Jardins du Musée International de la Parfumerie – La Bastide du Roy
A few kilometres outside the town centre on the road towards Bar-sur-Loup, the Bastide du Roy is the MIP's lesser-known garden annex — three hectares of terraced perfume-plant gardens where centifolia roses, jasmine, iris, mimosa and tuberose grow in the exact same volcanic-clay soil that made Grasse's raw materials world-famous. Almost no tourist buses come here.
Walking the Terraces
The garden is laid out in themed terraces following the seasons of harvest: the rose section peaks in May, the jasmine in August, and the mimosa blazes gold in February — each visit is a completely different sensory experience depending on when you arrive.
Interpretive panels (in French and English) explain exactly how many kilograms of each flower are needed to produce a single litre of absolute — 800 kg of jasmine flowers for one litre, a figure that makes the price of a Chanel perfume feel suddenly reasonable.
Practical Pleasures
There is a small picnic lawn near the old bastide farmhouse where you are actively encouraged to sit with a baguette and a bottle of local rosé — an almost absurdly perfect Provençal afternoon.
The garden is managed by the same team as the MIP in town, so your combined museum ticket covers entry here too; the shuttle between the two sites runs on weekend mornings in summer.
More of Grasse
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Grasse →
