Italian Gardens: the perfect springtime day trip

Over the centuries, the Italian garden became increasingly elaborate, incorporating spectacular elements such as fountains, lakes and ponds, water features, panoramic terraces, and grottos complete with fake stalactites and stalagmites. They even went so far as to build artificial hills or reshape existing ones... no effort was spared to offer a delightful view framed by roses and lilies, with clear and serene waters happily flowing — words borrowed from the past.

Statues abound, often allegorical representations of the patrons who funded the gardens, offering a dramatic contrast to the greenery of hedges and trees trimmed according to the principles of topiary art — the discipline responsible for the strange, precise geometries of the vegetation in the most famous gardens.

Finally, the colors of spring: flowerbeds, rose gardens, and winter gardens perfectly integrated into the scene add unforgettable, Instagram-worthy brushstrokes, especially just before sunset.

There was a time when gardens fell out of favor with Italian tastes, but luckily, it didn’t last long. In the neoclassical 19th century and the 20th century’s invention of tourism — alongside the spread of private cars — gardens were rediscovered, reimagined, and returned to their former glory.

And so today, the road atlas is filled with ideas for a day outdoors, immersed in the beauty of these delicate, romantic environments.

Visiting an Italian Garden

Among the most beloved Italian gardens to explore or rediscover in spring are undoubtedly the aforementioned Boboli Gardens — attracting 800,000 visitors a year, with the unmissable double row of cypress trees framing the Tuscan capital — and the Parco Giardino Sigurtà in Valeggio sul Mincio, near Verona.

The latter has been listed among Italy’s most beautiful gardens since 2015, covering an immaculately maintained 60 hectares, and ranks among the heavyweights of the category, drawing 420,000 visitors each year for springtime strolls.

But it’s when we let ourselves be carried along by our silent electric car, driven by curiosity about the surrounding territory, that the discoveries become truly thrilling.

Like in Merano, in the province of Bolzano, where the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle explode in a multilevel symphony of colors and host exhibitions and concerts.
Or in Tivoli, where the gardens encircle Villa d’Este — a UNESCO World Heritage site — like the intricate filigree of a jewel, offering a pure Renaissance atmosphere.

Or again, the Gardens of Villa Taranto in Verbania on Lake Maggiore (crossed by 7 kilometers of pathways and considered among the most beautiful in the world), or the Gardens of the Reggia di Venaria (near Turin), divided into Upper and Lower Parks, the Central Axis, and the Royal Potager... offering a sense of the complexity and magnificence of these works of art.

At this point, all that’s left to do is charge the battery of your electric car and set off towards one of these elegant, breathtaking gardens.
And if the trip ends up being longer than expected — perhaps because, after the visit, you’re tempted to explore the surroundings in search of some local culinary specialties — the Plenitude On the Road app will make it easy to find a nearby charging station.