Tag: https://www.traveldepartment.com/

Countries, Deals, UK

England’s heartland

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A journey through England’s heartland is a step back through time but that’s enough politics, on with Travel Department’s invitation to visit Olde England.

It’s a world I know well from cutting my teeth as a scribe in the Royal County of Berkshire.

Where the royal family were neighbours down the road in Windsor.

Straight… from the horse’s mouth

The Royal County of Berkshire has given the world its most radiant (no not Waity Katie), English rose but my own succulent Sadie.

And it is ideally placed, and you’d expect the Windsors to bag the best locations, to explore the verdant Cotswolds, Shakespeare country, Royal Berkshire and London itself.

TD will base you in horse racing country, Cheltenham in their five-day guided package.

So without further ado, here’s TD’s skinny on the heart of England.

Cotswolds, Windsor & Bath

Best bard none: Shakey

You’ll explore Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon and visit Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.

Spend a day visiting the scenic villages of the Cotswolds (MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin anybody?)

And travel back to Ancient British Rome and Jane Austen’s England of manners (what happened to them?)

On another full day excursion, you’ll discover Oxford University.

Queen who?

Whatshername? For that car park attendant

And pay a visit to Queen Elizabeth II’s weekend palace, Windsor Castle.

Where back in the day I used to rub shoulders with Her Maj at her beloved country pursuits extravaganza, The Windsor Show.

Lizzie would dress down (headscarf, tweeds, sensible shoes) which threw one car park steward.

Windsors’ home: Windsor Castle

When he asked for her pass.

One alert journo, not me but remember I was still cutting my teeth, spotted the scene.

And sold the story to a national newspaper who put a picture of the monarch on their front page.

With a strap: ‘For the only person in the UK who doesn’t recognise this woman… THE QUEEN’.

King who?

Ya dancer: Charles and Camilla

And because we here are a public service and because we’ve not seen much of him of late, this is the current monarch.

The TD tour departs on August 10 from €959pp including return flights and transfers.

And five nights’ B&B basis in the 3* Holiday Inn Express Cheltenham with guide.

Countries, Deals, Europe, UK

Dreaming of a green Christmas

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Those with soil under their fingernails like my own wee horticulturalist are dreaming of a green Christmas.

And they are not alone with our old Irish friends at Travel Department.

Catering for those who are happier in a flower bed than a feathered bed.

TD has a host of garden tours for us to look forward to when it’s spring again.

And we can sing again of a new trip to Keukenhof, the biggest flower park in the world.

And to Cornwall to discover the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Flowerbulb moment

My wee flower: The green-fingered one

Keukenhof & The Bulbfields of Holland: And who would go to the Netherlands and not explore their fields of flowers? 

Certainly not us as my wee horticulturalist dragged me along to Keukenhof.

As payback for agreeing to see the Oranje national team play Greece in Rotterdam.

Keukenhof is considered by many as the ‘Garden of Europe’.

With approximately 7 million bulbs planted there every year, including 800 varieties of tulips.

And we all know how much the Dutch love their tulips.

And how they have enriched them and energised them over their history. 

Admire the indoor and outdoor displays of bulbs, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, which covers over 32 hectares with colour and fragrance.

žCan I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam

Discover the Tea Garden of Jacqueline van der Kloet, the international garden designer.

Renowned for her artistry in combining bulbs with perennials, shrubs and trees.

You’ll also visit individual private gardens in the Northeast Polder, explore the Hortus Bulborum museum garden.

And drive along the famous Bulb route to see vivid displays of colourful tulips.

And there’s a full day in this three-day trip to uncover the highlights of Amsterdam, including a canal tour… and Amsterdam canal pilots are priceless.

This tour will be led by Rosie Maye aka the Insomniac Gardener.

And she will be available at all times to help and advise you, although I suspect my wee horticulturalist would fit that bill perfectly too.

The trip departs on 17th April and comes in at from €1479pp including return flights, transfers, three nights’ B&B in the 4-star Leonardo Boutique Museumhotel and guided by Rosie Maye (aka The Insomniac Gardener). 

Cornish bestie

Pod’s plan: Eden project

Gardens of Cornwall: And the UK’s equivalent is Cornwall (whisper it around Kent) because of the Gulf Stream giving it one of the mildest climates on the island.

You’ll have an opportunity to see rare, exotic and tender plants, sent by plant collectors for over 200 years.

Magnificent rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias flower here in the spring.

You’ll be based on the coast in Falmouth, beloved too of football tours (and again apologies for past misdemeanours).

Wiser now I’d stay out of the nightclubs and lap up the day trips to the restored Lost Gardens of Heligan.

And the now fully developed and innovative Eden Project as well as other private gardens.

The tour will be accompanied by Iain MacDonald, a qualified and experienced gardener and guide throughout the tour.

Departs on 12th March from €1199 pp, including return flights, transfers, four nights accommodation on a half board basis at The Falmouth Hotel and garden expert.

All something to think about so start dreaming of a green Christmas.