Four tours, two regions, and which is best for you? If you’re choosing between West Dorset and the Cotswolds, here’s how they actually differ — not just on the map, but in the kind of week you’ll have.

The West Dorset tours: Earthly Paradise, Secret Gardens, Summer Glow

Three of our four tours are based in West Dorset and Somerset, in the historic villages behind the Jurassic Coast — Symondsbury, Netherbury, Stoke Abbott. This is our home ground: the gardens here often belong to friends, with that kind of private access.

Want the details? Read our guide to the Great Gardens of Dorset.

Choose Dorset if:

• You want the deepest, most personal access — private gardens like Chilcombe and Ashington that are almost never otherwise open
• You’d like your hosts, Jason and Simon, to be genuinely local rather than visiting experts
• You’re drawn to a wilder, more coastal landscape alongside the gardens themselves — ancient woodland, flower-rich meadows, the Jurassic Coast nearby
• You want to stay in one historic house for the whole week (the Old Rectory at Symondsbury), with no packing between stops

The Cotswolds tour: Cotswolds Garden Foray

Our fourth tour, in June, takes in the great gardens of the Cotswolds — the region most people picture when they imagine an English garden tour. Expect the classic honey-stone villages alongside horticultural heavyweights like Hidcote and Rousham. Bruern Cottages are run by Josh, Jason’s cousin, so we’re still on family turf, and rank among the most luxurious holiday accommodation in the UK.

Want the details? Read our guide to the Great Gardens of the Cotswolds.

Choose the Cotswolds if:

• You want to see some of the “famous names” of English gardening in one trip
• You’re drawn to the golden-stone villages and rolling hills of the Cotswolds landscape
• This is your first garden tour with us and you’d like the most traditionally “postcard England” experience
• You’re staying at Bruern Cottages and want that particular flavour of Cotswolds hospitality

Can’t decide?

Many of our guests come back – and they often opt for the region they didn’t choose the first (or third) time. If you’re only doing one tour this year, ask yourself what you want more of: hidden, private, and personal (Dorset), or classic and celebrated (the Cotswolds). Either way, you’ll eat extremely well.

Get in touch if you’d like Jason and Simon’s own advice on which suits you — email us or ring Simon on +44 7739 087056.

Ready to book? See Earthly Paradise, Secret Gardens, Summer Glow, or the Cotswolds Garden Foray.