Akaroa Rose
Photo by Suzanne Parker
Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Photo by Paul Coopersmith
Paul at Borough Market, London
Borough has become one of the largest and
finest open-air food markets in all of Europe.
Photo by Suzanne Parker.
"We have been on 12 Coopersmith tours in the
past, starting with Venice and the Italian Lakes in 1994, through
Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire in 2023. Our upcoming tour to
the Peak District will be our thirteenth, and Jane's farewell tour
the fourteenth. So we've been traveling with you for 30 years,
with our thanks!"
— Kathy and Greg Stern, Jefferson, Maryland
Dear Garden Enthusiast,
Welcome to COOPERSMITH'S, North America's oldest and most trusted international garden and stately-home tour company, now in our 40th year of crafting One-of-a-Kind Tours® for the discerning traveler.
Over the years, people have asked me, “What made you decide to go into the tour business?” My answer, simply put, is that travel has been in my blood for as long as I can remember. Having grown up in New Jersey, some of my fondest childhood memories were the car trips our family took to places like Niagara Falls, Smokey Mountains, and Williamsburg. While in high school, I savored week-long bicycle tours in Nova Scotia and Martha’s Vineyard.
Later, while attending the University of California, Berkeley, I hitchhiked annually between West and East coasts. Upon graduating, I set out for Europe, where I thumbed my way around the Continent for six months before settling in London. In the ensuing three years, I researched and wrote a guide book for like-minded travelers (Rule of Thumb: A Hitchhiker’s Handbook, Simon & Schuster, 1973).
Back in Berkeley, where I supported my travel habit by working for over ten years as a landscape gardener, contractor, and garden designer, I co-founded A Taste of Britain, later to be renamed COOPERSMITH'S One-of-a-Kind Tours®. My passion was, and still is, crafting unique, small-group, upscale garden and manor-house tours that I, myself, would feel comfortable being part of.
The following elements have always formed the foundation for those tours:
World-class tour leaders, with a minimum of ten years' experience in the field
Exceptional gardens, featuring private tours by owners and head gardeners
Small groups: as few as six and never more than 20 participants
Relaxed pace: on average, one visit in the morning, and one in the afternoon
Limited time on the motorcoach, with plenty of extra seats
In-depth focus on one or two regions of one country
Four-to-seven-nights in atmospheric country inns and manor-house hotels
Gourmet meals, often locally-sourced
Now, four decades later, we’re still going strong. Our tours typically fill up 12 to 18 months in advance. We have dozens of clients who travel with us on a regular basis, some up to two or even three times a year. I love what one of our clients once wrote on his feedback form: "Going on a COOPERSMITH'S tour," he said, "is like taking part in a traveling house party, focusing on beautiful homes and gardens, with Jeeves doing all the work!"
When people go on a COOPERSMITH'S tour, odds are they’ll be signing up for another one soon - sometimes even before finishing the one they’re on! Come join us this year or next and help us celebrate our forty years in the business. And see for yourself what makes our tours truly One-of-a-Kind®!
Happy travels,
"A company that specializes in small groups [where
members] are often taken to private gardens rarely seen..."
— The New York Times
"My wife recently had the good fortune to meet and
speak with [famous English horticulturalist] Penelope Hobhouse, who
recommended your garden tour as one of the two best in Europe..."
— Collier Espy, Jr., Dothan, Alabama
"We have been on 12 Coopersmith tours in the
past, starting with Venice and the Italian Lakes in 1994, through
Buckinghamshire & Hertfordshire in 2023. Our upcoming tour to
the Peak District will be our thirteenth, and Jane's farewell tour
the fourteenth. So we've been traveling with you for 30 years, with
our thanks!"
— Kathy and Greg Stern, Jefferson, Maryland
Dear Garden Enthusiast,
Welcome to COOPERSMITH'S, North America's oldest and most trusted international garden and stately-home tour company, now in our 40th year of crafting One-of-a-Kind Tours® for the discerning traveler.
Over the years, people have asked me, “What made you decide to go into the tour business?” My answer, simply put, is that travel has been in my blood for as long as I can remember. Having grown up in New Jersey, some of my fondest childhood memories were the car trips our family took to places like Niagara Falls, Smokey Mountains, and Williamsburg. While in high school, I savored week-long bicycle tours in Nova Scotia and Martha’s Vineyard.
Later, while attending the University of California, Berkeley, I hitchhiked annually between West and East coasts. Upon graduating, I set out for Europe, where I thumbed my way around the Continent for six months before settling in London. In the ensuing three years, I researched and wrote a guide book for like-minded travelers (Rule of Thumb: A Hitchhiker’s Handbook, Simon & Schuster, 1973).
Akaroa Rose
Photo by Suzanne Parker
Back in Berkeley, where I supported my travel habit by working for over ten years as a landscape gardener, contractor, and garden designer, I co-founded A Taste of Britain, later to be renamed COOPERSMITH'S One-of-a-Kind Tours®. My passion was, and still is, crafting unique, small-group, upscale garden and manor-house tours that I, myself, would feel comfortable being part of.
The following elements have always formed the foundation for those tours:
World-class tour leaders, with a minimum of ten years' experience in the field
Exceptional gardens, featuring private tours by owners and head gardeners
Small groups: as few as six and never more than 20 participants
Relaxed pace: on average, one visit in the morning, and one in the afternoon
Limited time on the motorcoach, with plenty of extra seats
In-depth focus on one or two regions of one country
Four-to-seven-nights in atmospheric country inns and manor-house hotels
Gourmet meals, often locally-sourced
Sissinghurst Castle Garden
Photo by Paul Coopersmith
Now, four decades later, we’re still going strong. Our tours typically fill up 12 to 18 months in advance. We have dozens of clients who travel with us on a regular basis, some up to two or even three times a year. I love what one of our clients once wrote on his feedback form: "Going on a COOPERSMITH'S tour," he said, "is like taking part in a traveling house party, focusing on beautiful homes and gardens, with Jeeves doing all the work!"
When people go on a COOPERSMITH'S tour, odds are they’ll be signing up for another one soon-- -sometimes even before finishing the one they’re on! Come join us this year or next and help us celebrate our forty years in the business. And see for yourself what makes our tours truly One-of-a-Kind®!
Happy travels,
"A company that specializes in small groups [where
members] are often taken to private gardens rarely seen..."
— The New York Times
"My wife recently had the good fortune to meet and
speak with [famous English horticulturalist] Penelope Hobhouse, who
recommended your garden tour as one of the two best in Europe..."
— Collier Espy, Jr., Dothan, Alabama
Paul at Borough Market, London
Borough has become one of the largest and
finest open-air food markets in all of Europe.
Photo by Suzanne Parker.
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