From 3rd October 2025.
A 5-week online course
Why not take an excursion to Italy from the comfort of your armchair? Join me for a series of lectures on "What I Did on My Holidays", exploring Italy’s most magical waterside gardens — from the Venetian Lagoon to the Alpine lakes.
We begin in Venice, where we visit the recently restored Orto Giardino del Redentore, with a moment to take in the Festa del Redentore fireworks shimmering over the lagoon. Then on to Trieste, where the romantic, fairytale of Castello di Miramare looks out across the Adriatic, its botanical gardens and historical collections evoking the spirit of 19th-century exploration.
Next, we journey to Lake Maggiore, to stroll among citrus trees and camellias on the Borromean Islands — the baroque splendour of the boat shaped Isola Bella and the botanical haven of Isola Madre. Our penultimate lecture takes us to Lake Como and the elegance of Villa Balbiano and its next door neighbour, the more well known Villa Balbianello (a star of James Bond and Star Wars) before concluding at the private Renaissance garden of the (now the hotel) Villa d’Este. Edith Wharton wrote in her Italian ‘Villas and their Gardens’ that even though Caroline of Brunswick had been busy creating an English garden there “the main lines of the Renaissance garden still exist!”.
Our final destination takes us on a journey with one of the finest Italian landscape architects of the 20th century, Pietro Porcinai. We begin at his swimming pool on Isola Polvese, overlooking the tranquil Lake Trasimeno, and follow his work through Venice, Treviso, and Florence, before ending our five weeks of lectures in Portofino, perhaps with an aperitivo in hand, as we take in his stunning pool with a view of the Ligurian Sea.
Come travel with me, no passport needed, just a love of gardens, history, and Italian charm.
Information
USE ‘VENICE10’ DURING CHECKOUT FOR 10% OFF
Offer expires 10th of August.
£150.00
A 5 week course online
1. Venice 3rd October
A hidden garden opening onto the lagoon: the newly restored Garden of the Convent of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. With ancient workshops and a historic greenhouse, this sacred garden has remained closed for 500 years—until now.
2. Trieste 7th October
Castello di Miramare — a romantic botanical garden perched on the edge of the Adriatic, created for Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg-Lorraine and Princess Charlotte of Belgium. A dream garden... until history took a darker turn.
3. Lake Maggiore – The Borromean Archipelago 17th October
Two islands, two unforgettable gardens:
Isola Bella, a baroque fantasy of grottoes, shellwork, and cascading terraces.
Isola Madre, its elder sister, a botanic ‘Eden’ rich in rare and exotic specimens.
4. Lake Como 24th October
Three gardens along the lakeshore:
Villa Balbiano
Villa del Balbianello
And the timeless elegance of Villa d’Este
Each one a masterpiece of Italian garden design, over looking the still waters of the lake.
5. Lake Trasimeno and Isola Polvese 31st October
Pietro Porcinai carved a garden and swimming pool out of an abandoned sandstone quarry for Count Giannino Citterio. But this isn’t our only stop with Porcinai...
We’ll also virtually visit: Villa Terrazza in Florence, the pool and gardens of Villa di Rovero in Treviso, and finally, ending in Portofino, where his garden and pool overlook the Ligurian Sea.
All our Zoom courses are recorded and a link will be sent out with notes after each class.
From 3rd October 2025.
A 5-week online course
Why not take an excursion to Italy from the comfort of your armchair? Join me for a series of lectures on "What I Did on My Holidays", exploring Italy’s most magical waterside gardens — from the Venetian Lagoon to the Alpine lakes.
We begin in Venice, where we visit the recently restored Orto Giardino del Redentore, with a moment to take in the Festa del Redentore fireworks shimmering over the lagoon. Then on to Trieste, where the romantic, fairytale of Castello di Miramare looks out across the Adriatic, its botanical gardens and historical collections evoking the spirit of 19th-century exploration.
Next, we journey to Lake Maggiore, to stroll among citrus trees and camellias on the Borromean Islands — the baroque splendour of the boat shaped Isola Bella and the botanical haven of Isola Madre. Our penultimate lecture takes us to Lake Como and the elegance of Villa Balbiano and its next door neighbour, the more well known Villa Balbianello (a star of James Bond and Star Wars) before concluding at the private Renaissance garden of the (now the hotel) Villa d’Este. Edith Wharton wrote in her Italian ‘Villas and their Gardens’ that even though Caroline of Brunswick had been busy creating an English garden there “the main lines of the Renaissance garden still exist!”.
Our final destination takes us on a journey with one of the finest Italian landscape architects of the 20th century, Pietro Porcinai. We begin at his swimming pool on Isola Polvese, overlooking the tranquil Lake Trasimeno, and follow his work through Venice, Treviso, and Florence, before ending our five weeks of lectures in Portofino, perhaps with an aperitivo in hand, as we take in his stunning pool with a view of the Ligurian Sea.
Come travel with me, no passport needed, just a love of gardens, history, and Italian charm.
Information
USE ‘VENICE10’ DURING CHECKOUT FOR 10% OFF
Offer expires 10th of August.
£150.00
A 5 week course online
1. Venice 3rd October
A hidden garden opening onto the lagoon: the newly restored Garden of the Convent of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. With ancient workshops and a historic greenhouse, this sacred garden has remained closed for 500 years—until now.
2. Trieste 7th October
Castello di Miramare — a romantic botanical garden perched on the edge of the Adriatic, created for Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg-Lorraine and Princess Charlotte of Belgium. A dream garden... until history took a darker turn.
3. Lake Maggiore – The Borromean Archipelago 17th October
Two islands, two unforgettable gardens:
Isola Bella, a baroque fantasy of grottoes, shellwork, and cascading terraces.
Isola Madre, its elder sister, a botanic ‘Eden’ rich in rare and exotic specimens.
4. Lake Como 24th October
Three gardens along the lakeshore:
Villa Balbiano
Villa del Balbianello
And the timeless elegance of Villa d’Este
Each one a masterpiece of Italian garden design, over looking the still waters of the lake.
5. Lake Trasimeno and Isola Polvese 31st October
Pietro Porcinai carved a garden and swimming pool out of an abandoned sandstone quarry for Count Giannino Citterio. But this isn’t our only stop with Porcinai...
We’ll also virtually visit: Villa Terrazza in Florence, the pool and gardens of Villa di Rovero in Treviso, and finally, ending in Portofino, where his garden and pool overlook the Ligurian Sea.
All our Zoom courses are recorded and a link will be sent out with notes after each class.
