Gardens on the Côte d’Azur

The French and Italian Riviera provide some of the world’s most spectacular garden settings and this tour includes visits to some historic gardens whilst staying in the very attractive town of Menton on the Cote d’Azur.  The Royal Westminster Hotel (3*+) is on the seafront promenade in the centre of the town, a comfortable hotel where all rooms, subject to availability, should have a sea view.  The gardens were created by some of the great names in English garden history during the 19^th century, Laurence Johnston’s Serre de la Madone, Sir Thomas Hanbury - La Mortola. The unequalled extravagance of the garden and chateaux originally belonging to the Rothschild family, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Cap Ferrat.  In addition the garden at Val Rahmeh created by the English botanist Maybud Campbell.  Private gardens – Clos du Peyronnet, Villa Boccanegra and Les Domaine des Colombières and the reopening of the Jardin Exotique in Monaco.

Menton is a delightful town – hugely influenced by the English aristocracy, many who came to live here in the early 20thC.  The itinerary includes time to discover and relax in the small town whilst dining out together in local restaurants.  The garden visits are taken at a leisurely pace allowing time to explore but also to accommodate Mediterranean coastal gardens as it should be emphasised that they include steps and inclines. You would independently fly to Nice where we would meet you to transfer to Menton.

Tuesday 21 April: Travel independently to Nice. The suggested flight  (BA 330 de 11.10 arr 14.15) from Terminal 5 Heathrow to be met by a coach transfer and Heritage Touring representative. En-route to the hotel there will be visit to the Exotic Garden of Monaco.  With stunning views over the Principality and coastline, the garden is laid out on the side of a cliff and contains about thousand species of cacti and other succulents of outsize proportions from all over the world. Then continue to the Le Royal Westminster Hotel, check in before joining the group for evening dining in a local restaurant.

Wednesday 22 April: Two gardens in Menton – Le Clos du Peyronnet created over the last century by three generations of the Waterfield family.  A guided tour of this small but influential garden with its series of pools, many varieties of mimosa, ancient olives and rare species. Val Rahmeh, first owned by Sir Percy Radcliffe and then transformed by the wealthy if not slightly eccentric English botanist Maybud Campbell who for many years added unique tropical and sub-tropical species before giving the garden to the French Natural History Museum who have continued to maintain it in the spirit of her legacy. Lunch can be found in Menton. Dinner in local restaurant.

Thursday 23 April:  Crossing the Italian border to the renowned botanical garden La Mortola created by Sir Thomas Hanbury and his son Cecil, with plants collected from their travels worldwide.  The garden is now looked after by the University of Genoa and has some of the most luxurious of exotic plants growing on terraces and along the gentle paths down to the sea – it still retains a unique ambience and is a plant-lovers’ paradise.  A light lunch will be at the bottom of the garden in the little local Italian café before returning to the top of the garden and continuing to Boccanegra. This glorious garden set in the Riviera landscape with endless small winding paths which slope gracefully down to the sea and with fantastic views of the coast is now owned by the Piacenza family but in the past the English botanist Helen Willmott, lived here and introduced rare and exotic plants to the terraces and olive groves of the original property. Dinner in local restaurant.

Friday 24 April: Another two gardens in Menton.  Serre de la Madone.  The terraced garden was created by Lawrence Johnston in 1924 who saw the opportunity to grow plants in a climate that was not possible at Hidcote - he so loved Menton, originally intended as his winter retreat, that he eventually came to live here until his death in 1958 – the garden now has historic and listed status and is maintained by the city of Menton who continue to undertake a restoration programme over the last few years. Time to find lunch in Menton before the afternoon visit to Les Domaine des Colombières.  The guided walk in the garden overlooking the Bay of Garavan was created by Ferdinand Bac, an artist, writer and landscape designer of the Belle Époque Bell.  It is a journey around the ancient Mediterranean, where Greek mythology comes to life, both through its structures and statues and its vegetation, including centuries-old olive trees, pines, cypresses, and a magnificent thousand-year-old carob tree.  Dine out independently this evening.

Saturday 25 April: Checking out of the hotel for the airport and final garden visit.  Cap Ferrat – this isthmus of land stretching out into the Mediterranean is where for centuries royalty, aristocracy and the international elite have had their winter homes – it still remains a much sought after location to own a property.  Our visit is to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild to see the house and time to enjoy the gardens.  Villa Ephrussi is one of the jewels of the Riviera, a palace built during the Belle Epoque period by Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild with no expense spared – its wonderful art collection, magnificent gardens and breath-taking views overlooking the Bay of Beaulieu are superb.  The 17 acres of internationally themed gardens including Japanese, Italian and Ancient Greece contain some of the great works of art collected by Beatrice.  Light refreshments can be purchased in the garden or on reaching the airport at 2 pm. The suggested flight (BA331 dep 15.50) from Nice/Heathrow