Description
The British Isles, Belgium, and Norway in springtime are lovely, verdant places, and this voyage is carefully designed to showcase the very best they have to offer. As we sail from London into the North Sea, we pause along the way to explore both shores – the legacy of once powerful mercantile cities in the Lowlands of Belgium and Holland, as well as the great industrial and political centers of Newcastle and Edinburgh. The charming townhouses and canals of Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp; the great castles of English and Scottish kings; the stunning waterfronts of Stavanger and Bergen – all of these will be available to us.
But it is the remarkable gardens we visit that make this voyage a true horticulturalist’s dream. Our pre-cruise program in London includes expert led tours at Kew Gardens and at Chelsea Physic Garden before embarking Le Boréal. And in Edinburgh we will be hosted at a gala luncheon on site by the staff of the Royal Botanic Garden.
In the other ports along the way, optional excursions with a strong focus on gardens will be available: from Ostend, you may travel to Kasteel van Oostkerke to explore the garden there designed by Mien Ruys. Antwerp is a gateway to Arboretum Kalmthout, where our guest lecturers once worked. Newcastle offers the opportunity to visit Alnwick Castle and Herterton House. Norway’s Stavanger is home to the exotic gardens of Flor og Fjære.
Our guide to this rich horticultural experience – among the most accomplished and respected botanists in the world – will be Holly Shimizu, recently retired chief of the U. S. Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. and acting director of the American Horticultural Society.
