These are the type of trips that gardeners dream about. Anna Pavord (author of BULB and The Tulip) will accompany travelers to gardens and villas on two trips: one in the spring and the second in the fall.

The first, April 8 to 18, 2010, visits the Netherlands and Belgium, journeying aboard the M.S. Amadolce. It begins at the Keukenhof Gardens (pictured) and its unparalleled spring extravaganza. Other ports of call are Rotterdam, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam to visit museums and gardens, both public and private.

The fall trip explores Italian Garden Treasures in Florence and Siena from September 29 to October 8, 2010. In Florence, there’s a special viewing of the Jacopo Ligozzi drawings and a private visit to La Pietra (once the home and garden of Sir Harold Acton). Then, past the landscapes of Val d’Orcia, the trip heads to Siena, with the terraced garden at Villa Vicobello and the La Foce estate.

Academic Arrangements Abroad, organizer of these trips, has other garden-centric tours set for 2010, including Historic Houses & Private Gardens of Northern Ireland, Historic Homes & Gardens of South Africa plus Safari, and Art & Gardens of the Caribbean: Barbados to Curacao.