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Glorious Garden Tours

Gardens of AMALFI COAST, Italy

APRIL 14 - 21, 2012

Experience the dramatic coastal scenery and beautifully designed gardens on the lovely Sorrento Peninsula. In April, lemon trees and fruit trees will be in blossom and spring gardens in bloom. Easter-time means more than gardens. Shops are filled with Easter confections. Religious celebrations mean colourful processions and festive musical events. And when you are not touring gardens there are historic sites like Pompeii to explore.

ITINERARY:
Sat: Arrive in Sorrento in time for dinner (travel to Sorrento not included).

Sun: Today we explore the gardens at Villas Cimbrone and Rufulo in Ravello. Early archive documents from the
eleventh century tell us that Villa Cimbrone was built on a headland of a vast estate called “Cimbronium”, from which it got its name. With its magnificent wooden entrance, wisteria walk and lush gardens, Cimbrone has spectacular views of the Amalfi Coast from its famous terrace. Rufulo is a thirteenth century palace, visited by Bocaccio, restored by a Scotsman (Frances Neville Reid) after 1851. Richard Wagner visited the garden and it inspired him to include the dream of a magic garden in his opera Parsifal.

Mon: A ferry takes us to the Isle of Capri where we explore the gardens of the Villa San Michele. This dream garden created by Swede Axel Munthe, is home to a great variety of Mediterranean plants. Henry James called this villa and garden "the most fantastic beauty and poetry that one had ever seen clustered together. The gardens are adorned with numerous relics and works of art dating from ancient Egypt and other periods of antiquity. Amongst its rarities
Kochia saxicola, extinct in the rest of the world: only managing to survive in Capri. As well as being a museum Villa San Michele is a bird sanctuary and an oasis where Swedish artists organise cultural and musical events.

Tues: Today we explore the botanical garden in Naples. This garden displays 25,000 samples of vegetation, covering about 10,000 plant species. Although open to the public, the garden is not a public park. It is an educational facility for the university and is actively engaged in the preservation of endangered plant species. There is also an ethnobotany section of the Garden where plants are studied that are potentially useful, medicinally, to humans.

Wed. Today is a non touring day. An optional tour to Pompeii can be arranged.

Thurs: Near one of the most picturesque villages on the island of Ischia, lies “La Mortella”. This garden hosts a
collection of plants coming from different parts of the world, such as tree ferns from Australia, Proteas and Aloes from South Africa, Yuccas and Agaves from Mexico plus Magnolias, Camellias, Bahuinias, Palm trees. The park is divided in two distinct zones. The Valley Garden is humid, lush and mysterious, while the light filled Hill Garden is covered by Mediterranean vegetation. In the Neapolitan dialect “Mortella” means “divine” .

Fri: The magnificent Royal palace at Caserta has over 1,200 rooms and huge formal park The massive main staircase is made from a single piece of stone and was used as a set in the films ‘Star Wars’ 1 and 2. The huge park is laid out formally with many kilometres of paths, woodland, statues and fountains. Monte Comune’s relative remoteness has preserved a wide range of local plants

Sat: Depart after breakfast.

The above itinerary may be altered due to weather or blooming conditions at the time. Sometimes other gardens will be even more spectacular.

Where We Stay:
The 4-star Hotel Caravel is in the residential district of Sant’ Agnello surrounded by pleasant
gardens with lemon trees. The centre of Sorrento town is about 1 mile away. Rooms have private bath, hair-dryer, safe deposit box, TV. Breakfast and dinners are included.

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