Gardens of Normandy & Brittany
Le Jardin Plume balances structure and softness so effortlessly. Clipped hedges and strong lines set off airy, naturalistic planting that feels light, modern and calm. Every border looks thoughtfully composed and never fussy. It is a garden that rewards slow looking, and it leaves you inspired to try the same at home.
About this tour
The gardens of Normandy and Brittany have a very particular magic: Atlantic light, salt-laced air, deep soils and a long tradition of plant collecting that has encouraged gardeners to be both bold and beautifully precise. On my Gardens of Normandy and Brittany tour with Travel Editions, I am looking forward to sharing a week that moves from painterly abundance to contemporary restraint, and from coastal romance to richly layered woodland planting.
Garden highlights
- Jardins d'Angélique - romantic planting around a 17th-century manor
- Le Jardin Plume - contemporary design at its finest
- Bois des Moutiers - Arts and Crafts design meets rare plants
- Jardin Le Vasterival - naturalistic planting on a private tour
- Claude Monet's garden, Giverny - the painter's living masterpiece
- Le Jardin Retiré - theatrical, intimate Breton planting
- Parc Botanique de Haute Bretagne - 24 themed gardens around a château
- Jardin du Pellinec - coastal plantsmanship done with finesse
- Jardins de Kerdalo - a romantic, immersive finale
Destination highlights
- The coastal village of Varengeville-sur-Mer
- Monet's house and water garden at Giverny
- A 17th-century manor at the Jardins d'Angélique
- A 19th-century château at Parc Botanique de Haute Bretagne
- Crossing from Normandy into Brittany
- The Atlantic light and air of the Breton coast
Booking details
What you'll learn
Across the week you will pick up plenty to take home: how to manage views with framed glimpses so a garden reveals itself in stages, how to repeat forms and limit a palette for cohesion, and how to use structure so that seasonal change looks intentional rather than accidental. You will see foliage used as a unifying thread, silvers, bronzes and deep greens tying borders together, and you will learn how shelter, moisture and aspect quietly shape every planting decision, especially in challenging coastal conditions.
Gardens you'll visit
Jardins d'Angélique
Romantic planting around a 17th-century manor: lush, enveloping and full of atmosphere, with paths that invite you to slow down and let the garden reveal itself in stages.
Le Jardin Plume
A masterclass in contemporary design, where clipped hedges and clean lines frame airy grasses and perennials. Structure here is a framework that makes the planting sing.
Bois des Moutiers
Arts and Crafts design married to rare plantings: strong lines and clear intention, softened by plants chosen for texture, character and seasonal interest.
Jardin Le Vasterival
A private tour of a garden famed for diverse, naturalistic planting that is edited and composed rather than accidental, and always plant-led.
Claude Monet's garden, Giverny
The colourful flower garden in front of the house and the Water Garden, with its Japanese bridge, weeping willows and water lilies: the living inspiration behind Monet's most famous paintings.
Le Jardin Retiré
Theatrical and natural at once, using contrasts of leaf shape, shifts in height and well-placed ornament to draw you through the garden.
Parc Botanique de Haute Bretagne
Twenty-four themed gardens around a 19th-century château, with global plant collections that show how careful placement and shelter let unusual choices thrive.
Jardin du Pellinec
Coastal gardening done with intelligence and finesse, with a guided tour that reveals the thinking behind plants chosen for resilience, texture and long-season interest.
Jardins de Kerdalo
A free-flow visit to a romantic, immersive garden: the perfect closing note, full of the sense of discovery that great gardens do so well.
Beyond the gardens
There is more to this week than the gardens themselves. You will spend time in the coastal village of Varengeville-sur-Mer, cross from Normandy into Brittany and feel the light and air shift as you go, and stand in the landscape that shaped Monet’s painting at Giverny. It is a journey through a region where shelter, salt and long, mild growing seasons have shaped not just the planting but the whole way of life.
We finish with a free-flow visit to the enchanting Jardins de Kerdalo, and it is the perfect closing note: romantic, immersive and full of discovery. Wandering at your own pace lets you notice the subtleties, how paths reveal views and how planting softens structure, and you come away full of inspiration and just a little reluctant to leave Brittany behind.
Previous departures
A few moments from garden tours in Normandy & Brittany
