Flower-bedecked balconies decorate white-washed facades along a labyrinth of narrow alleys in the old quarters of Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada. Fountains spray into mirrored pools in formal gardens designed for royalty.

Spain's spectacular gardens show a combination of influences from throughout the centuries. The Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans planted grapevines, olive trees and date palms. With the Moors came orange trees and herbs and flowers native to Asia. Exploration brought bougainvillea from South America and geraniums from South Africa.

Barcelona's Parc Güell, with fantastic views overlooking the city, was designed by Antoni Gaudi, one of the most original architects of the early 20th century. A short excursion from the city to Blanes will take us to the Jardi Botanic Mar I Murtra set on the cliffs above the town, with its fantastic collection of Mediterranean and tropical plants.

In Madrid the Jardin Botanico, with over 30,000 plants from around the world, sits just south of the Prado Museum where we will see paintings by Spanish masters such as Goya, Velázquez and El Greco. The beautiful island of Mallorca boasts the former gardens and parklands of the island's nobility.

There will be opportunities to visit museums, palaces and private homes and to experience the best of Spanish culture and cuisine.

Your tour leader
Stuart Read is a landscape historian living in Sydney since 1997. A graduate in science, horticulture and landscape architecture from Lincoln University in New
Zealand, he has worked in landscape design, amenity and production horticulture, and in heritage conservation from world to local scales for the Australian and NSW Governments since 1991.
Stuart has long been an active agent in the Australian Garden History Society both at national and state levels, chairing its Sydney & Northern NSW Branch,
previously in the ACT, Monaro & Riverina Branch. He has written for its journal ‘Australian Garden History’ and other magazines. Stuart regularly gives talks,
seminars and leads tours highlighting aspects of urban and landscape planning, conservation and design. He won an overseas fellowship from the Pratt Foundation / International Specialised Skills Institute travelling through Spain in 2005 studying management of change in historic and new parks and gardens,
writing the report ‘Demi Sec: Spanish Lessons for Australia in managing dryclimate historic parks and gardens’. He is a co-author of the NSW National Trust
2003 book ‘Australian Interwar Gardens – a guide to the history, conservation and management of Australian gardens of 1918-1939’.

Your tour coordinator
Judy Pittaway has been working with the Historic Houses Trust Members for 20 years. She established the Members events program and in recent years has
developed a highly regarded international tours program, including the China Trade Tour of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou in 2007, Sicily and Malta in 2008 and Historic Houses and Gardens Tour of England in 2009. Judy knows her members well and her careful research and personal attention to detail in tailoring each tour ensures that the needs and expectations of her members are met. Judy is currently General Manager of the Historic Houses Trust Members and NSW Vice President of the Australian Federation of Friends of Museums (AFFM), a division of the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM).

Find out more about our tour to Spain by listening to Stuart's talk held at the Museum of Sydney as a precursor to the tour on Friday 5 February

 Download the Gardens of Spain: Illustrated talk (1:12, 13.6 mb)

 Download the complete itinerary  (347.9 kb)