Ireland’s much loved family home, Mount Stewart, located on the shores of Strangford Lough. The garden was planted by Edith, Lady Londonderry who had a passion for bold planting schemes. 

• Breakfast
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This morning you can choose to visit one of two fascinating Scottish Gardens, firstly visit the twenty-acre Arduaine Gardens created on bare lands at the turn of the century, well known for its collection of rhododendrons. Alternatively visit Crarae Gardens, Britian’s finest example of a Himalayan-style garden, with tumbling waterfalls and rippling burn. The garden was created by Lady Grace Campbell, the aunt of intrepid plant hunter Reginald Farrer. This afternoon visit Ardmaddy Castle Garden set in a most spectacular setting. They are shielded to the north by mature woodlands, carpeted with bluebells and daffodils and protected from the Atlantic winds by the elevated Castle. 

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Arrive onto the Inner Hebrides Isle of Iona where we will visit the Abbey, founded by St Columba in 563 the Abbey has survived several Viking attacks and once housed a community of around 1200 Benedictine monks. We will then take a walk-in search of wildflowers including wild iris, yellow birds foot trefoil along with fields of buttercups. We will return to the ship where over lunch we will sail to the Aygyll Isle of Lunga to see the nesting slopes of the puffins.  Described as ‘a green jewel in a peacock sea’ this uninhabited Island is a designated site of special scientific interest to protect the marine life and seabird colonies of the area as well as rare and endangered plants including primrose, birdsfoot trefoil and orchids. Get up close to the islands thousands of breeding puffins, which live on the island.  

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

This morning after breakfast, we will disembark the ship in Oban, where we will travel through dramatic Scottish countryside past Loch Lomond to Glasgow or onto Edinburgh where your tour concludes. 

• Breakfast