The Spalding Festival is one of the highlights of any garden lover’s year and we have combined a full day enjoying the parade and entertainment, with visits to some truly beautiful gardens – Ragley Hall, Waddesdon Manor and Renishaw Hall.

ITINERARY

Day 1 After meeting your taxis, the coach makes its way north to Waddesdon Manor Gardens near Aylesbury, where we have time to visit the extensive gardens, the aviary and have some lunch. We continue to Nottingham, reaching our hotel late afternoon.

Day 2 Today we head for the beautiful 38-acre Springfields Festival Gardens, where the centrepieces will be the fabulous floral floats for which Spalding has become famous. Decorated with half a million or so flowers, it’s your chance to see the floats close up and to marvel at the fact that each tulip head would have been pinned on individually. Recently re-planted and landscaped, the gardens also have a Dutch-themed shopping outlet. As well as watching the parade, wander among the stalls, stores and gardens, and enjoy a full entertainment programme including carnival performers, dancers and marching bands.

Day 3 Today we travel to Renishaw Hall, home to the Sitwell family for nearly 400 years. You can explore more than eight acres of Italianate gardens, several garden rooms, the Sitwell Museum, Gallery Café and in April carpets of bluebells through the ancient woods.

Day 4 Leaving our hotel after breakfast, we travel to Ragley Hall in Warwickshire where we visit both the house and the gardens. The house stands majestically in well-maintained formal gardens within beautiful ‘Capability’ Brown parkland. Lunch is available from the Lakeside Café. We continue to the local area and our homes.