[anita]

Hi,
I thought I'd tap into the MGS Forum brains trust for advice on garden tours to Italy.
I've got three weeks in April/May (actual days yet to be determined) to spend visiting gardens in Italy.
With just three weeks (including the travel time from Australia) I've decided to focus on Rome and Florence and surrounding regions...
I'm debating what I should do. Should my partner and I go for a group garden tour... And if so any recommendations on tour firms.. Or should we just organise our own itinerary? I don't want to join a group of people who just want to route march through the sights.
Any recommendations? This is my first trip to Italy.
The list of gardens at the moment includes:
Rome
Ninfa,                        
Villa d’Este              
Villa Lante,            
Villa Aldo Brandinin  
Giardina della Landriana,
Villa Adriana (Emperor Hadrian’s Villa) Tivoli
Villa Farnese

Florence
Villa Castello
Bobboli,
Villa Gamberaia
Villa Medici at Castello  (Villa Reale)
Le Balze Garden

Villa La Foce

Thanks Anita

[Umbrian]

You should try to fit in a visit to La Mortella on Ischia . Forum member Alevin is the curator there and would be pleased to give you advice I am sure. There are some good photos on the Forum too, just put La Mortella into the "search" facility from the Home page.

[anita]

Hi Umbrian,
Thank you that's a lovely suggestion. I've got the book by lady Walton - she strikes me as my sort of person, any one who would stop a taxi on the way to dinner and clamber up in her dinner gown to collect seeds sounds like good value to me! I wasn't sure if it made sense to try and squeeze in Ischia. But it seems that a day trip is possible. Cheers Anita

[Joanna Savage]

Hello Anita, if you are based in Florence you might well take a day trip by train to Lucca. The walk on the walls between the ancient trees is breathtaking and there is a small botanic garden.
And speaking of botanic gardens, Pisa has one. And if you are in Pisa a visit to the Campo dei Miracoli is a must. The setting of the Duomo, Tower and Baptistery on a marvellous lawn is a beautiful park landscape.

[Daisy]

Anita. I  paid a visit to La Mortella last July.
Probably not the best time of year for garden visiting, but the gardens were so beautiful and so full of interest, that to spend the entire day there was easy.
The restaurant too, where we took both lunch and afternoon tea, was delightful.
Highly recommended.
Daisy

[David Dickinson]

Hi Anita,

I would certainly recommend La Mortella. Marvellous place with lots of different gardens in one. Plus, the range of plants, the beauty of the gardens and the fact that it is one of the few gardens I know where you are not forced into a guided tour.

What a disappointment Ninfa was in that respect! No time to drink in the atmosphere, no time to look at any of the plants in detail or for more than a minute before being whisked off to the next stopping point on the "official" route.  As far as I know you cannot organise trips outside the official guided tours. They should be booked in advance but I think they will allow people who turn up on the spur of the moment to join in the next guided tour. I recall the tour lasting well less than an hour and that the entrance fee did not cover the whole garden. There was a supplement to pay to see a small section. Sorry to be so negative about Ninfa as it is truly beautiful, but... :-(

Villa d'Este is another garden where you are free to walk around at will. The water gardens are spectacular. But you won't find much in the way of variety of plant species there.

Have you seen any of the TV series "Monty Don's Italian Gardens"? You can see many clips on youtube including his visits to Ninfa and Villa d'Est.


Good luck with you planning and the visit itself. :-)