Gardens & Treasures of Sicily
2023-04-11 - 2023-04-22
Back by popular demand! Charles Yurgalevitch, the former Director of the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture, and I will once again be sharing Sicily and all it has to offer with a lucky group of travelers. Our first two tours together in 2022 were a great success and more of you have asked to go, so we are obliging! We will fly round-trip into and out of Palermo and in between, we’ll circumnavigate the island seeing some of the world’s greatest archaeological sites, Sicilian hill towns, public and private gardens, and enjoy some of the best food and wine in all of Italy. Plus, you just won’t believe the hospitality provided by the people of this amazing island. Just a few of the sites we’ll include on this tour: Palermo’s Palazzo dei Normanni and Palazzo Cinese (and more!), a private tour of the Palermo Botanical Garden, the Temple of Segesta, the mountaintop town of Erice, Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples, the Villa Romana dei Casale, the cities and towns of Palermo, Marsala, Ortigia (Siracusa), Taormina, and Cefalu, and along the way, we’ll be treated to no fewer than a half dozen (and quite possibly more!) private and public gardens, nurseries and other horticultural hotspots.
Tour Price: SOLD OUT! ($4,450.00 per person, double occupancy, ground package only, airfare not included. Single Supplement: $850.00)
Maximum Group Size: 20 guests
For a complete itinerary or to register for this tour, please email me directly at troy@troybmarden.com

Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Garden
2023-05-18 - 2023-05-20
Join Jason Reeves and me on a 3-day, 2-night bus tour from Jackson, Tennessee to St. Louis, Missouri to experience the world class artistry of Dale Chihuly in the magnificent surroundings of the Missouri Botanical Garden! One of the largest outdoor installations ever undertaken in a botanical garden, this showing of Chihuly’s one-of-a-kind glass art is sure to dazzle all who experience it. In addition to the Missouri Botanical Garden, where we will spend the better part of Friday and then return that evening to experience the exhibition at night, we will also visit the Shaw Nature Reserve, Bowood Farms and Gringo Jones for a little shopping, the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, a private garden or two, and you know we won’t miss out on the chance to buy plants at some local garden centers!
For complete details, please email Troy Marden directly at troy@troybmarden.com

Chateaux & Gardens of the Loire Valley
2023-06-06 - 2023-06-17
There is nothing quite like the beauty of France’s Loire Valley. From Julius Caesar in 52 B.C. to the Huns in the 5th century and the kings of France from the 16th century on, the Loire Valley has always been a highly revered and sought-after swath of land through central France for its fertile land, plentiful water, and desirable climate. Embraced by French royalty as a safe haven away from the political backstabbing of Paris, the Loire Valley became their playground and, on this tour, we’ll take a step back in time as we visit some of the valley’s most beautiful cities, villages, chateaux, and gardens including, but not limited to Chenonceau, Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise, Chateau de Lude (still a family home), and many, many more! We’ll also visit historic towns and villages like Orleans, Tours, Amboise, Blois, and more. And of course, we can’t be in the Loire Valley and not take advantage of its rich culinary heritage and wine-making traditions! We would also be remiss to miss out on some gardens a little nearer to Paris, so on the way to and from the Loire Valley, we’ll also make stops at the Roseraie du Val-de-Marne where more than 3,000 roses will be at peak bloom, and the nearly indescribable gardens of Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte.
Tour Price: $4,450.00 per person, double occupancy, ground package only (Airfaire not included) Single Supplement: $850.00
Maximum Group Size: 20 guests
For more information or a complete itinerary and reservation form, please email me directly at troy@troybmarden.com

An African Adventure!
2023-08-08 - 2023-08-22
I am thrilled to announce our return to Africa–this time in a very small group format with a maximum of 10 guests! We will fly round trip into and out of Johannesburg, South Africa, and in between, we’ll spend time at Victoria Falls, in Cape Town, and at the 5-star Kapama River Lodge in Hoedspruit. From those destinations, we will explore Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, the Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain (including Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden), the wine country of South Africa, and much, much more! We’ll spend our final three nights at the 5-star Kapama River Lodge and Resort while finishing our quest to observe all of Africa’s “Big 5”–the lion, elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, and Cape buffalo. At Kapama, we will have the unique opportunity to participate in “bush walks” with highly trained guides who will escort us, on foot, across the African savannah to observe the wildlife in the most personal way possible.
Tour Cost: $7,250 per person, based on double occupancy, *ground package only. Single Supplement: $1,000 per person
*The “ground package” portion of this tour does include internal flights within Africa, between African cities. The price does not include round trip, international airfare from the U.S. to Johannesburg, SA, and back.
Maximum Group Size: 10 guests
For more information or a complete itinerary, please email me directly at troy@troybmarden.com

Wonders of the Italian Piedmont & French Riviera
2023-10-09 - 2023-10-23
Travel with Jason Reeves and Troy Marden as we explore the gardens, natural landscapes, art, food, and architecture of two of the world’s most beautiful destinations–the Italian Piedmont and the French Riviera! Starting in Milan, we will visit Lake Como and the surrounding area before moving on to the beautiful village of Stresa, nestled into the foothills of the Italian Alps on the shores of Lago di Maggiore. There, we will visit several gardens, including the “garden islands” of Isola Madre and Isola Bella, which occupy prominent positions in the center of the lake. Next, it’s on to the city of Turin, one of the most interesting cities in northern Italy with fabulous museums, a not-to-be-missed (and we won’t!) Royal Palace, and a food scene you must experience firsthand. Finally, we make our way across the border to Nice, France, one of the Riviera’s most stunning destinations. We will use Nice as our home base for the final four nights of this two week tour, exploring Monaco for a day, visiting the gardens of the city of Menton, experiencing the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in Cap Ferrat, and much, much more!
$4,950 per person, based on double occupancy. For a private room, the single supplement is $1,350.
For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

The Wonders of Winter--Snowdrops & Winter Gardens of England
2024-02-17 - 2024-02-25
Winter may seem an unusual time for a garden tour to England, but it is the only time to see one of the country’s greatest garden spectacles—the annual flowering of the snowdrops in woodlands, gardens, and estates throughout the countryside. For gardeners “in the know”, snowdrops are one of the most popular bulbs amongst collectors around the world, but the mania started with the collections in England, Scotland, and Ireland. While diminutive on their own, collections begun a century or more ago now have bulbs numbering in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands and the displays are some of the most impressive in the gardening world.

For one week, we’ll explore the best public and private collections of snowdrops from the Cotswolds to Yorkshire. For good measure, we’ll include some visits to gardens and nurseries with impressive displays of hellebores, witchhazel, crocus, and many other late winter and early spring flowering plants, as well. A friend who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on snowdrops is kindly helping me curate our stops on this tour, making it a truly unique and one-of-a-kind experience.

In the Cotswolds, we’ll use the beautiful town of Cheltenham as our home base, eventually making our way north to York. Near Birmingham, we’ll also include a visit to the world-renowned Ashwood Nurseries, some of the original breeders of modern-day hellebores. Estates and gardens on the tour will include Colesbourne Park, Kingston Bagpuize House & Garden, Biddulph Grange, Painswick Rococo Garden, Millichope Park, Castle Howard, and many more.
For complete details, please email: troy@troybmarden.com

Plant Delights Nursery & The Gardens of Raleigh-Durham with Jason Reeves & Troy Marden
2024-03-12 - 2024-03-17
Has Plant Delights Nursery been on your bucket list for a visit? Here’s your chance!
Jason Reeves and I will be your personal guides as we visit Plant Delights Nursery and its magnificent display garden known as the Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Early spring will find the hellebores (Lenten roses), early bulbs like crocus, narcissus, snowdrops, and others, as well as spring-flowering trees and shrubs on full display!
In addition to Plant Delights and Juniper Level, we will visit the J.C. Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, Homewood Nursery & Garden Center, Big Bloomers Flower Farm, Camellia Forest Nursery, and more. We will also visit at least three private gardens as part of this itinerary, and there will be lunches included in at least two of our stops.
This will be a bus tour departing from Jackson, TN on March 12, making passenger pickups in Nashville, and Knoxville along the way.
We’ll stay overnight in North Carolina on the first night, arriving in Raleigh on the 13th. Raleigh will be home base for three nights as we explore the area and we’ll head back to Tennessee on the 16th, overnighting again along the way and arriving back home on March 17. (Bus driver’s restrictions require us to make an overnight stop each way for safety reasons.)
Tour cost is $1,500 per person, based on double occupancy. A supplement of $500 applies for a private room for single travelers.
For complete details, please email: troy@troybmarden.com

Beautiful Bulbs!--Spring Gardens of the Netherlands
2024-04-16 - 2024-04-24
Join me in Holland as we visit the world-famous bulb displays at Keukenhof, Het Loo Palace, the tulip fields, the Dutch Flower Auction, and much more! Few sights are more impressive than the gardens of Holland in spring when the bulbs are at their peak. We’ll leave no stone unturned in seeking out the very best this incredible country has to offer!
As we explore Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Apeldoorn and others, we’ll also take in the Dutch countryside, experience the local cuisine, enjoy the museums, and get to know the vibrant and cheerful Dutch people. One of the many highlights of this tour will be a visit to the “Hortus Bulborum”, a living museum filled with some of the rarest tulips, daffodils, and other bulbs in the world! With tulip varieties that go back to the 16th century, daffodils that pre-date the tulips by 200-300 years, and a wide-ranging mix of historic hyacinths, crocus, snowdrops and many more, it is one of the most unique and important collections of bulbs in existence.
This tour will be about more than just gardens, though! Throughout the tour, we’ll dine in local restaurants, we’ll visit the city of Gouda so famous for its cheese, and while in Amsterdam, we’ll take in both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum to see two of the finest art collections anywhere in the world!
For complete details, please email: troy@troybmarden.com

The Beauty of Belgium
2024-06-11 - 2024-06-22
Price: Double Occupancy Room, $5,450 per person Private Room for Single Travelers, add $950 to the per person price
Join Joseph and Shannon Hillenmeyer, of Joseph Hillenmeyer Garden Design https://josephhillenmeyer.com/ along with Troy Marden, as we traverse the beautiful cities and countryside of Belgium, exploring gardens, art, architecture, cuisine, and more for 10 full days and nights! This top-of-the-line tour features 5-star accommodations throughout, as well as meals at some of the finest restaurants in Belgium.
Of particular interest to Joseph are the gardens and landscapes of Jacques Wirtz, founder of Wirtz International Landscape Architects, and there are several planned visits to gardens and landscapes featuring their work. Shannon’s interests include the world of fine arts and design, and she will offer a unique perspective on the aesthetics of many of the sites on our itinerary. We’ll explore the cities of Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp, and enjoy the hospitality of smaller towns and villages, as well, including the Botanical Garden Meise, the Kasteel van Ooidonk, the Chateau Alden Biesen, the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen in Antwerp, and many other gardens and points of interest along the way! We’ll also spend one day in the Flanders Fields region learning about the sacrifices made by men and women from around the world during some of the most intense battles of WW1.
No tour with Troy is complete without experiencing the local cuisine and this tour will be no exception! Chocolate, waffles, moules frites and, of course, beer! We’ll check out the local food scenes in as many of the cities and towns as we can. Depending on the final size of the group, we may even take a cooking class (or at least have a demo!), participate in a chocolate-making class, or learn to draft a perfect beer!
For complete details, please email: troy@troybmarden.com

Flora, Fauna, and Fire! The Beauty of Eastern Sicily
2024-09-24 - 2024-10-05
A brand new offering for us as we expand our offerings in Sicily! Join Charles Yurgalevitch and Troy Marden on this more thorough exploration of Sicily’s eastern end, where fiery Mount Etna meets the Ionian Sea. The rich, volcanic soils of this end of the island are home to excellent wineries, beautiful gardens, and many of Sicily’s largest nurseries, not to mention the history that has unfolded here over thousands of years.

This tour will feature the historic city of Catania, the quiet respite of Ortigia, the spectacular views and luxurious lifestyle of Taormina, and more!

Included in this itinerary will be visits to the Alcantara Gorges, the wineries of Mount Etna, a unique and beautiful cactus and succulent nursery, the towns of Noto and Ragusa, and, schedule permitting, the Villa Romana del Casale, and that just scratches the surface!

We hope you will join us for a new and more in-depth look at Sicily as we begin offering more of these regional tours in the future. We love our spring “Gardens & Treasures of Sicily” tours, which we will continue offering, but we are equally excited for these new opportunities to explore this beautiful island!

Email troy@troybmarden.com for more details.

Hill Towns of Tuscany
2024-10-09 00:00 - 2024-10-20 23:59 (America/Chicago)
For the first time since before the Covid pandemic, we are returning to Tuscany! Autumn is the most beautiful time of year to enjoy the hill towns, when crowds are smaller, wine is being made, olives are being harvested, and restaurant menus are overflowing with local delicacies like chestnuts, mushrooms (including the famous truffle!), and wild boar.

We’ll bookend this tour with visits to the beautiful cities of Rome and Florence, taking in a few of the highlights of each. In between, we’ll stay in Cortona and at least one other hill town (probably San Gimignano, but we are awaiting hotel confirmation), and visit several more.

Along the way, we’ll enjoy public and private villas, palazzos, and gardens, including the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, the Parco dei Mostri (Bomarzo), the Basilica of Assisi, at least two wineries, and an olive grove and press.

It is no secret that Italy, and Tuscany in particular, is my favorite place in the world. I look forward to sharing it with you!

Email troy@troybmarden.com for more information.

Spring Fling in Mobile
2025-03-03 00:00 - 2025-03-09 23:59
Jason Reeves and I are still figuring out the details, but—similar to our 2024 tour to the Raleigh, NC area—we are planning to offer a shorter “spring fling” sightseeing and shopping trip to the Mobile, AL area in early March. The centerpieces of this tour will be a visit to Bellingrath Gardens and attendance at Mobile’s spring “Festival of Flowers”.

We’ll also include visits to at least one, and probably two, native pitcher plant bogs, several nurseries and garden centers, and an excursion to the beautiful town of Fairhope where locally owned shops, antique stores, and restaurants line the streets. Of course, we’ll do our best through our friends and colleagues in the Mobile area to arrange visits to private gardens around Mobile Bay. Complete details and pricing for this tour will be available soon.

Gardens & Treasures of Sicily
2025-03-27 00:00 - 2025-04-07 23:59
Join Charles Yurgalevituch and me for our classic “Gardens & Treasures of Sicily” tour, circumnavigating the island to explore as many beautiful sites as we can cover in 10 days. Beginning and ending in Palermo, sightseeing will include the ancient temple and amphitheater at Segesta, the archaeological site and museum at Mozia, some of the island’s most spectacular temples at Agrigento, the botanical garden in Palermo, an excellent cactus and succulent nursery near Siracusa, one of the most complete Roman villas still left in the world—the Villa Romana del Casale, whose mosaics remain almost completely intact—plus private gardens, exceptional food, and much, much more!

After 2025, we will take a short break from Sicily since we have been multiple times since 2022 and Charles and I want to offer other destinations together. If you have been hoping to join us in Sicily, please consider doing so in 2025! Charles is the now-retired director of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture. He is of Sicilian heritage and his contacts throughout Sicily are part of what makes these tours so special!

For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

Beautiful Bulbs!
2025-04-08 00:00 - 2025-04-17 23:59
We will use Amsterdam as our home base for the duration of this tour. In the city, we will enjoy a canal cruise, the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Around Holland, we will take in the Trompenburg Botanical Garden, enjoy a farm tour and cheese tasting in Gouda, visit the magnificent Het Loo Palace, the Hortus Bulborum, and the Dutch flower auction at Aalsmeer. Of course, no spring tour to Holland would be complete without taking in the spectacle of 7 MILLION flower bulbs at Keukenhof! These are but a few of the very special places we’ll visit on this tour and we’ll still get you home in time for Easter!

As with Sicily, I will take a short break from the Netherlands after offering it two years in a row, so if the magnificent tulip and other spring floral displays have been on your “To Do” list, please consider joining me in 2025!

For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

The Chelsea Flower Show and Gardens of Cornwall & Devon
2025-05-10 00:00 - 2025-05-22 23:59
While I have led many tours to England over the past decade, the southwest part of the country—Devon and Cornwall—have eluded me. Well, no more! In May of 2025, we will spend 8 days making our way from Newquay, in the far southwest of the country, up through Exeter, Bath, and finally to London. This region of England is an almost subtropical climate and the plants that thrive here vary dramatically from any other part of England. Gardens may include Trewidden, Caerhays Castle, Buckland Abbey, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, The Eden Project, Forde Abbey, and Iford Manor, to mention but a few. There will be many more in the final itinerary! We will also take a short side trip to Stonehenge.

The tour will end with 3 nights in London and on Wednesday, May 21, as a grand finale to the tour, we will attend the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show on Member’s Day, prior to the show opening to the general public.

For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

Jewels of the Emerald Isle
2025-07-17 00:00 - 2025-07-28 23:59
Complete details for this tour are now available! Join me along with friends and colleagues Joseph & Shannon Hillenmeyer, of Joseph Hillenmeyer Garden Design in Lexington, Kentucky for a 5-star tour of Ireland, the Emerald Isle! We will fly into and out of Dublin, exploring as much of the island as possible in the time we have, including sites like Kylemore Abbey, the Cliffs of Mohr, the garden of Ilnacullin (Garnish Island), Powerscourt (plus the Powerscourt waterfall), Mount Congreve, Ballynahinch Castle, the private gardens of extraordinary brother and sister gardeners Jimi and June Blake, and much, much more! Along the way, we will relax in the comfort of 5-star hotels in Killarney, Galway, and Dublin. We’ll dine in some of the finest restaurants and we’ll also experience the rustic pubs, the farmhouse cheese, and perhaps an Irish pint or two (or a little Irish whiskey)! Border collies rounding up sheep? Done! A one-of-a-kind birding experience at Ireland’s oldest school of falconry? Check! A visit to a private thoroughbred farm? We’re on it! If Ireland has been on your bucket list, this is going to be a bucket list kind of tour! Don’t miss out!

To be advised when complete details become available, please email troy@troybmarden.com

The Wonders of Africa--Tour #1!
2025-07-30 00:00 - 2025-08-14 23:59
These tours will explore ALL of the wonders of Africa—history, nature, art, food, wine, culture, and of course, gardens! From the roar of Victoria Falls to the roar of lions, and from the tip of the Cape of Good Hope to the top of Table Mountain, we’ll explore South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe through the eyes of the locals as they show us their lands, tell us their stories, tempt us with their cuisine, and treat us as friends. Included are your hotels, daily breakfast, transportation by private coach, local tour guides throughout the tour, all entry fees for sites and activities outlined in the final itinerary, meals as specified in the final itinerary, and all internal flights in the final tour itinerary (these are the flights within Africa, after your arrival from the U.S.–international airfare from the U.S. is not included). Hotels are 4- and 5-star accommodations throughout the tour and include all group safari activities in Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, and Kapama private reserve as noted in the final itinerary. These small group tours are limited to 10-12 participants each to ensure that we can provide each guest with the most personal experience possible.

Some of the activities on this tour include: Two nights in Johannesburg–Regina Mundi church, the Nelson Mandela House, Soweto township, the Apartheid Museum, and lunch and dinner at traditional South African restaurants. Three nights at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, including a visit to Victoria Falls, a sunset river cruise, a village tour, lunch at the Lookout Cafe, and a Boma Dinner including traditional music and dance. Our stay at Victoria Falls will also include a daytrip to the extraordinary Chobe National Park for a game drive in the park, lunch at the Chobe Lodge, and a river cruise. Our three nights in Cape Town will find us visiting Table Mountain, District Six Museum, the world-renowned Kirstenbosch Gardens, and more. We’ll also spend an incredible day out on the Cape of Good Hope, beginning with an unforgettable motorcycle ride as sidecar passengers on vintage, WW2 motorcycles. This excursion will take us along the seafront to Chapman’s Peak with a dropoff at Hout Bay for our Seal Island cruise. We will also visit the penguin colony at Boulders Beach and take the funicular to the summit of the Cape of Good Hope. Two nights in Franschhoek and wine country–Iconic wineries such as Babylonstoren, Haute Cabriere, and Bartinney will be part of our visit to this region of South Africa. We’ll also experience a top-of-the-line lunch at the Fairview Estate along with a master tasting of the estate’s wines. Stellenbosch will round out our visit to this area. We will end our tour with three nights at the extraordinary Kapama River Lodge, where we will experience 5-star African hospitality at its very finest. Included in our “grand finale” are 3 meals daily, morning and evening daily game drives/safaris, an opportunity to do an optional bush walk to experience African wildlife in the most up close and personal way possible, as well as some free time to enjoy the exceptional features of our spa resort.

Double Occupancy Price: $8,950 per person, ground package including internal flights within Africa. (International airfare from and returning to the U.S. is the responsibility of individual guests.)

Single Occupancy Price: $10,600 per person, ground package including internal flights within Africa. (International airfare from and returning to the U.S. is the responsibility of individual guests.)

For complete details about this once-in-a-lifetime tour to experience the Wonders of Africa, please email troy@troybmarden.com

The Wonders of Africa--Tour #2
2025-08-14 00:00 - 2025-08-30 23:59
These tours will explore ALL of the wonders of Africa—history, nature, art, food, wine, culture, and of course, gardens! From the roar of Victoria Falls to the roar of lions, and from the tip of the Cape of Good Hope to the top of Table Mountain, we’ll explore South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe through the eyes of the locals as they show us their lands, tell us their stories, tempt us with their cuisine, and treat us as friends. This tour is one day longer than Tour #1 and is a slightly different itinerary, including a 2-night stay at Chobe National Park (Chobe is included in Tour #1, but will be done as a daytrip from Victoria Falls). Included are your hotels, daily breakfast, transportation by private coach, local tour guides throughout the tour, all entry fees for sites and activities outlined in the final itinerary, meals as specified in the final itinerary, and all internal flights in the final tour itinerary (these are the flights within Africa, after your arrival from the U.S.–international airfare from the U.S. is not included). Hotels are 4- and 5-star accommodations throughout the tour and include all group safari activities in Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, and Kapama private reserve as noted in the final itinerary. These small group tours are limited to 10-12 participants each to ensure that we can provide each guest with the most personal experience possible.

Some of the activities on this tour include: Two nights in Johannesburg–Regina Mundi church, the Nelson Mandela House, Soweto township, the Apartheid Museum, and lunch and dinner at traditional South African restaurants. Two nights in Chobe National Park, where we will enjoy the hospitality of the Chobe Marina Lodge and Resort. Our stay here will include daily safari activities, as well as a river cruise during our stay. Two nights at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, including a visit to Victoria Falls, a sunset river cruise, a village tour, lunch at the Lookout Cafe, and a Boma Dinner including traditional music and dance. Our three nights in Cape Town will find us visiting Table Mountain, District Six Museum, the world-renowned Kirstenbosch Gardens, and more. We’ll also spend an incredible day out on the Cape of Good Hope, beginning with an unforgettable motorcycle ride as sidecar passengers on vintage, WW2 motorcycles. This excursion will take us along the seafront to Chapman’s Peak with a dropoff at Hout Bay for our Seal Island cruise. We will also visit the penguin colony at Boulders Beach and take the funicular to the summit of the Cape of Good Hope. Two nights in Franschhoek and wine country–Iconic wineries such as Babylonstoren, Haute Cabriere, and Bartinney will be part of our visit to this region of South Africa. We’ll also experience a top-of-the-line lunch at the Fairview Estate along with a master tasting of the estate’s wines. Stellenbosch will round out our visit to this area. We will end our tour with three nights at the extraordinary Kapama Buffalo Camp, where we will experience 5-star African hospitality at its very finest. Included in our “grand finale” are 3 meals daily, morning and evening daily game drives/safaris, an opportunity to do an optional bush walk to experience African wildlife in the most up close and personal way possible, as well as some free time to enjoy the exceptional features of our spa resort.

Double Occupancy Price: $9,850 per person, ground package including internal flights within Africa. (International airfare from and returning to the U.S. is the responsibility of individual guests.)

Single Occupancy Price: $11,500 per person, ground package including internal flights within Africa. (International airfare from and returning to the U.S. is the responsibility of individual guests.)

For complete details about this once-in-a-lifetime tour to experience the Wonders of Africa, please email troy@troybmarden.com

Chateaux & Gardens of Normandy and the Loire Valley
2025-10-05 00:00 - 2025-10-16 23:59
Jason Reeves and Troy Marden are off once again, this time to two of the most beautiful regions of France—Normandy and the Loire Valley! Beginning and ending in Paris, first we’ll head north and west as we explore the region of Normandy. We’ll use Rouen and Caen as our home bases for this part of the tour, exploring some of the most beautiful gardens in France along the way. No trip to Normandy would be complete without visits to the D-Day beaches, the American cemetery, and other historic World War II sites, and we’ll be sure not to miss them. Then we’ll head south to the indescribable Loire Valley, where you can toss a stone in any direction and hit a chateau, each one grander and more exquisite than the next. We’ll explore the valley from its west end to its east as we complete our loop and eventually make our way back to Paris.

Complete details will be available in September 2024. To be added to a list of interested guests, please email troy@troybmarden.com and you will be notified once the final itinerary and pricing are complete.

Japan--Cultural Masterpieces!
2025-11-06 00:00 - 2025-11-20 23:59
Another joint venture with friend and colleague, Charles Yurgalevitch. With Charles’ contacts in Japan from his tenure at the New York Botanic Garden, and excellent assistance from a travel agency specializing in Japan and all it has to offer, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience centered around the gardens and temples of Japan, from Tokyo to Miyajima, set in the peak of fall color season!

In addition to beautiful gardens and temples, we will completely immerse ourselves in and experience the culture of this exceptional country; traditions and ceremonies going back hundreds of years, cuisine unique to this island nation, art that has influenced generations of other artists, and much more will all be a part of this itinerary—truly something for everyone!

Pricing and details for this tour will be published approximately 12 months prior to the tour—once we are able to secure firm pricing on hotels and transportation. To be added to the list of interested guests, please email troy@troybmarden.com

The Floralies and Spring Gardens of Belgium
2026-04-29 00:00 - 2026-05-08 23:59
The Floralies (or Floraliën Gent) in Ghent, Belgium, is a prestigious international flower and plant festival that happens only once every four years. Taking place at multiple venues, including the Citadel Park which features the iconic Floralies Hall, it is a historic event that dates back to 1809, and its infrequency makes it particularly special. The Floralies showcases creations by national and international florists, ornamental horticulturists, and artists. The 2026 theme is “Flowers Connect Us” and a visit to the show will be one of many highlights of this tour featuring some of Belgium’s most beautiful springtime gardens, both public and private.

Of course, no trip to Belgium would be complete without visiting some of its magnificent castles—and we will! We would also be remiss not to include some of the country’s finest cuisine (and let me assure you, there are some amazing restaurants!), delicious chocolate (of course!), some of the best beer in the world (it’s good even if you’re not much of a beer drinker!), and so much more! Flying into and out of Brussels, we’ll first head to the beautiful small city of Bruges, where we’ll enjoy the hospitality of the Hotel Heritage for three nights. Then, we’ll make our way back to Brussels to the Warwick Hotel, using this beautiful city as home base as we explore the rest of Belgium, from Antwerp in the north to the magnificent Castle and Garden of Annevoie in the south, and many points in between.

For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

Hill Towns and Gardens of Tuscany
2026-06-09 00:00 - 2026-06-20 23:59
It has been some years since I’ve done a main season, early summer tour to Tuscany—usually we go in the fall—and I decided that 2026 was the year to bring it back! The spring rains have ended, warmer summer temperatures prevail (but it isn’t sweltering yet!), the wheat fields are in their full glory, and the sunflowers are beginning to bloom. And the light… especially in the mornings. It’s a wonderful time to be in Tuscany! But who am I kidding? There is never a bad time to be in Tuscany!

This tour will begin in Rome and end in Florence, and we will spend three nights in each of those magnificent cities. For the four nights in between, we will base ourselves in the Tuscan hill town of Cortona, of Under the Tuscan Sun fame, and use it as home base to explore some of the surrounding hill towns, as well as several nearby villas, wineries, castles, and more. We’ll experience La Dolce Vita, the sweet life, firsthand as we participate in “la passegiata” (the nightly stroll), partake of the local food and wine, become regulars at the local coffee shop, mingle with the townspeople on the square. For those who have been with me before, we’ll visit some old favorites like Castello Ruspoli on our way from Rome to Cortona, and Palazzo Corsini while we’re in Florence, but we’ll add plenty of new sights, too, for those who have “already been”! This will be a tour of Tuscany you won’t want to miss!

For complete details, please email troy@troybmarden.com

English Gardens of Kent and Sussex
2026-07-08 00:00 - 2026-07-17 23:59
This year’s tour to England will feature the counties of Sussex and Kent in the southeastern corner of the country. We have touched on Kent before and this time we’ll cast our net even wider, visiting gardens like Goodnestone Park, Old Bladbean Stud, Walmer Castle, and others. County Kent is also home to Canterbury Cathedral and the white cliffs of Dover and we’ll do our best to include them both while we’re in the area.

County Sussex also has amazing gardens, including my favorite garden of all, Great Dixter, so you know we’ll be visiting there! Other gardens nearby include Borde Hill, Gravetye Manor, Nymans, Wakehurst and many, many more. It’s a long list, but we’re going to work as many of them into the schedule as we possibly can in the time we have available!

On the way back to London at the end of the tour, we’ll spend most of the day at the RHS garden, Wisley, with its grand borders, astounding rock garden, exotic garden, glasshouse, and so much more! We will end the tour in London on a Thursday night for people to fly home on Friday OR extend your stay in London on your own for the weekend! This is going to be a good one! For more information, please email info@troybmarden.com

Gardens from Montreal to Quebec City 2026
2026-08-01 00:00 - 23:59
This is just a place holder for this tour with official dates in the month of August and more information coming soon.

This tour will be a collaboration with good friend and colleague, Jason Reeves, of the UT Garden in Jackson, TN.

New Zealand
2026-11-01 00:00 - 2026-11-22 23:59
This will be a 5-star tour of New Zealand, with top-of-the-line hotels and experiences. Covering both the north and south islands of New Zealand, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime discovery of some of the best of New Zealand. This year’s tour will include visits to at least 5 private gardens (more if they can be arranged), 4 or 5 public gardens, an overnight cruise on Milford Sound, a scenic ride on the Tranzalpine Railway, the Waitomo glowworm caves, the geothermal area of Rotorua, Hobbiton (part of the Lord of the Rings movie set), and much, much more! This tour will be strictly limited to 15 guests.
