DETAILS

English Gardens

GETTING THERE: Heathrow and Gatwick airports are your best options: Heathrow if you go west to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gatwick if you stick to the southeast. Stansted also works if you focus on Essex and London. Several major airlines, including American and Continental, offer connecting service from the Washington area to Gatwick. Example: Continental from BWI for $869 round trip, via Newark. Heathrow offers more choices, including many nonstop flights from Washington Dulles. Try British Airways, United and Virgin Atlantic, all about $920 round trip; British Airways also flies nonstop from BWI starting at about $870 round trip. Maxjet, an all business-class airline, has a nonstop Washington-to-Stansted flight, with service resuming May 24; round-trip fares for June are about $1,150.

GETTING AROUND: Renting a car is pretty much mandatory, as train and bus service to many of these areas is time-consuming. Gasoline is painfully expensive: more than $7 a gallon. And don't expect the rental car's map to suffice. Instead, get as detailed a map as you can. One option is http://www.streetmap.co.uk/, where you can print out maps as detailed as 500 yards to the inch.

Bus tours are another alternative, from such companies as Brookland Travel (011-44-1305-259467, http://www.brooklandtravel.com/) and Brightwater Holidays Ltd. (011-44-1334-657155, http://www.brightwaterholidays.com/).

WHERE TO STAY: We used the Internet to pick our bed-and-breakfasts. Two good sites: Visit Cornwall, http://www.visitcornwall.co.uk/, and Visit Southeast England, http://www.visitsoutheastengland.com/.

* In Cornwall, we enjoyed Kiggon Cottage (Pencalenick, St. Clement, Truro, Cornwall, 011-44-1872-520471, http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/kiggon-cottage/welcome.html), a few miles east of Truro, with helpful owners and a pleasant greenhouse-style breakfast room; from $52 per person per night.

* For the southeast, our base was near the historic port town of Rye. At Stream House (Pett Level Road, Fairlight, near Rye, East Sussex, 011-44-1424-814916 or 011-44-7941-911379, http://www.stream-house.co.uk/), we paid the highest rate of our trip -- $159 for two -- but we also had the largest bathroom.

* In Essex, we stayed near the town of Colchester at Good Hall (Coggershall Road, Dedham, Ardleigh, Essex, 011-44-1206-322100). Its bathroom was tiny, but the breakfast rivaled any other we had in England, and the grounds were the prettiest of any B&B we visited; $65 per person per night.

* For Somerset, we picked Glastonbury, home of Glastonbury Abbey and the legendary burial ground for King Arthur. Wearyall Hill House (Roman Way, Glastonbury, Somerset, 011-44-1458-835510, http://www.wearyallhillhouse.co.uk/) had a charming garden and colorfully decorated rooms; $116 double per night.

WHERE TO EAT: At most restaurants, dinner for two with starter, main course and dessert ranged from $65 to $100.

For dinners around Rye, try the Two Sawyers pub restaurant (Pett Road, Pett town, Hastings). We also had a pleasant lunch at Boswells, a cafe that shares space with a beauty parlor (Cinque Ports Street between Market Road and the Rope Walk, Rye, http://www.theryeretreat.co.uk/boswells.php).

In Cornwall, Pizza Express (1 Boscawen St., Truro) is on the main square in the former Cornish Bank, constructed in 1848. We also enjoyed the Italian food at Carbonara (13 New Bridge St., Truro, Cornwall).

In Glastonbury, at Cafe Galatea Restaurant (5a High St., Glastonbury, Somerset, http://www.cafegalatea.co.uk/), my dinner was a traditional English dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy, except that the roast beef actually was a vegetarian nut roll.

RECOMMENDED READING: Before you go, get yourself in the mood by reading two books. "The Essential Earthman" (Indiana University Press) is a collection of columns by the late Washington Post writer Henry Mitchell. Read him for perspective on what makes gardens, and gardeners, beautiful. Then pick up Jenny Uglow's "A Little History of British Gardening" (North Point Press) for background on several of the gardens written about here and how they figure into the national culture.

The most comprehensive guide to Cornish gardens that we've seen is "The Cornwall Gardens Guide," by Douglas Ellory Pett (Alison Hodge). If you want something more comprehensive, try "The Garden Lover's Guide to Britain," by Patrick Taylor (Princeton Architectural Press).

INFORMATION: British Tourist Authority, http://www.visitbritain.com/.

-- C.W.