Coopersmith's Garden Tours for 2025 &2026

Spring Gardens and Stately Homes of
Kent & Sussex
May 14-21 2025. 8 days, 7 nights
Land price: $5695; single supplement: $895
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum 18 members

THE VERDANT SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ENGLAND - the ancient county of Kent, along with East and West Sussex - is known for having many of the country’s grandest and most fascinating treasure houses. It is also home to dozens of its finest gardens, many of which should be at or near their peak of beauty just as we arrive. This Unpack Once tour is based entirely at One Warwick Park, an acclaimed four-star hotel contained within tastefully renovated heritage buildings, in the historic Pantiles District of Royal Tunbridge Wells. From there we’ll venture out to see such well-known estates as Sissinghurst Castle, often referred to as England’s most beautiful garden; Chartwell House, Winston Churchill’s beloved country home; Great Dixter, erstwhile domain of the late, great garden designer, Christopher Lloyd; and Knole House, Britain’s largest private residence and childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, who later went on to create the extraordinary gardens at Sissinghurst. For a change of pace, we’ll visit magnificent Canterbury Cathedral, the oldest of England’s great Norman cathedrals, dating back to the 11th Century.

Stately Homes, Gardens & Castles
of North Wales
May 23-29, 2025. 7 days, 6 nights
Land Price: $7395; Single Supplement: $895
A Luxury Edition Tour. Maximum 18 members

Six nights at the elegant, historic Bodysgallen Hall Hotel in Llandudno, North Wales---known for its stunning interiors, old-world service, gourmet cuisine, and beautifully maintained 17th-century gardens---is our “home from home” for this late spring Luxury Edition Tour. Recipient of the Automobile Association’s “Hotel of the Year” in Wales, Bodysgallen is considered one of Great Britain’s most prestigious properties. Highlights of our time here will include Portmeirion, a miniature Tuscan fantasy hill-town and home of the colorful Portmeirion “Botanic Garden” dinnerware; Edward I’s world-famous castle/palaces at Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech, and Beaumaris; and Bodnant, widely acknowledged to be Wales' most beautiful garden. Home to a spectacular laburnum arch, Bodnant also features some of the country’s finest collections of magnolias and rhododendrons, many of which should be in full regalia when we arrive. Other “must-see” visits include Powis Castle, a grand, medieval country house surrounded by 300-year-old gardens, whose state rooms are brimming with priceless furniture, paintings, china, and tapestries; and Erddig, with its fully restored 18th-century garden that has something for everyone. We’ll savor gourmet cuisine at Bodysgallen’s 3 AA Rosettes restaurant, and delight in owner-led tours of more intimate gardens that rarely open to the public

Late Summer Gardens & Stately Homes
of Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire
September 15-22, 2025. 8 days, 7 nights
Land Price: $6595; Single Supplement: $995
A Luxury Edition Tour. Maximum 18 members

JUST BEYOND THE CLATTER AND COMMOTION OF THE GREATER LONDON AREA, to the North and Northwest of the metropolis, are the “Home Counties” of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Protected by the Greenbelt, “Bucks” and “Herts” boast some of Great Britain’s most storied gardens and stately homes. Highlights include Ascot, a grand 16th-century hunting lodge, later the country retreat of the Rothschilds; Cliveden, a glorious treasure house, formerly the home of Nancy Astor and the site of the infamous Profumo Scandal of the early 1960’s; and Hatfield House, a magnificent Jacobean estate and setting for dozens of movies and miniseries. Not-to-be-missed: Waddesdon Manor, another Rothschild estate, this one on an even more spectacular scale, built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 1870’s to display his extravagant collections, both inside and outside, and to entertain the fashionable world. We’ll also be treated to exclusive tours of smaller, private gardens which rarely open to the public. Home base for this end-of-summer Unpack Once, Luxury Edition tour, will be Hartwell House, a Jacobean mansion that was once the palatial refuge of the exiled Louis XVIII, now a much-acclaimed hotel and spa set in lush gardens, with gourmet cuisine, and operated by the National Trust.