DESTINATIONS — ESCORTED TOURS
cruise, and Collette across Europe, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and the US. They’ve proved so successful that Collette introduced a dedicated brochure last year, and Wendy Wu will do the same in 2015. All Collette’s garden holidays use expert guides, but each tour also has one departure led by an RHS Specialist Host from a pool of writers, garden curators and destination specialists. They include Matthew Pottage, an expert in ornamental plants, who will accompany New Zealand’s Garden Route next February. The 22-day journey from Auckland to Christchurch goes via Hamilton Gardens, for a tour led by the estate director, private grounds in Queenstown, and the award- winning gardens once owned by women’s suffrage leader Kate Sheppard. Prices start at £4,899 for standard departures and from £6,089 for the Specialist Host departure on February 1. Even more exotic species can
be found on Wendy Wu’s Plant Seekers tour around China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, but if the prospect of rooting out unusual plant life wasn’t enough to woo gardeners, knowing the tour is led by RHS executive vice-president Jim Gardiner and the curator of Chelsea Physic Garden, Christopher Bailes, should do the trick. They’ll be on hand to highlight the signature trees found on Mount Emeishan, identify some of 2,500 plant species in the remote Nine Villages Valley, and discuss the diverse plant life on Ganhaizi Wetland during the 15-day tour, which starts at £4,990 including flights, accommodation,
meals and visas. Europe’s green
Gardens: expert lecturer Monty Don
Photography: capture the light in Italy
spaces can offer just as much of a thrill to enthusiasts, especially when they come with input from Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don. His guest lecture forms part of APT’s 15-day Botanica World Discoveries luxury river cruise on the Rhine, Moselle, Saône and Rhône, which departs April 23 (prices from £5,245 including flights, meals, drinks and tips).
l PHOTOGRAPHY Getting the right angle, catching the light and framing a subject while still managing to capture a fleeting moment – taking a great photo can be tricky, but a little professional guidance will make it that much easier. Wildlife expert and photographer
Paul Goldstein leads several Exodus tours each year to Kenya and the polar regions. The operator’s nine-day Photographic Safari is based at luxury tented camp Kicheche
in the Masai Mara, and includes photographic tuition while game- viewing to make sure clients come back with the best possible shots (from £3,999 including flights, accommodation and breakfast, departing January 8). G Adventures also includes a photographer – along with ornithologists and marine biologists – on its Antarctic tours on board Expedition. It’s not always about going to the ends of the earth, though. Insight Vacations brings a professional photographer on its Picture Perfect Italy trip to help guests capture this beautiful country on film, from the snow-topped Dolomites and colourful Cinque
Terre, to the hills of Tuscany and the capital itself. The 18-day trip starts at £4,350 land-only including B&B, but get in there quickly – it departs on September 9.
l ASTRONOMY While cameras will certainly be clicking on any northern lights tour, Explore’s four-day Iceland itinerary calls on a different kind of expert – astronomer Andrew Green – so guests can understand the science behind this natural wonder. Tours run from October- December and February-March, costing from £989 with flights. If clients have already ticked
28 August 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 39
PICTURES: INSIGHT VACATIONS; RHS/JIM GARDINER
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