Archive for November, 2011

Floriade 2012

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Just like the Oberammergau Passion Play, Floriade, comes but once every 10 years, and 2012 is THE year.

Hosted from April to October 2012 in The Netherlands, Floriade offers an extraordinarily expansive exhibition of all things floral and horticultural.

It’s a truly “must see” for gardeners of all types. So from the casual weekend green thumb to the aspiring Master Gardener, Floriade should be on the agenda for next year. In our opinion 1 or 2 days at Floriade is sufficient and the fact it runs from Spring through Autumn allows you to combine it with many other events and activities – tulip time in Amsterdam or the summer flower markets of The Hague and Rotterdam.

Others may prefer to make the quick hop across the North Sea to London and combine their agenda with the Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Flower Show or some of the wonderful public and private gardens of England.  

Its NOT too late to make it happen – we are delighted to be welcoming numerous groups to Floriade. Our wealth of knowledge on the event means we can get your trip up and to market within days.

As always, an example of what is possible can be found online.

German Christmas Markets

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

 The end of November heralds the opening of the German Christmas Markets season. It runs through the Advent period which is essentially the first 3 weeks of December each year.

Its a wonderful romantic time to spend in the Bavarian towns of Munich, Coburg, Augsburg, Bamberg and Nuremberg as well as a host of smaller villages which dot the Romantik Road.

While its too late to plan for 2011, may we suggest that now presents just the perfect time to pique the interest of your group leaders to plan a 2012 Christmas Markets adventure.  

As always we will custom design your itinerary – perhaps a long weekender to a more extensive 7-8 nights, perhaps continuing to Salzburg or Vienna or northward to Berlin. In need of inspiration? Take a peak at our sample program.

We invite you to review our sample itinerary online here. 

As always, we’ll custom design every aspect of the itinerary,   Request a group proposal

Garden Tours Beckon for ’12 and ’13

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

When the London 2012 Olympic flame has been extinguished we expect a lot of interest in London and Great Britain in general.

While Spring and early Summer are the more traditional times to visit Britain’s gardens,  the Autumn Fall colours and dramatically smaller crowds provide a stunning time to visit. Internationally renouned  gardens such as The National Trust’s Stourhead in Wiltshire and the nearby National Arboretum at Westonbirt are “must sees”, but also lesser known smaller gems such as The Four Seasons Garden in The Heart of England.   Twice nominated as Garden of the Year,  we feel it is at its best in September and October.  Select Travel Service are experts in general and specific garden tours of Britain, Ireland and Continental Europe.  View our sample garden tour itineraries here.   They include tours that visit The Flower Shows at Chelsea and Courson and of course for 2012 Floriade in the Netherlands for which we still have a few tours available for small and larger group sizes.