Tour of English Rose Gardens

I can’t comment much on the gardens but travelling around like this by taxi will cost a small fortune. It’d be much cheaper to hire a car in my view. Driving on the left isn’t that bad 😀

I have been to both the RHS gardens and they are quite large sites so the person with mobility issues may struggle to walk around them. I guess it’ll apply to some of the other gardens too. You may be able to borrow an electric mobility scooter at these places or rent one for the whole of your visit.

There is a high-priced industry for touring multiple English gardens, because it is so time-consuming and hard to do. I suggest you reconsider your plan. I like helping posters here, but even if I had been to more gardens, I would have to spend days composing 500-plus words on each garden for what you need. And it wouldn't solve the problem of "base towns", London train stations, and one-day combinations. Here's one tiny copy and paste (of myself) covering one small aspect of the problem:

Just an idea: When we used a taxi (2019) to get to Sissinghurst (NOT in the Cotswolds) from the train station, the driver mentioned in the course of conversation that taxis are in huge demand during school opening and closing hours. He declined to change our long-in-advance email return reservation from 5PM to 4PM that day. Some students are cheaper to move with taxis than they would be with school busses. So it can be hours of delay if you try to get a cab at peak times without a [EDIT: fully paid in advance] reservation.

Do you need a beach rollator or wheelchair? Some paths are too narrow for them, even if you can obtain one. Many rural train stations are not level with the interior train seating floor. Many back gardens require entering and leaving a house with steps.

This is a VERY difficult project.

It will be complicated to get to all these places without a car but it's certainly not impossible. It needs some planning but you have more than a year to do it.

If you fly into Manchester you could easily add RHS Bridgewater to your trip - it's just to the west of the city. It's the RHS's newest garden but is maturing nicely now. It's about 14 miles from the airport. You could book into the Worsley Park Marriott and get a pre-booked car to take you there. The garden is less than 2 miles away.

Then a bus or taxi into Manchester for a direct train to Wolverhampton, which is closest to Albrighton (note sp). Wolverhampton is no one's idea of a tourist town but it will have convenient hotels in the centre close to the station.

For RHS Rosemoor I would probably stay in Barnstaple. Bideford is a bit nearer but the train stops at Barnstaple, so you would need a bus or taxi to get to Bideford, which is not much nearer to Rosemoor. From Bath the train to Barnstaple is only about 3 hours with two simple changes at Bristol and Exeter.

For Peter Beale I would take a train to Norwich and then a taxi for about 30 minutes. I'm not an expert on the other locations but I'm sure others will be along soon.

On mobility I remember getting a wheelchair at Rosemoor for my mother-in-law, who was in a similar position - she could walk but not fast and not for long. With the wheelchair she found herself at eye and nose level to the flowers in the raised beds and she loved it. I'm sure that you could do the same at many other gardens although there might be some where the walkways are too narrow.

What a lovely idea! I hope at least some of it works out for you!

If your plans happen to take you near Conwy, Wales, my favorite garden during our England/Wales trip was Bodnant Gardens, I didn’t realize how many different rose gardens were there, so each one was a gorgeous reveal! Also, the long golden arch canopy of Laburnum flowers were in bloom. That trip was the first two weeks of June.

Your plan at the moment does have you criss crossing England, presumably to visit particular rose gardens that you have found. England has gardens that you can visit all over the place, many, many more than you have listed.

You might like to have at look at this site -https://ngs.org.uk. It's a national charity called the National Garden Scheme, that coordinates the openings of private gardens across the country to raise money for a variety of gardens. You can search on the site for any specific geographical area, say next to some of the bigger gardens you have listed and can also search specifically for rose gardens. Most of the gardens are private and probably open for one or two days a year, mostly at weekends. But obviously those gardens focusing on roses are going to be open when you plan to be over here.

Potential day trip from London could be Hampton Court Palace, which now has a featured Rose Garden, over where Henry VIII used to do jousting, along with its other gardens. There are several times each year when the gardens are free, and you don’t need to pay the Palace admission price just to see gardens, but while there are free days in May and September, there aren’t any in June 2026.

1. David Austin Roses, Albrighton, Shropshire Stay in Telford, Shrewsbury (more direct train), or Wolverhampton

I’m not going to reply to all of it, but for this bit of the trip, if you’re choosing between Telford, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury as a place to stay, then Shrewsbury is a no-brainer. It’s an attractive historic old market town with lots of half-timbered buildings. Telford is mostly a new town (although handy for Ironbridge) and Wolverhampton is a an ex-industrial West Midlands city that’s a mix of nice Victorian architecture and lots and lots of empty shops.

One of the things which concerns me is the apparent number of one night stays (it may just be how it is written).

Albrighton does have it's own railway station (on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury route) as does Attleborough- hourly service on the Norwich to Stansted Airport via Ely and Cambridge route. So it could be a day trip from any of those, as well as from London.

RHS Wisley has an hourly bus specifically to the garden from Kingston upon Thames (Falcon buses #714).

Mottisfont has a station (Mottisfont & Dunbridge) on the Salisbury to Southampton via Romsey route- hourly service

Great Torrington has the every 2 hours or so bus #5B from outside Exeter St Davids Station, which then continues to Barnstaple station, various other local routes from Barnstaple and the every 3 hours #317 Okehampton Town Centre (not the station) to Bideford bus.

So in most cases the challenge is looking for short distance more local taxis to and from the respective bus/rail heads.

Thank you for your helpful responses.

More information: We’ve done several trips to see rose gardens in several countries, usually in conjunction with rose garden conferences. The conference and the pre-and post-conference tours have coaches to take us to the gardens, which is ideal. I would prefer a tour of English rose gardens but haven’t found an itinerary which I like. My friend with the mobility issues paces herself, makes use of benches, and doesn’t venture into steep or slippery areas. She knows she can’t always see everything. She travels with trekking poles and we will look for mobility scooters.

One option for this trip is to split it into two trips and reduce the number of one night stays, which is definitely a concern. Another is to base part of the trip in London and do day trips to gardens within a couple of hours of the city, which would reduce the amount of schlepping luggage on trains and buses.

Thank you for the suggestions on trains and buses and taxis and places to stay, as well as added gardens to see. Additional comments and suggestions are welcome.

Grier, I know how much you like gardens and rose gardens in particular. This sounds like a great trip idea, even if your focus wasn't to be gardens. I eagerly wait your final itinerary and your trip report. I think I'd start my planning by identifying places which are easy to get to by trains or coach or by using a day tour or driver to get to from a location easy to get to via train or coach. My mother took a trip to Wales several years ago and she absolutely wasn't going to drive. She found that the hotels where she stayed could usually recommend a driver for her and then grouped where she wanted to go to take advantage of the driver and explored where she was staying on other days where she didn't have a driver. She even got brave and took a couple of regional buses to sites outside of her location.

Thanks, Laurie. Having a driver would be ideal but I have no idea what the cost would be. Asking at the hotel is a good idea. I'm sure I'll have to tweak this itinerary. I'm still hoping for an organized tour but want to have a trip mostly planned if a tour doesn't materialize.

My mom met some great drivers. One even invited her to his house so his wife could make her a proper English tea. She loved to chat with folks and probably treated all the drivers like they were her best friends anyway. Mom had very little money so I now hiring the drivers couldn't have been too expensive. Good luck.

This is a wonderful idea. I've been to four of the gardens on your list. But I'm concerned about traveling every day after you see one of the gardens. I'm afraid you will burn out quickly, especially your friend with mobility issues. As one other poster suggested, I recommend that you use London as your home base, and make day trips to gardens within reasonable distance from your hotel. Wisley, Queen Mary's, and Sissinghurst are doable from London. Other London area rose gardens you might consider are at Polesden Lacey and Hampton Court. And if you can always go to Kew if you want to see more than just roses. As Rick often warns us, don't try to pack too much into your travels or you could be miserable for whole trip.

I've just been looking at Sissinghurst- the easiest way to do that as a day trip from London is not the most obvious-

go by train from London Charing Cross or Waterloo East to Staplehurst (twice an hour)- journey time 1 hour, then Arriva bus #5 hourly from the Station, 13 minute ride.

Likewise- Attleborough could be a (long) day trip from London-
Either from Kings Cross- it is 1 hour 15 minutes to Ely on the fast train, then 37 minutes to Attleborough;
or from Liverpool Street- it is 1 hour 50 minutes on Greater Anglia to Norwich, then 21 minutes to Attleborough

That is a journey I suggest doing in 1st class for greater comfort- off peak there are great value 1st class Advance Fares on both routes. On Greater Anglia you get free food and drink (simple stuff, not a full meal) from the catering car next door to 1st class. Totally adequate for the length of journey.
You could add in Ely or Norwich Cathedral on the way out or back (and Norwich has a very good HoHo bus).

Wisley we've already established is a day trip from London (Kingston is in the TfL Zones, and is a busy station with frequent service from London)- so that is #6 to 9 covered from a London base. The #714 leaves from Cromwell Road Bus Station, which is just beside Kingston Railway Station.
Kingston even has 2 direct bus routes to Heathow, and a night bus every 15 minutes to Charing Cross, not that you will use it.

Then go to Salisbury (or Romsey via Salisbury) for 2 nights for Mottisfont

Then Exeter for two nights (direct hourly SWR train from Salisbury), stay at the Premier Inn which is right outside Exeter St David's Station, and do #4 as a day trip from there.

That just leaves #1 to 3 to put together. A far better itinerary I think.

I've not been to Wisley yet, though have looked at going a few times, and it seemed to me the easiest way to get there from London was the train from Waterloo to Woking and then a bus. Either way, there is info here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/plan-your-visit/how-to-get-to-wisley

Sissinghurst is a bit of a pain on public transport- I'd look at getting a taxi from Staplehurst station. But it's totally worth it, one of the nicest gardens I've seen in the UK!

Thank you! This is looking doable now. I like the idea of doing day trips and not moving every day or two, and 2 and 3 could be done as long day trips, too.

Wisley is a big old place. Handily there is an oversized golf cart, 3 rows with room for wheelchairs, a ramp or a step, free and frequent, which makes the rounds and cuts the hills down to size. There is a stop near the main entrance - out the doors from the entrance about 50 metres straight ahead, signposted, bench. In fact there is seating at nearly all stops. There is a stop at Hilltop, where the cafe is, the veggie gardens and lots of special exhibits. In fact there is a terrace on top of the cafe with great views over part of the garden (you can't see more than a small amount from anywhere - I think I mentioned it is huge). There is a lift. Food in the cafe decent, and decent price.

There is a stop between the entrance and Hilltop. The rose garden is up the hill.

one other thing about wonderful Wisley - if you come by bus, the roads have been rebuilt and moved due to the work on the M25/A3 junction. The bus stop is a fair old slog up to the entrance.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/plan-your-visit/how-to-get-to-wisley

For Moor Wood this years NGS Open Day is 21 June- https://ngs.org.uk/gardens/moor-wood-gl7/

Participating gardens have to notify participation 18 months ahead of time so they should know when their 2027 date is, if you ask them.

Surprisingly Woodmancote Village (the garden seems to be a mile or so outside the village) has an hourly bus on Monday to Saturday (Pulhams Route R), but not on a Sunday when the Open Day is.

Note that National Express also run to Cheltenham Town Centre on their London to Gloucester and London to Hereford services.

That gets me wondering about staying in Hereford for a few nights (and using that NE service, which is quite frequent) for the Gloucester Day.
There are several Hereford to Honeybourne (for London Paddington) direct trains a day, at other times you change at Worcester Foregate Street.
You could go to Hereford direct from either Manchester or Birmingham (or end the trip there) by train, then do Albrighton as a day trip from Hereford (change at Shrewsbury). You could then add on Hereford Cathedral and the Mappa Mundi.

Hereford has a free Zipper bus from the station and all around the City Centre which is very useful- https://yeomanstravel.co.uk/tourimage/pdf/zippertimetablefrom4thfeb2024.pdf

With a railcard Hereford to Albrighton off peak day return is £20 each via Shrewsbury

I like the idea of staying in Hereford as I haven't been there yet, and seeing two gardens from one city would be a plus.

We know the lovely owners of Moor Wood so we would arrange to visit on a non-NGS day and could take the bus.

Thank you again. You've given me good ideas and a lot to think about.