Great Gardens of the Scottish Borders (Aug 30 – Sep 5, 2026)
You are invited to join The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA for six nights in Scotland to explore the Scottish Borders — an area of great scenic beauty and steeped in history. This tour will encompass visits to a selection of interesting and very different gardens as well as historic houses with outstanding collections of art.
After an arrival night in Edinburgh at the Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel (www.kimptoncharlottesquare.com), we will head to the Borders for four nights at Burts Hotel (www.burtshotel.co.uk) in the attractive town of Melrose. We will end our tour with a final night back in Edinburgh at the Kimpton Charlotte Square, where we will celebrate with a farewell dinner.
Among highlights:
The Georgian House, an 18th-century town house in Edinburgh designed by acclaimed architect Robert Adam, and restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, where we will kick off the tour with a welcome reception surrounded by stunning collections of period furniture, paintings, porcelain, silver and glass
Priorwood, a National Trust for Scotland property set in the ancient precinct of Melrose Abbey, where Colin Wren, the Trust’s Garden Design Landscape Manager for the region and an expert on apple trees, will provide insights relating to the varieties grown in the orchard
Floors Castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe, where we will tour state rooms and visit a spectacular walled garden with a Victorian vegetable garden, as well as a millennium garden featuring intertwining initials of the 10th Duke and Duchess
Cherrytrees, a traditional country house garden set in the midst of the Borders hills, which has been tended and renovated by the current owners over the last 15 years to spectacular effect – a walled garden with interesting borders, excellent plantings outside the walls, a large Victorian conservatory, and an attractive woodland walk
Mertoun, home of the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, which is an example of gardening on a large scale – a massive walled garden, superb trees in the woodland walk, and formal borders in front of the house
Carolside, a traditional and romantic garden set in a beautiful 18th-century landscape, considered to be one of the finest private gardens in Scotland and particularly well known for its historically important collection of roses
… and a talk by the Trust’s Stuart Maxwell about the Centenary Garden at Newhailes House, outside Edinburgh, which will be completed by 2031 when the National Trust for Scotland will celebrate 100 years of protecting Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage
walled garden and formal gardens in front of the house.
Fitness Level
This trip involves walking for extended periods, sometimes over uneven surfaces.
Limited spots remain for their latest garden tour, which focuses on the historic and picturesque Borders region of Scotland, south of Edinburgh. For further information please visit: NTS USA: Great Gardens of the Scottish Borders.
