The HHA Garden of the Year Award is sponsored by Christie’s and has been won by some of Britain’s most beautiful gardens. No fewer than 5 of them surround magnificent stately homes that are within easy striking distance of Southampton, making them the perfect choice for garden loving cruise clients. With time for lunch in some carefully chosen traditional coaching inns, other highlights include:
- Exbury Gardens home to the world-renowned Rothschild Collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, rare trees and shrubs.
- The final resting place for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the remarkable 13th century All Saints Church, Minstead.
- The superb 18th century landscaped gardens surrounding a house built on a Cistercian monastery at Forde Abbey.
- The Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, awash with colour in the spring and summer and home to the famous Abbotsbury Swannery.
- The Pyramid shaped yew trees and formal gardens at spectacular 15th Century privately owned Athelhampton House.
- Choral Evensong in magnificent Salisbury Cathedral, one of the finest in England.
- A journey back into the mists of time at Old Sarum and Stonehenge.
- The beautiful 8-acre treasure garden at Heale House designed by Harold Peto in Edwardian and Tudor styles.
