Gillian Knows Best guide to Parks and Gardens in Venice

5 places to immerse yourself in green

If you are new here you might not know that big beautiful sprawling parks are not really my thing. I prefer green spaces where I can see the edges. It turns out that Venice is the perfect place for me. The city is simply not big enough for public spaces like the Villa Borghese or Central Park. Even in the vast by Venice standards green space of Sant’Elena you are completely surrounded by water with views of Lido and San Marco and San Giorgio. I was surprised to learn that there are more than 500 gardens here.

My favorite gardens & garden-like spaces in Italy

Let me start by explaining what this guide is not. This is not a guide to secret private gardens. For that I suggest you get in touch with my pal Corrina Turati or scroll down to find out about a wonderful upcoming tour. This is not a guide to wild spaces on lagoon islands. This is a guide to easy to find places where you can sit down for a minute and take a break from the confusing calle and crowded bridges. All of these places are open to the public and have no entrance fee. Soon the wisteria will be blooming and the new spring leaves will all be unfurled.

You are not allowed to picnic in most parks in Venice, but a few of the places I am going to tell you about do have picnic tables. If you want to eat in a garden, reserve a table at Antica Locanda Montin and dine under a dreamy pergola (They will open after their winter break on March 20) or book a stay at Hotel Flora where you can have your morning coffee and evening negroni in their fairytale garden. Are you coming for the Biennale? Many palaces with gardens that are usually closed to the public are used as exhibition venues.

Here is your regular reminder that you can not sit on bridges or on ledges in front of stores and on many church steps. Instead, look for red benches in campos or stone benches along the Riva degli Schiavoni and the Zattere.

Papadopoli Gardens

This is the garden I come to after I have dropped someone off at the train station or I am running errands near Piazzale Roma. In the late 1800s it was the private garden of Count Spiridione Papadopoli and his wife Teresa Mosconi and it stretched all the way to where cars and buses park now. This part of Venice was hit by a bomb in WW1. There are lots of trees, including a few of the original oaks, and on a summer afternoon the cicadas drown out the city buzz.

Giardini della Marinaressa

You will get a little bit of art with your park in these two small spaces along the Riva dei Sette Martiri. They are just past the via Garibaldi, near the Biennale vaporetto stop. The European Cultural Center maintains the spaces and oversees the large sculpture installations that change each year. There are benches and neighborhood dogs and and good late winter sunshine here.

Parco Savorgnan

You have to really look for the entrances¹ to this garden near the busy Ponte della Guglie in Cannaregio. They were once the private gardens of the Savorgnan and Manfrin palaces. It is not the most manicured of gardens and there is often a part of it that is roped off for maintenance or construction but the two long rectangles of space are large and usually pretty quiet. There is a section with a playground for kids, some exercise equipment, and lots of benches and a few picnic tables. There is a separate fenced off section for dogs.

Hopefully the Palazzo Priuli Manfrin next door will open again soon.

Giardino Ca’ Rezzonico

Are you traveling with little kids? This is the cutest playground in Venice. After a few hours of gazing at Tiepolo ceilings go sit under the wisteria covered pergola in this quiet garden behind the palace .

Parco delle Rimembranze

Have you ever been to Sant’Elena? Or maybe a better question is have you heard of Sant’Elena? Maybe you have seen it from the vaporetto on a trip to Lido? Most people do not make it this far edge of town. Take a 30 minute walk (or a 15 minute vaporetto trip) along the Giudecca canal and you will find a very different Venice. There has been a church here since the 12th century, but the place you see now was created in the 1920’s from the mud dredged up when the lagoon was deepened to let in big cargo ships. It is technically part of the Castello Sesterie but it feels very different than the rest of Venice with wide streets and modern by Venice standards apartment buildings. It even has its own numbering system. When I am missing Roman pines I take a walk down here. The pines were planted to protect the island from the fierce winds that can come off the lagoon. There are also oaks and linden and ginkgo trees. There are plenty of benches where you can sit and take in the views of Lido, San Marco, Salute and San Giorgio. There are workout machines and a basketball court and a picnic table. We sometimes stop at Vecia Gina for a cold beer or a pizza after a day at the beach over on Lido. If you are a football fan, this is where the Pier Luigi Penzo stadium, home of the local team Venezia FC, is.

Are you curious about what Venetian gardeners plant? Browse Laguna Fiorita, a nursery in Canareggio and the Serra dei Giardini, a greenhouse/cafe next to the Biennale Giardini entrance.

Reading and Viewing

The Gardening Mind by Jo Thompson is a wonderful resource to all things gardening and Jo is partnering with Mimi Todhunter for a week long tour of gardens in the Veneto next month and again in the fall.

I wish that there was streaming service completely dedicated to Monty Don content. Monty Don’s Adriatic Gardens begins in Venice.

There are lots of gorgeous coffee table books about gardens in Venice. This is the easiest way to peek behind the walls into the many private gardens.

Watch this highlight reel on my pal Marco Valmarano’s Instagram account.

Follow Wigwam Club Giardini Storici Venezia to find our about special garden events

Dig in the archives of the blog, A Garden in Venice.

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1. I usually use the entrance along the long thin path off the Fondamenta Venier.