Many Tuscan gardens in and around Florence are a mixture of Italian landscape and English formality.

In the late 19th Century, after the Unification of Italy and Florence’s brief period as Capital of Italy, property prices in Tuscany plummeted and allowed the expatriates to purchase at a ridiculously low cost. The advantage to today’s tourist is that these expatriates in exile used their money to re-establish these formal gardens to their previous glory and have left their heritage for us to visit.

Tuscan villas were often surrounded by farms and vineyards with beautiful gardens at the foot of the villa. Tuscans, with their artistic sense and attachments to their surroundings, create gardens that fit into their landscapes and use limited colour that doesn’t perish under the Tuscan sun.

Our 2 days leaving from Florence have been Custom designed garden visits with garden historian Dr Katie Campbell, whose book Paradise of Exiles – Anglo-American Gardens of Florence is shown above.

Whether it is a single day or the full five days, walking tours within the city, day trips to nearby hilltop villas or an extended trip around Tuscany or Rome , our garden visits have been tailored for particular  interests with a fair budget.

Our schedule below offers a small group a private 5 day tour of various Tuscan and the Roman gardens – many of which are not generally open to the public.

La Foce in May

On our first day with Dr Katie Campbell– Wednesday 7 th May – visitors tour the gardens of La Foce, home of the writer Iris Origo -to  see for themselves the setting for her unparalleled book War in Val d’Orcia  – her diary of life in Italy during the second world war.

11.30 We first visit the area of Palazzo Piccolomini in the walled town Pienza, famous for it’s Pecorino cheese it is also an early  interpretation of the Humanist ideal at the specific design of Pope Puis Piccolomini

1.00 lunch Dopo Lavoro La Foce  – the latest use of the Nursery which was once school to 20+ evacuated children during WW2 – a lovely restaurant!

A fixed price 3 course lunch with wine, water, coffee etc has been agreed for €25

3.00 La Foce – gardens of  author Iris Origo, designed by Cecil Pinsent

Finally we drive to Montipulicano along the route taken by Antonio and Iris Origo with the evacuees and their own two daughters when they walked to Montepuliciano when ordered to leave their homes by the Germans – we will enjoy a short wine tasting before returning to Florence

Wednesday with longer distances and therefore more of our drivers time leading to costs of c €99 per person for the tour plus 3 course lunch at a fixed rate of €25.

Thursday 8th May

private tour to gardens in and around Fiesole 

09.30-10.30  Sybil Cutting’s Villa Medici with garden redeveloped by English landscape gardener and architect Cecil Pinsent

11.00  Le Balze – home of American Philosopher Charles Strong – also designed by Cecil Pinsent

12.30 Villa Maiano  – visit to the Villa  rebuilt in medieval style by English peer – Sir John Temple Leader.

Bruschette miste con verdure + formaggio                                                   Lasagnette alle verdure                                                                                 Mille foglie alla frutta fresca                                                                           Caffè                                                                                                         Acqua, 2 Bottiglie di vino.                                                                                 This special light lunch with wine will be available for €25                                     The visit to the Villa is included as part of the overall tour cost.

15.00 – Il Palmerino – we visit the villa and gardens of this lovely villa once home to American author Vernon Lee.

Vernon Lee  shown below in a painting by her friend  John Singer Sargent lived at Il Palmerino from 1889 until her death at San Gervasio in 1935.

The Foundation for Advancing Women Artists is currently sponsoring an Exhibition of works by two expatriate ladies who painted in and around Florence  during the 20-30’s – Elizabeth Chaplin and Lola Costa. We will also be able to see the exhibition and talk about them with our hostess Federica Parreti.

From Friday 9th May – we have moved down to Rome – taking an early train from Florence SMN railway station we will be met by a private car at Rome Termini as part of this all inclusive programme

9th-10th-11th May

 Itinerary in Rome

Cultural Heritage Walking Tours, Italy

Rome Garden Tour

Designed by Dr. Diane Archibald Ph.D. 

©Cultural Heritage Walking Tours, Italy

Itinerary 

We are pleased to announce our “NEW” 3 day – or optional 1 or 2 day Rome Garden Excursion beginning this May.

May 9th

Day I  of our tour begins with a morning visit to the internationally acclaimed “Giardino Delle Rose Antiche”. This private garden outside of Rome spans 2 hectares with over 3000 varieties of roses including a passion for antique roses.

Our garden tour is followed by a four course lunch featuring traditional Roman dishes (organic, seasonal, local produce) with paired wine tastings at an architecturally restored Medieval castle.

 Our experienced sommelier selects and discusses the wine pairings.

In the afternoon, we visit the Castle with the Earl of the estate discussing the history and restoration.

May 10th

Day 2 of the excursion begins at Villa Adriana, Tivoli, the magnificent country estate of the ancient Roman Emperor Hadrian. It is believed to be one of the largest archaeological sites in Europe covering 120 hectares, and since 1999 has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Our visit to Villa Adriana focuses on the intricate terraced gardens and water systems designed by Hadrian that have continued to influence architects and designers for close to two millennia.

After our morning visit, we stop to enjoy a private lunch on the archaeological site.

In the afternoon, we visit the famous Renaissance villa and gardens of Villa d’Este inspired by Hadrian’s country estate.

The design of the Renaissance gardens and fountains by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este and his architect Pirro Ligorio soon became the prototype for all Renaissance gardens that followed.

We culminate our day with a leisurely slow food dinner at Villa Adriana.

May 11th

Day 3 of our excursion takes us to the natural and stunning setting of “Villa Gregoriana” Park situated on the side of the ravine that forms Tivoli.

The history of this site dates back to the early Roman era with architectural artefacts of the temples of Vesta and Sybil still gracing the landscape.

The famous Tivoli cascades became a destination point on the Grand Tour and a source of inspiration for many artists as Claude Lorrain and Nicholas Poussin.

Our visit to this site is followed by lunch at a nearby restaurant adjacent to one of the temples to Sybil and overlooking the ravine.

On our way back to Rome our driver will sweep by the Tivoli cascades.

For more information about Cultural Heritage Walking Tours see http://www.culturalheritagetoursitaly.org/

For full colour brochure to download please see Garden Tour with Diane Archibald 2014.4

Itinerary:

Features Included

3 Days tour,  2 nights superior accommodation

2 Breakfasts

3 Lunches

2 Dinners

Wine tasting

Museum and site entry fees included

Transportation by private van to sites

Day1:

9:00 a.m. Leaving Rome centre by private car service to Rose Garden

9:30-11:30 a.m. Tour of internationally renowned Rose Garden

11:45 a.m. Car service to Medieval Castle

12:30-2:30 p.m. Lunch with wine tastings at Medieval Castle

2:30-3:30 p.m. Visit of Medieval Castle, history and restoration

4:00 p.m. Leave Castle for Tivoli

5:00 p.m. Arrive at Tivoli, check-in hotel

7:30 p.m. Dinner at Villa Adriana

Day 2:

Breakfast hotel included

9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Archaeological site Hadrian’s Villa

1:00 – 2:30p.m. Lunch on archaeological site of Hadrian’s Villa

2:45 p.m. Transportation to Villa d’Este, Tivoli

3:15- 5:15 p.m. Villa d’Este, Tivoli

6:00 p.m. Transportation to Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli

8:00 p.m. Dinner, restaurant, slow food dinner

Day 3:

Breakfast hotel included

9:30 a.m. Check out hotel

10:00 a.m. to Villa Gregoriana, Tivoli with private car service

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Visit to Villa Gregoriana Park

1:00 p.m.  to restaurant Tivoli with private car service

1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Lunch restaurant, Tivoli (on terrace weather permitting)

3:30 Return to Rome by private car service

4:30 p.m. arrive in Rome central

Cost €720 for this part of the tour – all above included

Note: for those clients wishing to stay in Rome the night before the excursion we are pleased to assist in finding accommodation from a delightful convent albergo to a four star hotel in the historic centre.