Thirty-five miles outside the �Big Apple� skyscrapers of New York City are skyscrapers of a different kind � the tall trees and pastoral beauty of Coastal Fairfield County. Positioned as the �Gateway to New England,� Coastal Fairfield County offers a taste of the country without the hassle of a long car drive or flight. From gardens to bird watching, hiking to education, the region offers the ideal setting to enjoy the great outdoors.

An excellent place to begin a visit is the Garden Education Center in Greenwich. Located within the Montgomery Pinetum, a registered historic site and 102-acre park, wooded trails, majestic trees, unusual specimen plantings and wild flowers abound. Check their schedule for gardening workshops, lectures and special events held in the Center�s working greenhouse and throughout the park.

For another unique experience, head to Shanti Bithi Bonsai � now in its twenty-seventh year! Offering one of the largest and most unusual collections of imported bonsai in North America, Shanti Bithi (meaning "path of peace") offers workshops on bonsai care and pruning.

Several unique nurseries offer demonstration gardens and workshops. Visit Oliver Nursery in Fairfield for answers to all your gardening questions, or tour 25 acres of "Connecticut's Garden Spot" at Twombly Nursery. Featuring over 5,000 varieties of flowers, shrubs, and trees, the nationally recognized display gardens of Twombly�s include an extensive collection of rare & hard to find plants in unique landscape combinations and the only winter garden in Connecticut.

With over 400 culinary, medicinal, and fragrant varieties of herbs, Gilberties Herb Gardens lives up to its name. This complete garden center offers most common herbs in its greenhouse all year while demonstrations and workshops on topics such as growing, cooking and creating with herbs are available by request. Gilberties� charming gift shop selections include herbal products, dried flowers, garden books, craft and specialty items.

For the green thumb interested in sampling the world of private gardening, numerous �secret garden� tours are offered throughout the year in communities such as Greenwich, New Canaan and Martha Stewart�s Westport.

The great outdoors are about more than gardening, however, and Coastal Fairfield County provides plenty of opportunities to simply �commune� with nature. Hikers can explore over one hundred miles of hiking trails including the Nature Conservancy�s 1,720 acre Katharine Ordway Preserve, and bicyclists will enjoy easy-to-moderate routes around the region.

The Audubon Society was founded in Coastal Fairfield County and opportunities for bird watching are numerous. Each fall, the Audubon Center in Greenwich becomes a "hotspot" on the New England migration route of raptors and other birds, with over 200 species recorded and thousands of hawks every year. The 152-acre Larsen Sanctuary at the Connecticut Audubon Society in Fairfield includes trails, ponds and walks for the blind, disabled and elderly.

For a quick break from the urban jungle, there�s no better place than the great outdoors of Coastal Fairfield County!

Created in 1993, the Coastal Fairfield County Convention & Visitor Bureau represents all travel & tourism related organizations in the fifteen communities of southwestern Connecticut. These communities include the cities of Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport a and Shelton, and the towns of Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Easton, Monroe, Trumbull, and Stratford. The Bureau serves as the primary contact point in the region for leisure travelers, meeting planners, tour operators, sporting event organizers, the film industry and media/travel writers.

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Media Contact: Mary Lukens +1 203 853-7770 x314 maryl@coastalCT.com