The Cotswolds is known for celebrated gardens such as Hidcote, Kiftsgate and Highgrove, but some of the region’s most memorable horticultural experiences are found beyond the usual visitor route.
Our private garden experiences offer the opportunity to meet the people who know these landscapes best. Guests may be welcomed by the owner, shown around by a member of the family or introduced to a garden by the person responsible for creating and caring for it. This personal access reveals far more than planting alone, bringing together history, architecture, family stories and the practical realities of maintaining an English country garden.
Each experience can be combined with nearby villages, Bath, Highgrove or a carefully chosen countryside lunch, creating a private touring day that feels personal, balanced and unhurried.
Iford Manor occupies a beautiful position near Bradford-on-Avon, where its Italianate terraces overlook the surrounding valley. The Grade I-listed garden was largely created by architect and designer Harold Peto, who made Iford his home in 1899 and spent more than three decades shaping its character.
Stone stairways, pools, classical sculpture, clipped planting and architectural fragments are arranged to create a sequence of intimate spaces and carefully framed views. Iford’s appeal lies less in large displays of seasonal colour and more in proportion, atmosphere and the relationship between the formal garden and the countryside beyond.
Our Private Iford Manor Garden Experience is personally hosted by William Cartwright-Hignett, who was born at Iford Manor and brings the garden’s history to life through stories of Harold Peto, former residents and the family’s continued stewardship of the estate.
As guests move through the principal gardens, William explains Peto’s design philosophy and highlights details that can easily be missed during an independent visit. The result is a much more personal understanding of how the garden was created and how it continues to evolve.
A particularly special part of the visit is access to the family’s private Walled Garden, which is not normally included in the standard visitor route. Guests may explore the Shell Grotto, topiary garden, glasshouses, vegetable garden and cutting garden supplying flowers and produce for the estate.
These private spaces provide an interesting contrast to Peto’s formal terraces, moving from celebrated garden design into the productive areas that remain part of everyday life at Iford. The experience concludes on the Great Terrace with champagne, light refreshments and an informal question-and-answer session with William and his wife, Marianne.
The significance of Iford lies in the combination of architecture, planting and personal hosting. Guests are not only seeing an important historic garden, but hearing its story from a family member directly connected to its past and future.It is particularly well suited to visitors interested in garden history, sculpture, architecture and the relationship between a house and its landscape.
Iford works beautifully as part of a South Cotswolds private tour. It can be combined with Lacock, known for its medieval streets and film locations, or Castle Combe, one of the region’s most picturesque villages. Guests may also pair the experience with a private tour of Bath, or with a Highgrove Gardens visit for a day contrasting two very different approaches to English garden design.
Penny’s private garden visit forms the final and most personal part of our Cotswolds Master Gardener Tour, a full day created for guests who want to explore the region through planting, design and horticultural knowledge.
The day begins with visits to two carefully selected local gardens. These may include established gardens known for their structure and planting or smaller properties admired for their individuality and seasonal interest. Guests may wander through a series of outdoor rooms, each with its own colour palette, fragrance and character. Topiary, terraces, flowering borders and unusual plants create a varied introduction to the horticultural traditions of the Cotswolds.
The private visit with Penny then brings the day together. Guests are welcomed into a garden developed through years of personal involvement, where every border and view reflects both practical knowledge and the experience of working with the landscape itself.
Penny explains how the garden has changed over time, which ideas worked immediately and which required patience, adaptation or a completely different approach. Experienced gardeners may wish to discuss soil, pruning, planting combinations and the challenges of maintaining a garden in the Cotswold climate. Other guests may be more interested in how the spaces are connected, how views are framed or how the character of the garden changes through the seasons.
The visit remains relaxed and conversational. Guests are free to ask questions at whatever level interests them, without the experience ever becoming overly formal or technical.
The value of Penny’s garden lies in the opportunity to understand a private landscape through the person responsible for it.
Guests are not simply shown what to admire. They learn why particular choices were made, how the garden developed and what it takes to sustain it over time. This gives the visit a depth that is difficult to reproduce in a larger public garden.
Penny’s visit is normally enjoyed as part of the full Cotswolds Master Gardener Tour, alongside two contrasting local gardens.
A country pub or garden café can be included for lunch, with time to enjoy quieter Cotswold villages and countryside between visits. The day is designed to feel varied and inspiring rather than rushed.
The Hidden Cotswold Garden Experience offers the rare opportunity to enter a privately owned estate in the company of the Lady of the Manor, whose grandmother designed and created the garden. Set within the South Cotswold countryside, the four-acre French-inspired garden surrounds a beautifully preserved 17th-century manor house. Ancient moats, a 16th-century dovecote and the surrounding working landscape give the property a sense of history that extends beyond the ornamental garden.
The garden is arranged as a series of individual rooms, each with its own atmosphere and connection to the manor. Specimen trees, fountains and elegant statuary frame the views, while old roses, wisteria, spring bulbs and bearded irises provide changing colour throughout the season.
Formal planting sits comfortably beside productive areas, historic buildings and fields grazed by heritage cattle, creating the feeling of a living country estate rather than a garden arranged solely for visitors.
The Lady of the Manor personally guides guests through the garden, sharing the family story and explaining how her grandmother shaped the landscape. As the visit moves between the individual garden rooms, guests discover mature planting, framed vistas and design details that reveal themselves gradually. There is time to pause, ask questions and appreciate the quieter corners of the estate. One of the highlights is the water garden, created within an old canal. Seasonal planting and gentle reflections make it one of the most peaceful areas of the property.
Guests can also explore the extensive vegetable and herb gardens, where traditional cultivation sits alongside ornamental planting. These productive areas help explain the historic relationship between the manor house and the land surrounding it.
This is a deeply personal garden, shaped by one generation and shared by another.
Its appeal comes from the combination of private access, family history and a setting that feels almost untouched by conventional tourism. Guests are not simply visiting a beautiful property; they are being welcomed into a place closely connected to the life of the family.
The garden pairs naturally with a South Cotswolds private tour, including Tetbury, Castle Combe or Lacock.
It can also be combined with a Highgrove Gardens experience, offering an interesting contrast between a celebrated royal garden and a smaller privately hosted estate.
Guests who prefer a relaxed countryside day may also enjoy lunch at The Pig near Cirencester, where the kitchen-garden approach complements the themes of seasonality and estate life.
Written by Eddie Dale, founder of Cotswold Tours & Travel. Eddie grew up in the Cotswolds and works closely with garden owners, estate families and local horticultural experts to create private countryside experiences rarely available through conventional tourism.
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