VILLAS AND GARDENS FLORENCE - GARDEN TOURS TUSCANY

Villas and gardens have always been considered to be the quintessence of Tuscan life style. Visiting some of Tuscany's most representative villas and parks you get to learn the essential elements of Tuscan gardening and country life. This garden tour is completed by visits to a farmhouse, to a tree nursery and to Europe's oldest botanical garden.

For accommodations, we have selected excellent hotels and cozy country villas. Enjoy superb hospitality amidst the amazing beauty of Tuscan landscape and indulge in lunches and dinners in famous restaurants and typical trattorias.

VILLAS AND GARDENS FLORENCE

IRIS GARDEN FLORENCE: The red iris is the symbol of Florence. In the morning you visit the garden planted in her honour in 1957 and containing more than 1500 different varieties. The subsequent walk takes you to the old town where we have lunch in a well known trattoria. The afternoon is dedicated to a guided walking tour which takes you to the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the town hall, the Old bridge, and many others of the most famous squares and monuments of Florence.

FLORENCE - GARDENS WITH A VIEW: This morning you visit the Bardini Garden. After the tour in the garden we invite you to a cappuccino on its Belvedere from where you will enjoy a grand view of Florence. This is followed by a walk in the Boboli Gardens, a famous example of how art and nature harmoniously interplay in the gardens of the Renaissance. After lunch you have free time.

MEDICI-VILLA AND LEMON GROVE: You take a day trip to the Villa Poggio a Caiano, one of the most important country houses of the Medici. After visiting the gardens and the sumptuous interiors we drive to Pistoia. You have plenty of time for a lunch break and a stroll through the beautiful old town. In the afternoon you will experience the incredible diversity of the world of citrus fruits in a reputable nursery.

VILLA PETRAIA, GIARDINO DI CASTELLO & GAMBERAIA: In the morning we take you to villa Petraia. On our tour inside the villa you get in touch with more than 300 years of history, from the Medici family, first owners of the villa to the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele II. After this we show you the adjacent garden of villa di Castello, a good example for a renaissance garden.

After our lunch break we continue our tour with the well kept garden of villa Gamberaia, a place of magical beauty.

ROSES: Following breakfast, we depart for one of the largest rose gardens in the world. Visiting this collection of over 7000 types of roses you will immerse yourself in the incomparable realm of delicate scents, amazing colors and fascinating forms, which encompass almost the entire history of rose-growing! We'll lunch on the outside terrace of a high-class restaurant and then visit the adjacent villa and its private garden. In the afternoon, we stop in Greve in Chianti where you'll enjoy a cup of coffee on the lovely piazza. Dinner will be served in a winery of a famous Chianti castle.

Recommended period: april - may and september - october (Iris garden only april to may).

This all-inclusive tour has been developed with great care in collaboration with a highly specialized tour operator. Although you will be guided every day by our garden expert guides, booking occurs exclusively through our partner firm.