The Hanbury Botanical Garden

We set off for a day initially conceived as rest and sea... in Diano Marina the sun was pale and the clouds thick... so we headed for Ventimiglia, where a visit to the botanical gardens awaited us. 7 euros each and a beautiful view already from outside, we are high above the sea, on the border with the Côte d'Azur just a few km away. The gardens are state-owned and a place of study for the University of Genoa. Enormous and beautiful, we go in and take an information brochure where, besides various explanations of the place and the why, the how and the when... there's a map with the entire route of the park and the two recommended trails to follow to visit it at its best. Red trail on the way out down to the bar and the cliff, blue trail for the return. And that's what we followed, albeit with little "detours" dictated by my feminine curiosity! 10:35 we go in......

13:27 we come out....... People, if you like these places, gardens and the sea... historic villas, places of peace and nature, tranquillity and oddities, visiting and nosing around...... you must not miss this MAGICAL and spectacular place! The seven euros of entry are worth it and you'll see amazing things (at least as far as Italy goes.....) What a shame, we couldn't swim once we got down to the cliff!!!!!! Parking is a sore point of the place: they are so short of living space there that you'll have to be ingenious to park, going back and forth, working something out...... in the end you'll manage!!! Now I'll let you in on a secret: a little further on from the garden there's a hotel being renovated with 4 parking spaces on the road that are the hotel's parking but which nobody uses, nor are there any limits or barriers; there's a canopy in pink/orange all on its own.....

near it the hotel with scaffolding..... well, for a few months those very few spaces will be at your disposal, priceless!!!!!! Many people don't park there for fear. But do it; I left the car there the whole time without any problem and I wasn't the only one. We went in and at the start of the recommended route you visit a series of terraces with plants of every kind: succulents, palms, strange ones, flowering ones, green ones, little trees and leafy ones...... very beautiful. Then you reach the Hanbury Villino, I believe the current residence of the owners or of whoever manages the park, inhabited anyway: a dream villino, with a view over the sea and the garden, well kept, residential, luxurious....

in short, the dream villa by the sea! (the one I'll never have!!) Then, following the route, you pass among stone stairways, ancient and remarkable handrails, fountains, grottoes, stones, plants of every type and kind, all with a label giving their origin and name. We cross some tunnels of climbing plants, in the shade of palms we stop for photos....... Beautiful plants, curious plants. There's an ancient fountain that now holds a little pond with leaves, flowers, fish and turtles, very beautiful and regal, almost magical. There's no end to the optimal spots and ideal subjects for photos........ it's all heavenly. Green prevails over the other colours and often the most distant view is towards a not-far-off sea with boats speeding over a sky-coloured sea, somewhere between blue and grey......

First you reach a sumptuous and ultra-luxurious ancient villa, excellently conserved and restored, in pink, enormous, with endless rooms, balconies, a large terrace, endless decorations and a tall covered terrace with decorations and ceiling flourishes, a front courtyard with a fountain and numerous other decorations, a regal entrance with stone lions and a ceiling mosaic. A garden at the back, and what a garden!!! Large, verdant, with an infinity of plants and benches, a small hedge maze, a fountain and a staircase descending to the lower levels, linking the garden to an exciting and magnificent Moorish structure. The villa's garden is something spectacular.

And among gravel paths and spectacular views you imagine how it could all have been at the end of the 1800s, when it was inhabited by the Hanbury family amid all that splendour! The villa can be seen from the sea and who knows what a view...... and from the villa you can see much of the coast. It's a wonderful pairing, garden and sea....... in the villa's garden you'd stay an hour wandering, photographing, admiring... reading. There are many explanations on plaques affixed to the walls of the house: who has been there, what was done, when, where....... People, what a place! Continuing along the route you descend more and more and, among olive trees and plants, colourful flowers and floral paths, you reach the lowest point with a bar, picnic area and the rocky cliff of the place, where someone ventures a swim among the temporary seaweed.

Climbing back up along the blue route you see some points again and visit new ones, all spectacular and green. Along the routes there are wooden benches for rests and shady areas for relaxing. Having taken numerous photographs, our visit full of contemplative stops with mouths agape lasted 3 hours. Highly satisfied, on arrival we leave by the same place we entered and say goodbye to this beautiful park immersed in the Ligurian scrub and greenery, rich and luxurious, decorative and decorated, which was once the real residence of someone who owned it... really!!! What now? The sea is unthinkable given the weather isn't sunny. Well, so we head inland in Liguria, along the olive-oil roads...... Very, very highly recommended visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!