Festivals & Events Tours 2026/2027 | Flower Shows & Festivals

Unmissable events come once a year

Our festivals and events tours are timed around the days that only come round once a year[LI25.1]. RHS Chelsea, the Malvern Spring Festival with its specialist nurseries and expert talks, and the Sandringham Flower Show, each paired with carefully chosen garden visits. On the French Riviera, Menton's Lemon Festival in the depth of winter and the International Rose Festival at Grasse, where fragrance takes centre stage. In Melbourne, two internationally renowned flower shows in the same fortnight. And in Lerwick at the end of January, Up Helly Aa, where torchlit squads parade through the streets and a thirty-foot longship burns.

You travel with expert Tour Managers, horticulturalists and specialists who have been to these events many times over. Their first-hand knowledge helps you make the most of the occasion, from the headline attractions to the details you might otherwise miss.

Festivals and events tours: your questions answered

No, every itinerary pairs the event with the region around it. For example, a Chelsea tour also takes in classic English gardens and a Riviera festival sits alongside the coast's great villa gardens. The event is the fixed point the rest of the week is built around.

Yes. Entry to the event is part of the itinerary, along with the timings that make a busy show day work. Getting into the major flower shows independently, on the right day and at a sensible hour, is precisely the fiddly part these tours are designed to remove.

Tour Managers, horticulturalists and specialists who know these events well. At a show the size of Chelsea, that matters more than it sounds, since knowing which gardens repay a slow look and which nurseries are worth finding turns an overwhelming day into a rewarding one.

Very, in the case of the major flower shows, and that is part of the atmosphere. Itineraries are planned with the crowds in mind, and there is quieter time built into the days around the event itself.

A show day means several hours on your feet with limited seating, usually outdoors and whatever the weather. Festival days involve standing and crowds. Each itinerary carries an activity level of light, moderate or active so you know what to expect before you book.

Very much so, and many guests travel solo. Shared interest naturally leads to easy conversation, and an event everyone has come specifically to see gives the group something to talk about from the first morning.

As early as you can. These tours are tied to dates that cannot move, places are finite, and the best-known events sell out furthest ahead. Up Helly Aa runs on one night a year, and Chelsea for one week.