The area of southern Tuscany and northern Lazio, which lies between Siena and Rome, seems to be largely ignored by the tourists hurrying between the two cities. It has, therefore, preserved a sense of remoteness, calm, and astonishing, almost gaunt beauty. This tour explores some spectacular and varied gardens in this unspoilt area, many of which Border Lines Abroad is visiting for the first time
We are based in Pienza, which was aggrandized in the 1450s by Pope Pius II, who wished to transform the village in which he was born into a papal city. Today the town is large enough to support a selection of good restaurants and small enough to retain its intimate charm. The spectacular view over the Val d'Orcia, a wide empty valley which rolls westwards towards distant Monte Amiata, is punctuated by the vertical accents of Mediterranean Cypress.
On the first day we fly to Rome and travel to Arabella Lennox-Boyd's palazzo in the Sabine Hills, where we will be given lunch before a visit to the lovely garden she has created around it. From there we continue to Pienza and check into our hotel.
The next day after a visit to a private garden near Siena, we drive to the Castello di Celsa for lunch followed by a visit to the interior of the castle and the lovely formal garden poised between the castle and the views over the valley below. In the afternoon we will visit the Villa di Geggiano, famous for its lovely frescoed interiors. The garden boasts the remains of a spectacular garden theatre.
On the third day we drive to La Foce, Cecil Pinsent's masterpiece created in the 1930s for the Anglo-American writer, Marchesa Iris Origo. Wisteria-clad pergolas and rooms of clipped evergreens lead in progression from the villa to the stunning views across the Val d'Orcia. We lunch in a private garden overlooking Lake Trasimeno, where the owner has created a garden filled with roses and rare perennials and shrubs, demonstrating the very high quality of Italian garden-making today. On our return to Pienza we visit the Palazzo Piccolomini to see the tiny but historically significant hanging garden created for Pius II.

The next day is spent in Florence, where we will be shown the recent restoration of Harold Acton's garden at Villa La Pietra, before moving on to lunch in a large private garden within the walls of the city. This is a huge garden, laid out informally in the C18th and still owned and maintained by the family for whom it was created. We move across Florence to see another private garden, this one formally laid out with herb-filled beds and lemon trees in pots.
On the final day of the tour we drive south towards Rome and visit, en route to the airport, a contemporary and very private garden, where we will have lunch. There will be an opportunity to taste the wine grown on the estate, before we continue to Rome for an early evening flight to London.
Total Cost: The five days, including four nights at a four-star hotel in Pienza (two people sharing), five lunches, all entrance fees and tours of the gardens and travel by air-conditioned coach (flights to and from Rome are NOT included), will cost £1,520.00 pp. For anyone requiring the single use of a double room, there will be a supplement of £380.00.

Provence has an enchanted atmosphere which may be due to the remarkable light or to the dramatically contrasting landscapes: from the bleakly arid Alpilles, across the fertile plains of the Rhône, to the oak-covered slopes of the Luberon. Even the roads are bewitching as they pass along immense avenues of plane trees through which the sun streams. This magical atmosphere has inspired many gardeners who, battling with a climate of extreme cold in winter and great heat in summer, have developed a unique style, subtly reflecting the Provençal vegetation and terrain. This five-day tour gives a rare opportunity to explore a number of these very private gardens, some of which are entirely new to Border Lines Abroad.
We will be based in the centre of the charming town of St Rémy-de-Provence. Our four-star hotel has a chic modern design with a garden and swimming pool, and is located on one of the tree-lined boulevards that ring the old quarter. The many tempting shops of the town are located in quiet courtyards and squares which burst into life with the morning market. After an afternoon flight to Marseille we drive by coach to St Rémy-de-Provence and arrive in time for a stroll around the town or a drink in the hotel garden before dinner.

The following day our visits are very close to St Rémy. These include two very private gardens: one a beautifully planted series of vistas and interlinked spaces, which lead from the main tree-shaded terrace beside the house around the garden; the second a garden cleverly designed to blend into the striking landscape that rolls towards the dragon-like crest of the Alpilles.
On the third day we travel to the northern slopes of the Luberon for a morning visit to a private garden designed initially by the late Alain-David Idoux, a Provençal garden designer who, together with Nicole de Vesian, set a defining style for gardens in this region of France. Clipped Cistus, Santolina and rosemary are planted under trees shaped by Marc Nucera, a "sculpteur d'arbres", whose work features in several Provençal gardens. We have been invited to lunch in a spectacular garden created by the current owners. The upper terrace is elegantly planted with cloud-pruned olive trees and white roses, while the lower garden, at the foot of a sheer drop, is greener, with paths leading from the swimming pool to the potager and cherry orchard.

The following day we stay in the vicinity of St Rémy-de-Provence to see a lovely garden, developed after a forest fire in 1999, which fortuitously opened up views across the surrounding hills. We then lunch in a garden whose owner has created a collection of Acers, oaks and figs contained within tightly clipped bay hedges around the semi-fortified farmhouse. Finally we will visit a magical, rarely-open, garden latterly designed by Rosemary Verey and Tim Rees. A lawn, sheltered by a large Celtis australis, gives onto a vista uphill towards a cascade, with the gardens spilling away on either side.

On our final day we visit the vineyard and garden at Val Joanis, where the terraced garden was created as an ornamental and practical potager. After lunch we return to Marseille Airport and the late afternoon flight to Gatwick.

Total Cost: The five days, including four nights at a four-star hotel in St Rémy-de-Provence (two people sharing), four lunches, all entrance fees and tours of the gardens and travel by air-conditioned coach (flights to and from Marseille are NOT included), will cost £1,480.00 pp. For anyone requiring the single use of a double room, there will be a supplement of £320.00.

Normandy is blessed with good gardens, not only historic ones, but also, even more excitingly, with gardens created by a new generation of French gardeners, hugely skilled in both planting and design. The gardens display immense variety and, at their best, combine the elements of traditional French formality with a sumptuous botanic and horticultural feast. In an intense three-night tour of Normandy you will experience the best of these gardens, awash with summer-flowering perennials and shrubs.

The tour will be based in Rouen in a three-star hotel next door to the famous cathedral. On the first day we fly to Paris, arriving in the early afternoon and drive to the Château of Champs de Bataille. The château was almost a ruin when the interior designer Jacques Garcia decided to restore, not only the building which houses his astonishing collection of French 18th century furniture, but also the stupendous garden, possibly designed by Le Nôtre. The result, internally and externally, is spectacular. A broad parterre, enclosed by high hornbeam hedges leads the eye to the horizon, past urns, sculpture and gilded fountains. Concealed to one side lie a sequence of themed garden spaces which lead back to the château.

On the second day, we are hugely privileged to be invited to see a very rarely open garden near Dieppe. This garden combines serious plantsmanship with a sure sense of design. An area of formal clipped yew hedges echoes the architecture of the house. Beyond, the ground falls away towards a wide vista over the garden and the ponds below. Here the owner has indulged his love of rare plants, taking advantage of the deep acidic soil, which is uncommon in Normandy. We travel a short distance to a private château. The formal approach to the house across the expansive cour d'honneur, leads into the former kitchens where we find a warm welcome from our hostess and an excellent lunch. Afterwards we will visit the gardens, where the elegant formal design in front of the château is balanced by the planting of the flower garden and potager to one side. In the afternoon we visit the exceptional garden at Les Valérianes. The original garden around the house has lawns and borders densely planted with trees, shrubs and perennials, but across the road the entrance to the newer garden, planted with a cloud of lavender and Verbena bonariensis, conceals an astonishing horticultural surprise.

On the third day we drive to the stately gardens at the Château de Brecy which epitomize traditional French gardening. The terraces, decorated with clipped box and yew and softened by climbing roses, rise behind the château towards wrought-iron gates silhouetted against the sky. From Brecy we travel a short distance to a garden justly classified as a Jardin Remarquable, which was winner of the National Best garden award in 2009. Originally laid out as a series of small themed and beautifully planted gardens, it was then expanded over three terraces where clipped topiary hedges are softened by grasses.

After lunch nearby, the owners of a very private and lovely garden have kindly allowed us to visit. The original design in the early 1980s was by Arabella Lennox-Boyd, who created a formal area of clipped hornbeam rooms immediately beside the château. Subsequently the garden was extended in a more informal style by the owners assisted by the French designer Camille Muller.
We return to Rouen for a final night in this delightful city, before catching a morning flight from Paris, arriving back at Heathrow in the early afternoon.

Total Cost: The four days, including three nights at a three-star hotel in Rouen (two people sharing), three lunches (including one picnic), all entrance fees and tours of the gardens and travel by air-conditioned coach (flights to and from Paris are NOT included), will cost £980.00 pp. For anyone requiring the single use of a double room, there will be a supplement of £185.00.

We are also offering a tour to Normandy in September to catch the early autumn flowering for which these gardens are famed. Having visited many gardens, we have selected those which we consider to be quite the best, most of which are entirely new to Border Lines Abroad. As in June we are based in Rouen for four nights in the comfortable three-star hotel in the centre of this picturesque city.
On the first day we fly to Paris, arriving in the early afternoon and drive to the château of Champs de Bataille. The château was almost a ruin when the interior designer Jacques Garcia, decided not only to restore the building, which houses his astonishing collection of French 18th century furniture, but also the garden, which advances to the horizon and may been designed by Le Nôtre. Both internally and externally the result is spectacular.
On the second day, we are hugely privileged to be invited to see a very rarely open garden near Dieppe. This garden combines serious plantsmanship with a sure sense of design. Around the house all is formality. Beyond, the ground falls away towards a wide vista over the garden which, richly planted, surrounds the ponds in the valley below. Here the owner has indulged his love of rare plants, particularly those with interesting bark and foliage, which flourish in this very fertile soil.
We travel on to lunch at the Château de Miromesnil, where the garden was originally laid out by the Comtesse de Vogüé, the grandmother of the present owners. The formal potager, whose beautifully cultivated vegetables are bordered by generous swathes of late summer-flowering perennials, lies to one side of the house. In the afternoon we drive on to the Jardin Plume, where Sylvie and Patrick Quibel have, since 1996, created one of the great autumn gardens in France.
On the third day we travel west to see the lovely gardens at the Château de Brecy. These epitomize traditional French gardening, where terraces decorated with clipped box and yew rise behind the château towards wrought-iron gates silhouetted against the sky. From Brecy we travel a short distance to a garden justly classified as a Jardin Remarquable, which was winner of the National Best Garden Award in 2009 . After lunch nearby, we drive to the Château de Canon, which offers a delicious contrast; the woodland garden is in the 18th century Romantic English style with a lovely chinoiserie pavilion overlooking meadows and pastures. The spectacular autumn borders are laid out in 12 walled spaces in the old kitchen garden.

On the fourth day we head north of Rouen to visit a remarkable garden, part woodland in its use of shrubs and trees, but with a more open, almost formal, layout. The planting here is superb, with rare Euonymus and Hydrangeas, particularly Hydrangea kawakamii, and lovely Acers. After lunch in an old coaching inn nearby, we visit the exceptional garden at Les Valérianes. The original garden around the house has lawns and densely planted beds, but across the road the entrance to the newer garden, planted with a cloud of lavender and Verbena bonariensis, conceals an astonishing horticultural surprise.
On the last morning we have an easy start to the day allowing time to explore Rouen, before we travel a short distance to a private château. The formal approach to the house leads into the former kitchens where we find a warm welcome from our hostess and an excellent lunch. After touring the garden, where the potager will be in full late summer glory, we depart for Paris and the return flight to Heathrow.
Total Cost: The five days, including four nights at a three-star hotel in Rouen (two people sharing), five lunches(including one picnic), all entrance fees and tours of the gardens and travel by air-conditioned coach (flights to and from Paris are NOT included), will cost £1,380.00pp. For anyone requiring the single use of a double room, there will be a supplement of £245.00.