Simon and Jason take food seriously, and Dorset's fields, coasts and skies - not to mention a host of growers, farmers, fishers and cooks - make this one of England's top spots for fresh, seasonal, local food.

G&T guests enjoy amazing lunches, dinners and teas, every day.

The menu revolves around locally sourced ingredients, inspired by the environment and the beautiful Somerset countryside. Holm works with local farmers, growers, butchers and anyone who shares their love of exceptional ingredients, treated with care and respect.

At the SBH we'll enjoy stunning coastal views over fresh, locally sourced ingredients from a seasonal menu. The inviting atmosphere and artfully designed interior make this one of the coast's most sought-after tables.

Brassica in Beaminster is Simon's canteen when his wife is away, and why not? Their seasonally inspired menus are crafted from locally sourced ingredients, and it is a firm West Dorset favourite.

Coming home to the Manor from the garden visits each day, there’s always a fresh cake baked by Dorset’s best cake maker, Hayley. Victoria sponge, scones and cream, a towering coffee and walnut cake with just the right proportion of icing to cake… every day is a new revelation!

And then, after tea, after evening drinks, it’s time for dinner.

Need we say more?

Caroline and Claire are among the best chefs in the county. Their top-restaurant-level suppers bring guests back to G&T year on year.

Claire’s hugely successful vegetarian/vegan restaurant, f.east, recently moved to lovely new premises in Bridport. She uses the freshest seasonal herbs and vegetables, much of it picked daily from her own Dorset kitchen garden, to create delicious and colourful dishes which draw on influences from Asia, North Africa, South America and the Mediterranean.

Her style of cookery is light, delicious and always beautiful.

Caroline brilliantly conjures up delectable dinners, whether it’s lamb cutlets or delicate venison, mouth-watering medallions of pork, or elegant slices of beef; they are served with all the trimmings and fresh, seasonal vegetables.

For pudding, something sophisticated and fresh.

At Symondsbury Manor you’ll stay in a rambling 17th century house, not a hotel, so the atmosphere is that of a country house week – and every bedroom is unique. 

All bedrooms are deeply comfortable twin or double rooms, and can be booked for sharing couple or a single guest. Most of them have lovely garden views - and the garden itself is a treat, with its croquet lawn, elevated terrace and sensitive planting, overlooking the 14th century village church.

The Manor’s historic charm adds to the enjoyment of your stay, with a warm, intimate atmosphere but plenty of space for reading, relaxing and hanging out. Friendly, like-minded company allows our fellow garden-lovers to feel at home, enjoying one another's company at table, in the garden, and in the spacious sitting room.

You are collected at Dorchester station, to arrive at Symondsbury Manor in time for tea. We have time to unwind and enjoy the garden before dinner. 

Simon Tiffin and Jason Goodwin will set the scene with an introductory talk on the history and gardens of west Dorset.

After breakfast we leave for Ashington, the 16th-century home of Julian and Isabel Bannerman, garden designers by appointment to the Prince of Wales.

In his introduction to their book Landscape of Dreams, the King described the pair as “worthy heirs of William Kent, one of the greatest and most creative of early eighteenth century designers”.

As well as the King’s gardens at Highgrove, the dynamic duo have created the famous gardens at Trematon Castle and Houghton Hall. With towering yews echoing the old church, Ashington’s inspiring gardens are in fact brand new, created from rough turf during lockdown as ‘a joyous cross between a Kate Greenaway illustration and a medieval Book of Hours, with a nod to Alice in Wonderland’.

After lunch at Holm, a Somerset restaurant driven by provenance, sustainability and warm hospitality, we head to the handsome village of Martock to visit Fergus and Louise Dowding’s secret garden at Yews Farm, described in Gardens Illustrated as ‘a theatrical paradise’. This is a playful garden packed with a menagerie of topiary beasts, swathes of self-sown umbellifers and a layout that entices you to explore a horticultural Wonderland.

In the morning we leave Symondsbury to visit the nearby village of Stoke Abbott, one of the most magical and secluded villages in Dorset. We’ll see the charming gardens at Manor Farm, Simon Tiffin’s own home, and picnic in the orchard, to enjoy a talk by James Crowden, the poet and author of Cider Country: How an Ancient Craft Became a Way of Life.

In the afternoon you are free to explore further this wonderful corner of west Dorset. A walk along the nearby hollow way of Hell Lane or a trip to Lyme Regis are excellent options. We end the day back in Symondsbury, at the specialist plant nursery of Charles Chesshire. As well as curating this spectacular nursery, Charles has designed gardens at Burford House, consulted at Sudeley Castle gardens and is restoring the park and gardens at Lydney Park. The nursery is also home to Charles’s extensive collection of herbaceous and itoh peonies.

Before dinner our special guest, the leading garden photographer Howard Sooley, shares his ideas and gives us advice on how to get the most from our garden photography.

The morning is dedicated to exploring the magnificent grounds of Forde Abbey.
Founded in the 12th century by Cistercian monks, there has been a garden at Forde Abbey for over 900 years. The formal layout was begun by Sir Francis Gwyn in the early 18th century and the following century saw the addition of walled gardens and formal Victorian borders.

For the last three generations, the gardens have been in the careful stewardship of the Roper family, and during his lifetime Geoffrey Roper planted more than 350,000 trees on the estate. The vast walled kitchen garden is a delight.

After lunch at Symondsbury Manor we visit the garden of Simon and Amanda Mehigan at the Old Rectory in the nearby village of Netherbury.

Famed for its spring colour and drifts of naturalised tulipa sprengeri, this astounding five-acre garden is dazzling in May.

Not regularly open to the public, this is a rare opportunity to visit one of the best private gardens in west Dorset.

Created by the artist John Hubbard and his wife Caryl, and justly compared to Sissinghurst and Hidcote, the garden at Chilcombe is a paradise in every sense, composed of linked enclosures all hidden away in the hills behind Chesil Beach. The main walled garden is divided into a series of rooms by pleached apple trees and sculpted yew hedges.  Each of these intimate spaces invites you to stop and admire the plantsmanship and love that went in to its creation.

This exclusive tour is followed by lunch overlooking the cliffs at the Seaside Boarding House.

Fabled designer Jasper Conran has given one of England’s loveliest smaller houses, Bettiscombe Manor, a garden to match, with orchards, mellow brick enclosures, and broad beds flanking an unforgettable view of the Vale, looking down to the sea.

We have an exclusive invitation to visit in the afternoon, to hear about Jasper’s design principles and the work that has gone into creating this magical English garden.

Home to the Earl and Countess of Sandwich, Mapperton has been described as the nation’s finest manor house and its grounds are equally remarkable. The gardens feature stunning topiary, a magnificent orangery and a recently restored eighteenth century swimming pool. The planting in the borders is varied and elegant and the arboretum features a stunning collection of trees and shrubs. A talk on the history of Mapperton gardens will be given by the Countess of Sandwich.

Lunch is at the award-winning restaurant, Brassica.

After lunch we visit Farrs, the Beaminster home of the furniture maker John Makepeace and his wife Jenny, to explore two strikingly different but equally enchanting gardens. John has created a landscape of order and precision, featuring clipped monumental topiary and precisely planted grass borders. Pass through a door into the internal walled garden and you enter Jenny’s world of carefully curated colourful chaos; a true plantswoman’s paradise.

We return to Symondsbury Manor for a valedictory dinner.

After breakfast, we leave Symondsbury Manor, bidding a fond farewell to Dorset - perhaps, like so many G&T Gardeners, vowing to return!

Those travelling on by rail will be taken to meet the late morning train at Dorchester South.