Planning a trip to England and Scotland next <BR>July. Main interest is in the gardens there. <BR>Any recommendations.. Planning to spend two <BR>weeks traveling the countryside.

There are hundreds of garden open to the public in the UK. Plus on any given weekend, hundreds more private gardens open up for the Nat'l gardens scheme. So no matter where you decide to go there will be more gardens than you can possibly see. <BR> <BR>In Scotland my favs are (in no Particular order) Drummond Castle gardens (must be seen to be believed) Carae Gardens (but July will be a little late since it has mostly Rhoddy's; and azaleas), Crathes Castle, Edinburgh Botanic, Cawdor, Pitmenden, Inverewe (not to be missed), Culzean, Direlton, and Edzell Castle. These are spread throughout the country - all the way from the very northwest to Ayrshire to Edinburgh to the borders. And that is just in Scotland. <BR> <BR>The largeest concentration of gardens in England is probably in Kent/East Sussex. Sissinghurst, Scotney castle, Penshurst Place, Hever castle, leeds Castle, Walmer. <BR> <BR> <BR>And there are many wonderful gardend in/around London - Kew, Hampton Court, the Physic garden, Kensington Gdns. <BR> <BR>But every single county has an abundance - so just pick one or two areas and concentrate on them rather than trying to see everything. If you want more info send me an e-mail.

Have a look at the website http://www.visitbritain.com/gardens/ <BR> <BR>A good tip for garden visiting. In the summer there are lots of charity openings of private gardens. You will often see posters advertising these locally. It's a good opportunity to see small gardens and to see private houses. You usually get a bun and a cuppa too.

Another good web site is that of the National Trust <BR>www.nationaltrust.co.uk <BR> <BR>They run a great number of properties and gardens in the UK. <BR> <BR>Angela

When you visit "visitbritain.com", you could order a free map of gardens, it lists all the major ones plus some details. <BR> <BR>If you plan to visit many gardens, it would be a good idea to become a member of National Trust and RHS,because members are free to visit as many gardens as you wish, besides the benefits of quarterly magazines. <BR> <BR>There are so many wonderful gardens in UK. even after 8 years of doing garden tours on my own,I still haven't seen more than half of the major ones.

Toni, the Logan Garden on the southwest coast of Scotland, near Port Logan is amazing! It's a Royal Botanical garden that specializes in plants from the southern hemisphere. Have a grand time! <BR>

Hello Toni, <BR> <BR>Two of my favourites are Stourhead in Wiltshire (south of Bath) and Exbury Gardens in the New Forest (Hampshire). <BR> <BR>Steve

Websites of use include <BR> <BR>The National Gardens Scheme for England and Wales, includes a Garden <BR>Finder: you select by county and by date. http://www.ngs.org.uk <BR>If you enter "Gardens" on the National Trust site you get an alphabetical <BR>list of properties with good gardens. <BR>http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/themes.htm <BR>Selected English Heritage houses and castles with good gardens <BR>http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...x.asp?mkey=145 <BR> <BR>Welcome to Britain <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London

One I dont see above is the Younger botanical gardens, Dunoon.Huge arboretum.

Thank you all for such great input. <BR>I was just given a list of gardens the <BR>group might visit. Any comments would <BR>be appreciate. Mount Stuart Castle, Holker Hall, Levens Hall, Newby Hall, <BR>Biddulph Grange, Hadspen Gardens, RHS Wisley, Hampton Court Palace, Warwick Castle.

All of those (I'm not familiar w/ Holker Hall) are wonderful gardens -most except Wisley and Hampton Court are on what I would call the B list. (But understand that the A list has some of the most influential/gorgeous gardens in the world - B is pretty good) <BR> <BR>Warwick is not really known for it's gardens - it has lovely grounds but they are mainly a backdrop for the fabulous castle.

If you are flying to/from Gatwick, one of the local hotels has one of the more historically important gardens in England - Gravetye Manor, home to William Robinson. You might wish to stay there and take a walk round as your first/last stop. It is a luxury hotel. <BR> <BR>Their web site encourages questions on the subject. www.gravetyemanor.co.uk

You only mentioned England and Scotland. In my opinion one of the most beautiful gardens in the U.K. is Bodant Gardens located in North Wales just outside of Conwy. Absolutely stunning gardens located in a natural setting. For anyone interested in gardens, this is a "must see."

I don't think this article was mentioned: <BR> Fifty gardens, from "The Independent" newspaper <BR> http://www.independent.co.uk/50_Best...it/index.shtml <BR>

Fodors <BR> <BR>Elaine is right, and it was a jolly good article. I didn't list it because The Independent has a habit of wiping pages, and I find the ite marked as unfindable. A simple list of the gardens on the page is still on disc with me, so in case it's useful I copy it now. But it's little use, as it is unannotated. <BR> <BR>GARDENS IN ENGLAND <BR> <BR>For detail on any item enter <BR>http://www.independent.co.uk/50_Best...it/index.shtml <BR>and use "Search". These notes are from the Information supplement of the <BR>London newspaper "The Independent" <BR> <BR>By Type <BR> <BR>All Time Favourites <BR>Great Dixter, East Sussex <BR>Hatfield House, Herts <BR>Beth Chatto Gardens, Essex <BR>Bourton House, Glos <BR>Glebe Cottage, Devon <BR>Hadspen Gardens,Somerset <BR> <BR> <BR>Atmospheric Gardens <BR>1 Lister Road, E11 <BR>Oak Tree House, Norfolk <BR>Overbecks, Devon <BR> <BR> <BR>Designers' Gardens <BR>The Coach House, Dorset <BR>Heale Garden, Salisbury <BR>Mapperton, Dorset <BR> <BR>Exotic Gardens <BR>Biddulph Grange Garden, Staffs <BR>Rousham House, Oxon <BR>Stourhead, Wilts <BR>Stowe Landscape Gardens, Bucks <BR> <BR> <BR>Grand Gardens <BR>Chatsworth, Derbyshire <BR>37 Heath Drive, NW3 <BR>22 Loudoun Rd, NW8 <BR>Peckover House, Wisbech <BR>The Roof Gardens, W8 <BR> <BR> <BR>Kitchen Gardens <BR>Caerhays Castle, Cornwall <BR>Minterne, Dorset <BR>Tregrehan, Cornwall <BR> <BR> <BR>Landscape Gardens <BR>Blenheim Palace, Oxon <BR>Chastleton Glebe, Oxon <BR>Home Farm House, Suffolk <BR>Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxon <BR>West Dean Gardens, West Sussex <BR> <BR> <BR>Plantsmans' Gardens <BR>23 Beech Croft Road, Oxford <BR>Misarden Park, Glos <BR>Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire <BR>Rodmarton Manor, Glos <BR> <BR> <BR>Town Gardens <BR>Denmans, West Sussex <BR>Gresgarth Hall, Lancs <BR>Iford Manor Gardens, Wilts <BR>The Old Rectory, Glos <BR> <BR> <BR>Woodland Gardens <BR>Craigside, Northumberland <BR>Mount Stewart, Co Down <BR>The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew <BR>Waddesdon Manor, Bucks <BR> <BR>By Place <BR> <BR>London <BR>1 Lister Road, E11 <BR>37 Heath Drive, NW3 <BR>22 Loudoun Rd, NW8 <BR>The Roof Gardens, W8 <BR>The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew <BR> <BR>Sussex <BR>Great Dixter, East Sussex <BR>West Dean Gardens, West Sussex <BR>Denmans, West Sussex <BR> <BR>The West Country <BR>Stourhead, Wilts <BR>Heale Garden, Salisbury <BR>Iford Manor Gardens, Wilts <BR>Bourton House, Glos <BR>Rodmarton Manor, Glos <BR>Misarden Park, Glos <BR>The Old Rectory, Glos <BR>Hadspen Gardens,Somerset <BR>The Coach House, Dorset <BR>Minterne, Dorset <BR>Mapperton, Dorset <BR>Glebe Cottage, Devon <BR>Overbecks, Devon <BR>Caerhays Castle, Cornwall <BR>Tregrehan, Cornwall <BR> <BR>East Anglia <BR>Peckover House, Wisbech <BR>Oak Tree House, Norfolk <BR>Home Farm House, Suffolk <BR>Beth Chatto Gardens, Essex <BR> <BR>Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire <BR>Hatfield House, Herts <BR>Stowe Landscape Gardens, Bucks <BR>Waddesdon Manor, Bucks <BR> <BR>Oxfordshire <BR>Rousham House, Oxon <BR>Blenheim Palace, Oxon <BR>Chastleton Glebe, Oxon <BR>Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxon <BR>23 Beech Croft Road, Oxford <BR> <BR>Midlands and North <BR>Biddulph Grange Garden, Staffs <BR>Chatsworth, Derbyshire <BR>Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire <BR>Gresgarth Hall, Lancs <BR>Craigside, Northumberland <BR> <BR>Ben Haines