Giardini Reali

For years, the Giardini Reali were a sad, overgrown strip of greenery between the San Marco waterfront and the back of the Procuratie Nuove, the buildings that line the south side of Piazza San Marco. They were laid out in the early nineteenth century, during the Napoleonic period, as the private garden of the royal palace created in the Procuratie, and were later used by the Habsburg rulers of Venice; after Italian unification they passed to the state and slowly declined. In 2014 the state property office and the City of Venice entrusted them to the Venice Gardens Foundation, which carried out a major restoration costing just over six million euros, with support from the insurer Generali. The landscape architect Paolo Pejrone oversaw the botanical restoration and the architect Alberto Torsello the architectural work, rebuilding the old greenhouse, and the gardens reopened to the public in December 2019. Today they are one of the loveliest small green spaces in Venice: a long, formal garden of clipped hedges, flower beds and lawns, shaded by trees and a long pergola, with benches where you can sit and watch the boats on the San Marco basin through the railings, and the rebuilt greenhouse, which hosts a small café and bookshop. The bustle of the waterfront, with its souvenir stalls and queues for the boats, is just outside the gate, which makes the calm inside even more welcome. Entry is free, though the gardens are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and on certain holidays, and have seasonal opening hours.

Practical details: the gardens are on the waterfront between the San Marco Giardinetti vaporetto stop and the Piazzetta, a minute from Piazza San Marco. From mid-April to mid-October they open from Wednesday to Sunday, from early morning into the evening; from mid-October to mid-April they open from Wednesday to Sunday in the daytime only. They close every Monday and Tuesday, at Christmas and New Year, during the last weekend of Carnival, at Easter and on the Saturday of the Redentore festival in July. The foundation can limit access for maintenance, bad weather or crowding.

The rules are worth knowing: picnics and alcohol are not allowed, nor are ball games, scooters or wheeled suitcases; dogs are welcome on a lead; and you should not sit on the lawns or walk in the flower beds. Groups of ten or more must book. These rules are what keep the garden so peaceful, and they make it a perfect place for a quiet coffee from the greenhouse café or a rest on a shaded bench rather than a picnic spot.

How to use it: the Royal Gardens are the ideal breathing space in a San Marco day. Come before your timed entry to the Doge's Palace or the Basilica, or after a morning in the museums, to sit in the shade for twenty minutes. They are also a pleasant place to wait for a vaporetto to the islands or the Lido from the nearby stops. For families with small children, who cannot run in the gardens, the nearby waterfront and the Giardini Pubblici in Castello are better for letting off steam; the Royal Gardens are about calm. The Venice Gardens Foundation also looks after other restored gardens in the city, including a monastery garden on the Giudecca that can be visited by ticket. Seasons change the experience: spring brings blossom and fresh green to the pergola, summer makes the shade precious, and in autumn and winter the shorter hours and bare branches open up the lagoon views. Groups of ten or more need to book in advance, so a family reunion or tour party should arrange its visit with the foundation before turning up.