Gardens of Florence & Tuscany
Villa Gamberaia is just wonderful: a garden of exquisite balance, where terraces, water and clipped evergreens create a sense of calm theatre. Every view is carefully composed, yet it never feels stiff, just beautifully lived-in, elegant and quietly unforgettable.
About this tour
Tuscany has a way of making even seasoned gardeners stop in their tracks. It is not just the honeyed light on cypress avenues, the scent of rosemary warming on a stone wall, or the soft geometry of olive groves across the hills. It is the sheer confidence of the gardens, places where centuries of design, craft and plant knowledge come together to create landscapes that feel both theatrical and deeply lived-in.
That is exactly what makes this tour such a treat, and why I am always glad to escort it. We explore the great villa gardens around Florence and across Tuscany, taking time to look properly, to notice the detail, and to see these famous places with fresh eyes.
Garden highlights
- Villa Gamberaia - a masterclass in balance in the hills above Florence
- Boboli Gardens - the grand Renaissance gardens behind the Pitti Palace
- Bardini Garden - terraces and a wisteria walk with views over Florence
- Villa La Petraia - a Medici villa garden at Castello
- Garzoni Garden - the theatrical Baroque garden at Collodi
- Palazzo Pfanner - an elegant garden in the heart of Lucca
Destination highlights
- Florence, where art, architecture and horticulture are intertwined
- Renaissance ideals of proportion, harmony and the long perspective
- How Italian gardens use shade, stone and water to cope with heat
- Cypress, clipped evergreens and silvery Mediterranean planting
- The wider Tuscan landscape of vineyards, olive groves and hill towns
Interested in this tour?
These tours come round again, and the best way to make sure you do not miss the next one is to join my email list. You will be among the first to hear when new dates are announced, with practical, seasonal gardening from me along the way.
What you'll learn
These gardens are a masterclass in structure and atmosphere. You will look at how Renaissance proportion and clipped evergreens give a garden its calm and clarity, how water, stone and shade make it comfortable in a hot climate, and how planting supports the architecture rather than competing with it. I will share ideas you can borrow in a British garden, from a city courtyard to a country plot, without trying to copy Tuscany wholesale.
Gardens you'll visit
Beyond the gardens
Half the pleasure is the setting. Florence itself, where terraces echo the lines of the palazzi, and the wider landscape of vineyards, olive groves and hilltop villages between visits. Even the journeys feel like travelling through a painted backdrop, with the changing light and the long Tuscan views.
A tour like this is more than a collection of beautiful places, though you will come home with a camera full of them. It is a chance to deepen your understanding of gardens in good company, to take your time, and to enjoy the quiet brilliance of these landscapes. I would be delighted to share them with you.