Hanbury Gardens

What to see

The route runs from the entrance down towards the sea through terraces, stairways and avenues, and it is signposted; the official website also has a map with a suggested itinerary. You pass beds of succulents, palms, Australian and South African species and an Australian forest planted on the slope above the Via Julia Augusta, the Roman road that crosses the park. There are also a citrus grove, a rose garden, a vegetable garden and an old olive grove, with Mediterranean scrub on the sides and moisture-loving plants along the Sorba stream.

The buildings matter as much as the plants. One fountain is named after a Japanese bronze dragon that Thomas Hanbury bought in Kyoto; under the entrance portico there is a Marco Polo mosaic dated 1888; a Moorish mausoleum holds the ashes of Thomas and his wife. Then pergolas with columns, statues and the Moorish pavilion among the palms.

Plants follow the seasons, so there is no wrong month: the garden’s website publishes a monthly page on what is in bloom. The headland’s climate is exceptionally mild and allows plants that elsewhere live in greenhouses to grow outdoors. Rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas, however, do not grow here: they cannot cope with the limestone soil.

History of the gardens

In 1867 the English merchant Thomas Hanbury, who had made his fortune in Shanghai, bought the Orengo estate at La Mortola and began turning it into an acclimatisation garden. His brother Daniel, a pharmacist and botanist, laid its scientific foundations; from 1868 the agronomist and landscape architect Ludwig Winter was curator, handling drainage, irrigation, nursery and seed collection. After Daniel’s death in 1875, Thomas ran the garden alone with German botanists such as Kurt Dinter and Alwin Berger.

Thomas died in 1907. The First World War brought neglect; afterwards his son Cecil and above all Cecil’s wife, Lady Dorothy, restored the garden and redesigned its landscaping: the Hortus Mortolensis catalogue came out in 1938. In 1940 the property, owned by foreigners, was confiscated; in 1944 it was occupied by troops, bombed and looted. Lady Dorothy returned in 1945 and rebuilt with about twenty gardeners, then in 1960 sold everything to the Italian State. Since 1987 it has been run by the University of Genoa and since 2000 it has been a regional protected area.

Opening times and tickets

The full ticket costs 10 €. The reduced 8.50 € ticket is for over-65s, children aged 6 to 14, and FAI, TCI, Coop and Camperlife members. The 27 € family ticket covers two adults and children aged 6 to 14. Children under 6, University of Genoa students and staff and, on Sundays, residents of Ventimiglia get in free.

Tickets can also be bought online on the official website. The garden closes to the public during yellow or orange thunderstorm alerts and orange or red alerts for widespread rain, so check the forecast before you set off.

Getting there

By car, leave the A10 at Ventimiglia and follow the SS1 Aurelia towards France as far as the Ponte San Luigi border crossing: about 6 kilometres. The official site does not mention reserved parking outside the gardens, so do not count on a space at the entrance.

By train, get off at Ventimiglia and continue by taxi or by Riviera Trasporti bus line 1, stop La Mortola: check times on rivieratrasporti.it. From Bordighera and Sanremo, line 2 goes to Ventimiglia, where you change to line 1.

Facilities, accessibility and dogs

There is a refreshment point, and you can ask for water at the ticket office. For visitors with limited mobility there are alternative paths without steps and an equipped electric vehicle, which must be booked. The Gardens’ website (updated September 2026) notes, however, that the accessible routes for visitors with limited mobility are unusable because of renovation works, the electric vehicle included: phone the ticket office before you go (+39 0184 229507).

Dogs are not allowed in the garden, except guide dogs. There is, however, a dog-friendly area for identified, vaccinated dogs of any size or breed; booking is recommended. Guided tours and the electric vehicle are booked through OMNIA: 0184 229507, info@cooperativa-omnia.com.

Nearby

A few minutes away are the Balzi Rossi, with the prehistoric caves and the museum founded by Thomas Hanbury himself in 1898, and the rock and pebble coves described in Ventimiglia’s beaches. In town, the old upper part is worth a visit and so is the Friday market. For another village, head up the Nervia valley to Dolceacqua.