English Lakeland Gardens: A selection of the finest gardens in the romantic setting of Cumbria

4 days | £2995 per person | 21 - 24 September 2026

A selection of the finest gardens in the romantic setting of Cumbria

The English Lake District is renowned for its dramatic beauty including England’s highest mountains, finest lakes and a host of sensational contrasting gardens. This is a region that has inspired many artists, poets and authors including William Wordsworth, the Lakeland poets and Beatrix Potter. Standing on the shores of Lake Windermere we find the Langdale Chase Hotel where we stay for the duration of the tour. The Victorian house dates to 1891 becoming a hotel in the 1930’s. It recently completed a sensitive and meticulous restoration that includes a new garden designed by Annie Guilfoyle around the original Thomas Mawson design. In addition, fabulously comfortable bedrooms, superb locally sourced food, walks through the gardens and to the water's edge, help to make this a memorable and inspirational holiday.

Day to day Itinerary

Day 1

The tour departs from Lancaster Railway Station, heading first to Gresgarth Hall. This rare and wonderful garden is the country home of Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd, an Italian born garden designer with an international reputation. Every detail is carefully thought through with much to see at all times of the year, including the fine productive kitchen garden. After a group lunch at a local inn, we drive to The Langdale Chase Hotel with time to settle in before a special walk around the Langdale Chase gardens that have been designed by Annie Guilfoyle. Weather permitting, we may even venture out onto the lake on the hotel’s own steam launch, before enjoying an evening meal together. This is our base for the next three nights.

Day 2

In the morning, we travel up North to Lowther Castle, to visit an exciting project designed by the well-known landscape designer Dan Pearson. Here you will discover, amongst many features, the Courtyard dominated by clipped hornbeam sentinels, their sculptured shape reflecting the castle architecture; the Parterre planted with bold combinations of herbaceous perennials, woolly grasses and clipped yews; and the Garden-in-the-Ruins, a fine example of naturalistic planting with a collection of botanical rarities. After a lovely lunch together at Lowther we will enjoy an exclusive visit to a very private garden in the Lake District.

Day 3

We start the day at Brantwood, former home of John Ruskin that overlooks Coniston Water. It was here that Ruskin sought solace from the pressures of fame and set about creating a ‘paradise of terraces’, heavily influenced by the Italian poet, writer and philosopher, Dante Alighieri. We will be given a tour of parts of the house before exploring the intricate gardens intended by Ruskin for the close observation of nature and philosophical reflection. We then head to the atmospheric formal gardens of Holker Hall with fine topiary and extensive woodland gardens leading out to the deer park. Lunch and a guided tour are included at Holker.

Day 4

We drive to the iconic Levens Hall and its remarkable topiary garden where we meet head gardener, Chris Crowder who will show us the ancient, clipped yews, holly, beech and box that frame the wonderful summer flowering borders. Lunch is included at Yew Tree Barn, where owner Clive Wilson has been preserving the history of days gone by with his architectural reclamation service since 1986. Finally, we visit Abi & Tom’s Garden Plants, the nursery of Tom Attwood and his wife Abi, both genuine plant enthusiasts who propagate, grow, sell, write about & advise on, eat, sleep and breathe herbaceous perennials, with an in-depth knowledge of plants that thrive in the Lake District. We then return to Lancaster Railway Station.

The Langdale Chase Hotel

The Langdale Chase Hotel truly is a jewel in the Lake District's crown, after a major refurbishment back in 2023, it reopened to the public boasting restored original architectural features and a stunning garden laid out in the 1890's by Thomas Henry and built upon more recently by Annie Guilfoyle. The hotel offers guests spacious rooms, each individually designed and offering stunning views over Lake Windermere with all comforting amenities provided. Guests can escape the hotel for exploration of the lake on the hotels own motoryacht, Albatros, or enjoy their beautifully unique Swallows & Amazons Afternoon Tea on the terrace.

Price: £2995

Single Supp: £450

Deposit: £350

Departure Dates:

21 - 24 September 2026

Duration:

3 nights / 4 days

Your Holiday Includes:

Three nights' bed and breakfast at the Langdale Chase Hotel
Private coach transfers and excursions
Three evening meals and four lunches
Guided visits to sites listed in the programme
Services of the Tour Host and Tour Leader
Detailed programme and garden notes
All entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities for coach drivers and serving staff

Tour Host & Leader

Tom Attwood

Tom Attwood started working with plants in his parent’s garden before working in a traditional Cumbrian nursery roused his passion. He then went on to formally train at Edinburgh and Kew before taking on head gardener posts in the Lake District and Lancaster. Tom now manages the gardens at Halecat Estate. Tom has lectured at Newton Rigg College and writes for Cumbria Life, Living Magazine, Garden Design Journal and Gardens Illustrated.

Sophie Piebenga

Born in The Netherlands and based in the Cotswolds, our expert Sophie Piebenga has lived most of her life in the UK. Trained with the National Trust and qualified at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, all whilst working as head gardener of a private estate, Sophie quickly developed a particular interest in the conservation of historic gardens. This eventually led to a doctoral study at the University of York, researching the work of the early Victorian landscape gardener, William Sawrey Gilpin. Sophie has since worked freelance, mostly in the field of historic landscape conservation, and, for the last 25 years, has regularly led Boxwood tours around the UK and to Ireland, France, Spain and The Netherlands.