Giardini di Villa Pallavicino
Most visitors rush past Villa Pallavicino's gates on their way to the ferry, unaware that behind the neoclassical facade lies a thirty-hectare English-style park where flamingos, wallabies, llamas and over forty other species roam in semi-freedom among camellias, rhododendrons and ancient trees. It is part botanical garden, part wildlife park, and wholly unexpected.
The Gardens
Laid out in the English landscape style in the mid-19th century, the park climbs gently from the lake through a sequence of themed planting areas — a rosary, a wisteria pergola, banks of azaleas that peak in April and May — all threaded by gravel paths with intermittent benches positioned to frame views of the lake and Borromean Islands.
The tree collection is genuinely impressive: a Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia) planted in the 1850s towers over the upper lawn, and a magnificent Lebanon cedar spreads its horizontal canopy near the entrance.
The Animals
The wildlife element is what makes Pallavicino distinctive. A flock of Chilean flamingos occupies a lakeside enclosure, their reflections doubling in the still water on calm mornings. Elsewhere, Bennett's wallabies graze alongside fallow deer, llamas, donkeys and a small collection of exotic birds including peacocks and golden pheasants.
It is a genuine hit with children but sophisticated enough to hold adult attention for two to three hours. The combination of serious botany and relaxed animal encounters in a single lakefront setting is rare anywhere in Italy.
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