Troy B Marden Travel

Chateaux & Gardens of Normandy and the Loire Valley
2025-10-05 00:00 - 2025-10-16 23:59 (America/Chicago)
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.
