Back in 2022 we took a tour of Gardens of North Wales expertly led by Tony Russell (click here for a relevant blog post). It seemed a good idea to repeat it sometime in the South and earlier this month we did.
We used the same tour company which used the same guide so we were not disappointed. However it’s safe to say that this company is not Voyages Jules Verne which we frequently use and pitches its tours I guess at the upper middle part of the market and that means good hotels. VJV also leaves it up to the tourist to decide where and when to eat dinner.
The company that does these garden tours I suspect is aiming for the lower middle part of the market and seems to squeeze costs whilst regimenting its offer. The latter means all dinners in the hotel, set menus and ordering 24 hours in advance. I don’t really like that and on our last tour with them we escaped the hotel and ate outside. This time this was unfortunately not possible as our hotel was in the middle of nowhere with no alternatives within walking distance.
However the squeeze on costs did not seem to extend to the transport provided or to the quality of the guide. Neither could be faulted.
The trip itself was not as emotional as the previous one but there were highlights. Here’s my five.
Our guide: Tony Russell is really superb. He knows his stuff and is a great communicator. He also takes great care to manage the tour and to ensure that everything works to the benefit of his group. He engaged well with our driver and displayed incredible rapport with the custodians of the gardens we visited.
The Bell at Skenfrith: we stopped here for an overnight on the way down. It’s a super hotel and there’s super food. Not cheap but worth every penny. It had everything going for it of course. The weather was perfect but it wasn’t full. Service at dinner was unhurried but spot on and I was delighted to enjoy Welsh lamb. Breakfast was fine but maybe I grumble about a poor fresh fruit offering?
Llwyngarreg and its owners: we avoided rain until the last afternoon when it began as a steady drizzle. However that was the time we visited the private garden of Liz and Paul O’Neill. We were shown round by Paul and his enthusiasm was more than a match for the weather. The garden has developed without any grand plan but it works!
The tulips at Aberglasney. The gardens overall were impressive but the tulips at Aberglasney were in a class of their own. Aberglasney is an impressive story of a garden being rescued. It’s a charity of course but it was set up with adequate funding and now runs an impressive and professional operation with a splendid cafe.
The enthusiasm of the staff at Beggar’s Reach. The hotel itself was barely adequate, it had just been taken over by a company with no relevant expertise and the staff were clearly unprepared but they were always positive, they always smiled and they went out of their way to help. They took advice and without them our stay would have been an absolute disaster!
There’s a photo album at https://adobe.ly/42Emo7h
And for a diary view:
David Jenkins' weblog 
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