Travels in England

Chartwell, travels in England

Sissinghurst, travels in EnglandIn June 2017, my husband, sister-in-law, nephew and I took a two-and-a-half week trip to England. As I glance through the nearly 1,000 photos I took, it amazes me how much we managed to see and do in that amount of time! Here are some thoughts from our travels in England:

First of all, if you love gardening — and I’m certain you do or you wouldn’t be reading this right now — the very best months to see gardens are June and July. That’s because roses and perennials will be at the peak of blooming and will be a feast for your eyes.

Stourhead, travels in EnglandSecond, there are two memberships that are worth having if you really want to visit amazing gardens: the National Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). With either or both of those memberships, you will have the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful gardens in the world.

Memberships are not expensive. To belong to the National Trust, you can join for a year’s time (about $83, or $130 for a couple), for one week (about $37) or for 2 weeks (about $44). A membership in the RHS costs about $76.

Both the National Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society have so many gardens that you can visit for free, which offers you a lot of flexibility. For example, if you happen to drive past one of their open gardens, you can check it out without having to worry about added costs. We did that a lot. I also love how the National Trust gardens tend to have cafes with tasty food so you don’t have to track down a place to eat during your day.

So far, we only have a membership in the National Trust, but will definitely join the RHS the next time we head over there.

Sheffield Park, travels in EnglandNow, back to our trip itinerary: we landed at Heathrow and stayed at a nearby hotel overnight (knowing we’d be renting a car the next morning and heading for the countryside). We spent 3 nights in Royal Tunbridge Wells, 2 nights in Salisbury, 4 nights in Plymouth, 2 nights in Bath, 3 nights in Stratford-upon-Avon, and finally headed back to Heathrow overnight before flying home the next morning. We covered a lot of territory but if you look at a map of England, you’ll notice we primarily visited southern England from east to west, and the up to the Midlands area for a few days.

For the past 10 days, I’ve been posting some photos of beautiful gardens we visited during our trip on my Facebook page. If you’ve missed them, be sure to check them out. I’ll be posting more photos here and on Facebook in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

(Photo ID from top to bottom: Chartwell, Sissinghurst Castle, Stourhead, Sheffield Park. Remember that you can click on any of them to view a much larger image.)