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Gardens
& Castles Custom Tours
Indulging
your interest in plants and flowers is a fun way to discover off-the-beaten-path
places. Visiting parks, gardens and the beautiful castles or palaces they embellish
often reveals hidden treasures that regular tours may never uncover. Whether you
prefer formal French styles or more casual and intimate settings or even exotic
designs, France and Spain have an abundance of horticultural delights... from
Normandy to Andalusia.
FRANCE
Glorious
Gardens of Normandy: An excellent way to discover this lush and verdant
province of northern France is to visit a few of its gardens - public or private,
French or English style, decorative or simply "potager" (vegetable garden).
There are many possibilities for a garden tour in Normandy... from Paris to Rouen,
Honfleur, Bayeux, and the ever-popular Mont St.-Michel. Mediterranean
Gardens: The regions of Provence and Languedoc are blessed with mild and
sunny Mediterranean weather. They are home to a wide variety of plants, and gardens
flourish in this attractive corner of France. The area also boasts some of the
greatest historical sites in France: Carcassonne, Canal du Midi, Nîmes,
Arles, Pont de Gard just to name a few. Magnificent
Gardens and Castles: Create a tour that will match Louis XIV's
refinement in classical design with Renaissance style in Touraine (the "garden
of France") and the Loire Valley. Then, around Provence and the French Riviera,
in the south of France, you can visit more gardens that are more informal. Royal
Residences around Paris: For a taste of French aristocratic life
in past centuries, tour France's heartland and enjoy the pomp, circumstance and
luxury of a few of its castles, large and small. Tour Versailles, Giverny, Compiègne,
Chantilly and enjoy the glamour of Paris. [top]
SPAINPomp
and Circumstance of Royal Spain: The splendor of royal Spain is
at its best in Madrid and the surrounding area. Visit the Royal Palace in Madrid
and add day tours from the capital city to El Escorial, the summer palace of Aranjuez,
the royal residence of La Granja de San Ildefonso, near Segovia and more. Gardens
and the Iberian Heritage: Madrid and nearby cities, plus Andalusia to
the south, are ideal locations for a garden tour of Spain. These millennial destinations
offer some of the most beautiful horticultural creations and combine them with
great art, spectacular architecture and a fascinating cultural heritage. [top] | | 
Vaux
le Vicomte, France 
Andalusian
fountain
Granada,
Spain 
Diana
garden
Fontainebleau |
