Any list of European gardens must begin with Italy, even though their immaculate form, symmetry and reliance on non-flowering evergreen structure might jar with the modern yearning for pollinator-friendly naturalism. The Italian garden reached a peak during the Renaissance and has barely changed since. Its fundamental principles remain elegance, charm and decadent relaxation.
Giardino Giusti, in the northern city of Verona and once well known among the influential families of 16th-century Europe, exemplifies this timeless artistry. Drift along its green cypress alley past the commanding statues of Apollo and Adonis, get lost in the 18th-century labyrinth and breathe in the heady aroma of citrus blossom. giardinogiusti.
com , adult €15, child €9 There’s no need to leave the capital to experience Greece’s intoxicatingly aromatic, silver-leaved evergreens. With more than 170 native tree and shrub species and grounds crammed with the heady herbs of the Aegean, the comparatively new Stavros Niarchos Park is not only a distillation of Mediterranean flora, but also one of the most innovative contemporary exhibitions of it. Formerly a car park for the 2004 Olympic Games, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano (who was behind the Shard in London) in 2016 to house Greece’s national library and opera and a forward-thinking public park.
With a gentle slope designed to restore a vital sea view, the park has olive-tree walks, .
