The Botanical Gardens of Liguria Experience

The gardens of Liguria cover the whole region, and there are beautiful ones in all four provinces of Liguria. We are at your disposal to include them in the planning of your trip to Liguria.

Some of these gardens have always been famous and well-known, while others are like a pearl in its own casket, revealing their spectacular nature to those who have the patience and curiosity to discover them and enjoy their wonder to the full. The Ligurian gardens are located in an area with a mild climate all year round, embraced by the sea, and have the characteristic of being able to afford, among the botanical varieties they host, many tropical and sub-tropical plants that could not live in other parts of Italy or Europe. The best season for flowering is undoubtedly spring, but all year round you can admire all kinds of plants and in many gardens the flora is framed by many fountains, statues and period furnishings that make the places even more attractive. There are also many gardens overlooking the sea that offer fabulous views of the Ligurian Sea through the foliage of the shrubs.

Hanbury Botanical Gardens (Ventimiglia)
One of the world’s most famous botanical gardens for acclimatisation is located in La Mortola. It was created in 1867 by the English brothers Thomas and Daniel Hanbury, who bought the property from the Orengo family.
The place where it is located is already fantastic, clinging to the coast it offers incredible views of the blue sea, but in the wonder of the place the thematic paths are inserted: the Japanese Garden, the Australian forest, the garden of Perfumes, roses, succulent plants, the avenue of Cicas, the Aloe and Agave sector to then dive into the Citrus and tropical fruit plants plain.

Pallanca Exotic Garden (Bordighera)
The Exotic Pallanca Garden stands at the entrance to the town of Bordighera, a place dotted with more than three thousand two hundred plants of different varieties, including a very important collection of cacti, one of the most valuable in Italy.
The evocative garden appears as a steep rocky slope overhanging the sea, an old mule track marks the path that alternates between the typical Ligurian fasce, or terraces made with dry stone walls, all accompanied by delicious exotic varieties that embellish the linear and essential landscape of the Ligurian coast.

Villa Ormond Garden (Sanremo)
The splendour of the park surrounding Villa Ormond, in Sanremo, is due to the inventiveness and passion for gardens of a rich tobacco merchant originally from Switzerland: Michel-Louis Ormond.
The park is divided into two parts, above and below the road, and offers special corners of great botanical interest such as the palmetum with over seventy species of palms from all continents, the cedar wood, the Ficus park and the olive grove.
The gardens also include an area dedicated to the Japanese garden, in honour of the city of the Rising Sun, Atami, twinned with Sanremo.

Villa Nobel Garden (Sanremo)
The Garden of Villa Nobel in Sanremo surrounds the villa where Alfred Nobel lived in serenity the last years of his life until his death in 1896.
In this place that the great scientist called “My Nest” you can admire luxuriant palms that cover an area of about 6099.10 square meters, accompanied by flowers, varieties of shrubs and rare exotic plants.
The Villa and the Park are now owned by the Province of Imperia, which has taken care of the restoration and turned it into a museum and congress centre.

Villa Grock Garden (Imperia)
The Villa and the Garden were created in 1927 by Adrien Wettach, better known as Grock, the most famous clown of all centuries, two imaginative and amazing creations that stand on the hills of Imperia Oneglia with a wonderful view of the sea.
The park is home to architectural oddities, botanical wonders and hydraulic installations that were avant-garde for their time.
Everything recalls the madness and magic of the circus and Grock has masterfully brought them back to his home and the park that surrounds it.

Province of Savona

Garden of Villa Faraggiana (Albissola Marina)
The Garden of Villa Faraggiana surrounds an elegant 18th-century villa, expressing all the majesty and richness of an extensive park of the period.
Plants and flowers are framed by ancient statues, delicate parterres and vast pergolas.

Desert Hermitage, Botanical Park (Varazze)
Eremo del Deserto is a Carmelite monastery dating back to the 17th century.
The Convent is surrounded by a botanical path of about two and a half kilometres that winds in a ring and has an important naturalistic value.
The peculiarity of this path is the coexistence in a single place of plants typical of the Mediterranean maquis and shrubs typical of mountain forests.
In the thick vegetation it is also possible to come across seven “hermitages”, or chapels where the monks spent periods of penance and strict isolation.

Province of Genoa

Nervi Parks (Genoa)
The Parks of Nervi include the areas surrounding the Serra, Groppallo and Grimaldi villas, and are the largest green area in the capital of Liguria.
Created in the 19th century as simple gardens, over time they have become a luxuriant urban park crossed by avenues and embellished with lawns.
Among the most important features of the park is the rose garden, one of the most beautiful in the world, with over four hundred varieties of antique roses, as well as hundreds of botanical species of Mediterranean flora and imposing centuries-old shrubs.

Villa Durazzo Pallavicini Park – Pegli (Genoa)
A unique park in the whole of Genoa that combines a path between nature, theatre and architecture, designed in the first half of the nineteenth century by Michele Canzio, set designer of the Carlo Felice Theatre.
There are many peculiarities in this botanical garden, such as the camellia collection, the rose gazebos, the Flora garden…. and a thousand other thematic places based on the theatrical narrative that is based on nature.
The Ligurian Archaeological Museum can also be visited in the park.

Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi Botanical Garden (Genoa)
The Garden is located in the Genoese district of Pegli near the Villa Durazzo Pallavicini. It was created in 1794 by Clelia Durazzo, wife of Giuseppe Grimaldi, a great botany lover and scholar who gave a strong impulse to the scientific study of plants in those years.
The Garden offers plant collections of inestimable value, inside there are three sectors in which the plants are divided: succulent plants (cactus), carnivorous plants and tropical orchids.

Park of the Prince’s Palace (Genoa)
The Palazzo del Principe is a grandiose and rich residence commissioned by Andrea Doria in the 16th century, the monumental garden that surrounds it can be well defined as one of the most important in Liguria.
Recently the whole park has been restored, in addition to the plants that embellish it, it preserves various sculptures including the statue of Neptune by the artist Taddeo Carlone.

La Cervara Abbey of San Girolamo al Monte di Portofino (S.Margherita L.)
The garden in question was created as the hortus of the Benedictine Abbey of San Girolamo al Monte, a splendid residence overlooking the sea of Portofino.
It contains many botanical rarities, the most important of which are a pepper tree over a century old and a purple wisteria that is several centuries old.

Pratorondanino Botanical Garden (Campo Ligure)
A Botanical Garden defined as a “Museum of Green”, a recently created park that houses types of shrubs from three different habitats of mountain flora.
Many extremely rare plants and some endangered varieties are housed in this botanical garden.

Province of La Spezia

Botanical Garden of Montemarcello (Ameglia)
The Botanical Garden of Montemarcello is located in the Regional Park of Montemarcello Magra (300 m. above sea level), where the typical environments of the Mediterranean vegetation can be found. The Botanical Garden has been active since 1999 and is part of the Ligurian System of Environmental Education Centres.

Villa Marigola (San Terenzo – Lerici)
The park of Villa Marigola was designed and built from 1926 onwards. It follows the structure of a typical Italian garden and contains various styles from different eras, from the eighteenth century up to the romantic and liberty periods. One of the main characteristics of this place is the marvellous view of the Gulf of Lerici that it offers. Over the centuries, the Villa has been owned by and hosted illustrious figures, including the English poet Shelley.