Enjoy Britain’s best public and private gardens on a Garden Tour

For those inspired by the wonderful floral displays and designs at the spectacular RHS Chelsea Flower Show – which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in May – HF Holidays is highlighting its UK Garden Tours which are led by expert guides and encourage guests to experience the colour, variety and beauty of Britain’s best public and private gardens.

A new activity holiday for 2013 is a seven-night Shropshire Gardens holiday – led by Hilary Thomas, a qualified horticulturalist and garden designer – which includes visits to Benthall Hall – a fine 16C stone house close to the River Severn which boasts picturesque terraces, rock garden and rose garden – and Hodnet Hall with its 60 acres of woodland, ponds and colourful long borders.

Other highlights include Wightwick Manor’s impressive topiary, David Austin Rose Garden, Stockton Bury Gardens as well as other superb private gardens in Shropshire and Worcestershire. Starting 29 June, the cost is £799 with accommodation at the company’s Longmynd Hotel at Church Stretton in the Shropshire Hills.

Or, enjoy a Somerset & North Devon Garden Tour – where the milder climate of the West Country supports an abundance of plant growth – and combine magnificent coastal scenery with wonderful gardens such as Marwood Hill – known for its collection of Japanese Iris – and Hestercombe, a stunning garden of mellow stonework, pools and delightful planting.

About HF Holidays

HF Holidays has been helping people enjoy the great outdoors for nearly 100 years. Today over 50,000 people come on holiday with us every year. They come for the walking. They come for the activities. They come for the fun. They come for the food. And they come for the high quality accommodation. It’s why we’re Britain’s biggest walking and outdoor leisure holiday specialists.

Background info:

* Founded in 1913, HF Holidays is a co-operative society arranging walking, outdoor and
leisure activity holidays for 50,000 people each year (for non-members, a £5 associate fee
is payable per holiday).
* Options range from guided walking breaks and self-guided trails in Britain to challenging
ascents Worldwide. The leisure activities range includes art, music, literature and mindand-body holidays.
* HF Holidays is the recommended walking holiday partner of the Ramblers, Britain’s
walking charity (ramblers.org.uk), and supports the work of the Ramblers through
membership initiatives and charitable donations.
* HF Holidays has 20 Houses in the UK’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty as well as independent hotels for overseas holidays.
* HF Holidays’ walks leaders are passionate about walking and keen to share their
experience with guests (after passing a rigorous selection course).
* HF Holidays is committed to Responsible Tourism, contributing to environmental projects
around the UK – such as footpath maintenance – through its Pathways Fund and
supporting local Air Ambulance and Mountain Rescue teams as well as charities in Kenya
and South Africa.
* Voted Best Large Tour Operator by Guardian and Observer readers 2010, 2011 and 2012,
with a 2012 satisfaction score of 98 per cent. Also Best Large Short Break Operator 2011
and 2012.
* In recent research (March 2012) carried out by Which?, HF Holidays achieved
Recommended Provider Status receiving an overall customer satisfaction score of 94%.
* HF Holidays is a member of ABTOT and is ATOL protected.