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Springtime
in Japan
April
16-27, 2011. 12 days, 10 nights
Land Price: $5995; Single Supplement: $995
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum 20
members
THIS PEAK SPRING BLOOMING-SEASON TOUR TAKES IN MANY OF JAPAN’S MOST FAMOUS GARDENS, TEMPLES, CASTLES AND SHRINES. We’ll explore imperial palaces, get an insider’s view of the machiya, or historic townhouses of the Kyoto merchants, enjoy a scenic cruise through the Naruto Straits, tour and taste at a centuries-old sake brewery, and savor a day in the company of one of Japan’s premier garden designers. Starting out with five nights in Kyoto, the “garden of Japan,” and finishing up with three nights in cosmopolitan Tokyo, we travel at a relaxed pace, enjoying luxurious accommodations and the best of Japanese cuisine throughout. From medieval Ryoanji Temple, site of Japan’s premier dry garden; to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, founded in 710 and identically reconstructed every 20 years; to Korakuen, arguably the country’s finest landscape garden; to Saihoji Temple, the “Moss Temple,” first built in the 8th century and famous for its lush carpet of over 120 varieties of moss—we’ll learn first-hand why this island nation is so celebrated for its gardens.
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For more details on this tour, send us an email.
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TOSHIE MIMURA
Officially licensed English-speaking guide Toshie Mimura, born and raised in Japan, has been leading tours of that country since 1984. While earning her university degree, she spent time as an exchange student in Australia. It was there that she decided to pursue a career as a tour leader, in order to help visitors to Japan better understand her country’s history and culture. Specializing in Japanese arts and gardens, and having studied the famous gardens of other countries, in particular England and France, Toshi is passionate about her own garden, where there are always flowers in bloom, regardless of the season.
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Springtime
in the Cotswolds
A Garden Lover’s Dream
May
7-15, 2011. 9 days, 7 nights
Land Price: $3795; Single Supplement: $495
An Encore Performance Tour. Maximum 18
members
SEVEN
DAYS BASKING IN THE TIMELESS BEAUTY OF SPRING GARDENS, while based
at an award-winning country house hotel: such is the setting for
this unpack-only-once tour. Corse Lawn House, located in the picturesque,
historic region of southern England known as the Cotswolds, was
named “Country Hotel of the Year” by the prestigious Good Hotel
Guide in 2005, and consistently receives rave reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
It will be our home for the duration. The itinerary features a wide
variety of public and private gardens and manor houses—among
them Lawrence Johnson's iconic Hidcote Manor, Major Wills' lovely
Misarden Park, Helena Gerrish's delightful High Glanau Manor, and
Barbara and Ian Pollards' dazzling Abbey House Gardens. A day at
the Malvern Spring Gardening Show, the Royal Horticultural Society's
first event of the season, celebrated for its spectacular floral
displays, puts the finishing touches on a glorious week.
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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ALAN CROSS
Born and raised in Scotland, Alan Cross graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in law. After working for many years as an investment banker in Argentina, Brazil, the Bahamas, France, and the US, he returned to the UK in 1991, to obtain his credentials as a Blue Badge Guide. Now a resident of London, Alan regularly leads tours of Scotland and England, specializing in castles, gardens, history, music, and the arts. During his five years with COOPERSMITH'S, he has made a name for himself as an extraordinary tour leader.
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Gardens
& Castles of Southwest Wales
& the Chelsea Flower Show
May
15-25, 2011. (11 days, 9 nights)
Land Price: $4795; Single Supplement: $695
WALES ONLY (9 days, 7 nghts)
Land Price: $4195; Single Supplement: $495
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum 16
members
A
COUNTRY WITHIN A COUNTRY, WALES OFFERS GORGEOUS SCENERY, enchanting
singsong accents, a long and complex history, and a number of Great
Britain’s most beautiful gardens. Ty Mawr Mansion—situated
near Lampeter, Ceredigion, in the far southwest corner of the country,
where many locals still speak the ancient Welsh language—was
given the prestigious “Guest Accommodation of the Year” award by
the Automobile Association (UK) in 2007-2008. It will be our idyllic
home-away-from-home for an entire week. We’ll tour half-a-dozen
noteworthy private gardens that rarely open to the public; watch
bottlenose dolphins while cruising scenic Cardigan Bay; explore
photogenic medieval castles; and ride a Victorian narrow-gauge steam
railway through luxuriant countryside. We conclude with an optional
day at London's inimitable Chelsea Flower Show, where the world's
top garden designers come to show off their latest creations.
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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JANE BRAND
Blue Badge Guide Jane Brand, born in Cambridge, has been leading upscale tours of the UK since the early 1990’s. An art historian and garden enthusiast who regularly lectures at such prestigious venues as the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, she is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and Swedish. Jane has also led tours throughout the Continent, primarily for American groups specializing in gardens, textiles, art, and archeology. This will be her third year on the COOPERSMITH’S team, and already she has built up quite a following.
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Gardens,
Chateaux & Fine Arts of Normandy & Brittany
May
25-June 4, 2011. 11 days, 9 nights
Land Price: $6395; Single Supplement: $795
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum
16 members
VISITS
TO SEVERAL OF FRANCE’S MOST EXQUISITE ESTATES—among them the
Edwin Lutyens/Gertrude Jekyll-designed gardens at Le Bois des Moutiers
and Princess Sturza’s heavenly Le Vasterival—highlight this
tour of two of France’s most appealing regions. We'll be pampered
in superior (upgraded) accommodations at three highly-rated hotels,
savor gourmet meals, bask in the beauty of Monet’s home and garden
at Giverny, explore enchanting Mont Saint-Michel, and take a fascinating
and emotional tour of the landing beaches and memorials associated
with the D-Day invasion. Museums to be visited include the Musee
Americain at Giverny, Musee des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, and Musee de
la Tapisserie, home to the 940-year-old Bayeux Tapestry. Members
can visit Paris before or after the tour, or start out in London
with the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show, then travel on the Eurostar
through the Chunnel to the French capital. [Tour price includes
first-class travel on the TGV (high-speed train) from Rennes to
Paris.]
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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CÉLIA RIBEIRO
Portuguese-born Célia Ribeiro
graduated with a degree in Tourism Science from the University
of Lisbon. Fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian,
she has been leading tours throughout Europe, since 1990.
Specializing in European art—and, in her own words,
“deeply in love” with her profession—Celia joined the
COOPERSMITH'S team for the 2006 tour season, and has been
acclaimed, and adored, by everyone who has traveled with
her.
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Gardens,
Castles & Stately Homes
of Durham & Northumberland
June
26-July 5, 2011. (10 days, 8 nights)
Land Price: $4595; Single Supplement: $695
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum 16 members
ONE
OF BRITAIN'S FINEST CASTLE HOTELS—Langley Castle, in England’s
sparsely populated, ruggedly beautiful northeastern-most county
of Northumberland—and the highly acclaimed Clow Beck House,
in rural County Durham, provide our memorable “homes away from home”
on this all-new Limited Edition Tour. Both hotels are celebrated
for their large, strikingly decorated, and individually themed rooms,
luxuriant landscaping, and gourmet cuisine. We’ll savor exclusive,
owner-led tours of private gardens, several of which seldom open
to the public; visit historic castles and manor houses; explore
portions of 1,900-year-old Hadrian's Wall; and revel in the majesty
of Durham Cathedral, an 11th-century architectural marvel. Other
highlights include picturesque Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island,
and the superb Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle, with its world-class
collections of paintings, furniture, porcelain, silver, and jewelry.
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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ALAN CROSS
Born and raised in Scotland, Alan Cross graduated from Edinburgh University with a degree in law. After working for many years as an investment banker in Argentina, Brazil, the Bahamas, France, and the US, he returned to the UK in 1991, to obtain his credentials as a Blue Badge Guide. Now a resident of London, Alan regularly leads tours of Scotland and England, specializing in castles, gardens, history, music, and the arts. During his five years with COOPERSMITH'S, he has made a name for himself as an extraordinary tour leader.
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Gardens, Homes & Haunts
Of
English Artists, Writers & Horticulturists
July
9-19, 2011. 11 days, 9 nights
Land Price: $3995; Single Supplement: $495
An Exceptional Value Tour. Maximum
20 members
THIS
PEAK BLOOMING-SEASON JOURNEY THROUGH ENCHANTING EAST ANGLIA and the
verdant Southeast of England adds a new and unique dimension to the
garden tour genre. Nearly all the gardens we visit have either been
designed by, or else are intimately connected with famous painters,
sculptors, novelists, architects, or horticulturists. From the homes
and haunts of Jane Austen, Christopher Lloyd, and Charles Dickens,
to those of Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf, and Vanessa Bell,
we'll see some of the most memorable examples of garden design and
plant selection anywhere. We'll also be treated to world-class works
of art at Henry Moore's sculpture park, Petworth House's Turner collection,
Knole House's state rooms—filled with paintings by Gainsborough,
Van Dyck, and Reynolds—and the Cass Foundation's fabulous outdoor
gallery of 21st-century British sculpture.
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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JANE BRAND
Blue Badge Guide Jane Brand, born in Cambridge, has been leading upscale tours of the UK since the early 1990’s. An art historian and garden enthusiast who regularly lectures at such prestigious venues as the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, she is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and Swedish. Jane has also led tours throughout the Continent, primarily for American groups specializing in gardens, textiles, art, and archeology. This will be her third year on the COOPERSMITH’S team, and already she has built up quite a following.
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Piedmont
& the Italian Lakes
An Embarrassment of Riches
September
10-20, 2011. 11 days, 9 nights
Land Price: $6795; Single Supplement: $895
A Luxury Edition Tour. Maximum
16 members
PIEDMONT, TUCKED AWAY IN ITALY’S NORTHWEST CORNER, has long been a center of wealth and prosperity. Turin, its major city and birthplace of the Risorgimento, or unification movement, is home to many of Italy’s grandest residences, as well as a number of fascinating museums. In the nearby Italian Lakes, we visit the romantic Borromean Islands, explore captivating Orta San Giulio and magical Bellagio, and soak up some of the most dramatic scenery in all of Europe. The castles and villas of this region, with their luxuriant, centuries-old gardens and breathtaking views of lakes backed by snowcapped mountains, are in a class by themselves. On this Luxury Edition Tour we’ll revel in superior (upgraded) accommodations at three highly-rated hotels, savor gourmet meals and wine-tastings, gain invaluable, hands-on experience in a cooking class with a well-known chef, and ride the heralded “Centovalli” train to the stately Lake Maggiore resort of Locarno, Switzerland.
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up or down the page to see other tours, in chronological order.
For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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CÉLIA RIBEIRO
Portuguese-born Célia Ribeiro
graduated with a degree in Tourism Science from the University
of Lisbon. Fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian,
she has been leading tours throughout Europe, since 1990.
Specializing in European art—and, in her own words,
“deeply in love” with her profession—Celia joined the
COOPERSMITH'S team for the 2006 tour season, and has been
acclaimed, and adored, by everyone who has traveled with
her.
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Gardens
of Paradise: Summertime
New Zealand’s North Island
February
6-19, 2012. 14 days, 11 nights
Land Price: $4695; Single Supplement: $895
A Limited Edition Tour. Maximum 16
members
NEW
ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH A MILD CLIMATE that
allows for an incredibly wide range of flora. Extended stays in
three dramatically different parts of the island, all of them rich
in gardens and picture postcard beauty, give us in-depth views of
each. We start out in Wellington, New Zealand’s photogenic, urbane,
and visitor-friendly capital. The city’s Botanic Garden, begun in
1869, occupying over 60 acres on a hillside overlooking the city,
is among the loveliest and most interesting of its kind in either
hemisphere. From there we venture north to Devonport, a charming
Victorian seaside town that looks as though it could still be in
the 19th Century, yet which is only minutes by ferry from the bustle
of downtown Auckland. The tour concludes in Northland with four
nights in the idyllic Bay of Islands, where we enjoy an exhilarating
dolphin-watching cruise, stroll through an ancient kauri forest,
and delve into the complex history of this captivating country.
[Tour price does not include airfare from Wellington or Kerikeri
to Auckland. These fares normally run $50-$100 per flight.]
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For a complete day-by-day itinerary of this tour, send us an email.
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MALCOLM CAMPBELL
New Zealander Malcolm
Campbell worked as a conservationist with various government
agencies for over twenty years. He is well-versed in coastal
marine environments and ornithology, and is an expert on
the indigenous Maori peoples. After leading a number of
Smithsonian study tours, Malcolm joined the COOPERSMITH’S
team In 2000, when he became an overnight success with his
personable manner and broad knowledge of his native land.
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