After enduring the insanity of two years of pandemic living, we’ve all been reminded just how important it is to “stop and smell the roses”. Plenty of people have actually taken up gardening amid lockdowns as a way to get outside, connect with nature, and rebalance their minds and spirits.
Such horticultural enthusiasts will be delighted to hear that luxury hotel barging line European Waterways is celebrating the launch of its new Garden Cruises this spring, and there’s no better time to indulge your botanical passions than during the “season of flowers”.
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The company has just added new six-night, all-inclusive Garden Cruise itineraries to its roster, available on charters of two of its luxury barges: the 20-passenger La Bella Vita in Italy and the 12-passenger Spirit of Scotland on the Caledonian Canal. Both themed cruises feature exclusive, intimate guided tours around some of the world’s most spectacular gardens, estates and parklands. All the while, guests are transported along Europe’s picturesque waterways and canals in complete luxury and comfort.
“After years of Covid-19 travel restrictions and government-imposed lockdowns, the trend toward ‘slow travel’ vacations is stronger than ever,” said Derek Banks, managing director of European Waterways. “On European Waterways’ Garden Cruises, guests have plenty of time to breathe in the fresh air as they stroll around some of the most magnificent parklands, biodiverse botanical gardens and manicured topiary in the world.”
In Italy, guests aboard La Bella Vita journey along the River Po and Venetian waterways, and are treated to a walking tour of the lagoon island of Sant’Erasmo, just east of Venice. Referred to as “the vegetable garden of Venice”, it boasts wide fields of aubergines, peppers, tomatoes and the famous St. Erasmo artichokes, grown nowhere else in the world.
Aboard the Spirit of Scotland, guests have the opportunity to visit spectacular gardens and woodlands, including Arisaig and the Wild Woodland Garden of Larachmhor in the Scottish highlands, which famously boasts 200 varieties of rhododendrons. Guests are also guided by the Head Gardener on a private tour of the Cawdor Castle gardens, which is listed among the UK’s top 100 gardens.
European Waterways’ barge ‘Spirit of Scotland’ in a lock along the Caledonian Canal. (photo via European Waterways)
Other highlights include excursions to the fantastic, family-owned Abriachan Nurseries and gardens near Loch Ness; and the serene Attadale Gardens, which encompasses a vast woodland, as well as Japanese and herb gardens, hidden animal sculptures, Monet bridges, and waterfalls. and provides breathtaking views over the Isle of Sky, Loch Carron and the Applecross peninsula.
Among the standout experiences when sailing a garden cruise on La Bella Vita is a tour of the University of Padua’s 16th-century Botanical Gardens, which is considered the birthplace of botanical science and is the world’s oldest academic botanical garden, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site . Its tropical greenhouse is home to staghorn ferns, bromeliads, and multiple species of rare and endangered orchids.
Also, guests will experience the gardens of the Bagnoli Estate’s 17th-century Villa Widmann Borletti and see classically landscaped Italianate gardens, complete with potted lemon trees, topiary and mythological sculptures by the Italian artist, Antonio Bonazza. Cruise-goers will also visit the Giardino di Valsanzibio with its famous 400-year-old box labyrinth, tree-lined pathways, fishponds, fountains and statues. At the 600-hectare (1,483-acre) Parco Giardino Sigurta in Valeggio sul Mincio, which dates back to 1407, guests get to explore the kilometer-wide Rose Walk with over 30,000 spring specimens, tulip gardens with over a million bulbs, a hermitage and a medicinal herb garden.
For more information, visit europeanwaterways.com.
