Gardens to visit in the Dolomites

It’s not often that you can visit somewhere breath-takingly beautiful, that’s only a 2-hour flight from London, and that’s largely undiscovered by British tourists. And even more excitingly, it’s somewhere that’s a great destination to visit in both summer and winter. We flew to Innsbruck in Austria – an airport so small that there were only 4 other planes landing that day. Then took a taxi over the border into Italy. My kids were fascinated by the idea that we could start a car journey in one country and end it in another – and kept asking “are we in Italy yet” and the journey was so seamless it was hard to know.

We were travelling to South Tyrol a province of northern Italy that was part of Austria until the first world war. And that’s nestled in the Dolomite mountain range. As we drove zig-zagging up into the mountains, with dramatic valleys falling away to the side and cable cars zipping over us, I was grateful that I’d given everyone a travel sickness tablet before we set off. When I told an Italian friend we were going on holiday to the Dolomites, she told me it’s her favourite place in the whole world. And yet word of its delights doesn’t seem to have reached the UK – we didn’t meet any other British tourists the whole time we were there – people assumed we were Austrian and would launch into conversations in German with us.

We stayed at the AKI Family Resort in Plose, where we were the only Brits. In the winter, the hotel caters to skiers, but in spring and summer it’s a dream destination for families that love walking and nature. The hotel offers panoramic mountain views from every window. There are three pools, including an indoor-outdoor pool, which is heated to a luxurious 34°C to allow outdoor swimming even in winter. My kids spent a lot of time swimming back and forth through the sliding doors, fascinated by the novelty of swimming between indoors and outside. There's also a toddler splash pool with fountains and water buckets, which my three-year-old adored, and some impressive slides for older children. There's also a petting farm, an indoor play barn and a giant two-storey climbing frame in the reception, plus a collection of stylish model Vespas, which my kids loved scooting around on. Because it's a family resort, everything is set up with families in mind. All of the suites are family suites, incorporating a cleverly designed children's bedroom. And mealtimes manage to be both elegant and family-friendly, in that way that Italians do so well!

The Dolomites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and their geology not only provides stunning views but also creates the perfect conditions for a vast array of plant species. The varied elevation creates microclimates which means you can find Mediterranean and Arctic species growing surprisingly close together. Over 2,400 species of plants have been recorded in the Dolomites – some of which can only be found there. Despite being Italy’s smallest wine-producing region, there are vineyards aplenty, many of which offer tours, where you can sample the local wines.

Gardens to visit in the Dolomites

1. Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens

The stand-out garden to visit in the region has to be the incredible Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens. Located just outside the pretty spa town of Merano and just over an hour’s drive from our hotel, this 12-hectare wonderland is wrapped around a castle that looks like it’s straight out of a fairytale.

The gardens are set in a natural amphitheatre, that means the gardens span a 100metre difference in altitude. It’s divided into more than eighty garden landscapes, including water gardens, an Italian renaissance style garden, a lemon terrace, a Japanese garden, a tropical glasshouse, an olive grove that’s home to a 700 year old olive tree, and an English- cottage-style garden packed with perennials. These landscapes are grouped into four Garden Worlds that reflect different climates and continents. There are tropical plants, Mediterranean herbs, alpine flowers, waterfalls and even cacti, all with the mountains as your backdrop.

And luckily for us there’s also a surprising amount for kids to do. There’s a yew hedge maze to get lost in, with a pomegranate tree at its centre. And a host of interactive experience stations, including a multimedia grotto delving into the origins of life on earth, a swinging adventure rope bridge, echo stones, a barefoot sensory path, and even a little house that you can sit inside and listen to fairytales. To take advantage of the incredible scenery there are two vertigo-inducing viewing platforms that float above the gardens.

Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens are open April to early November, and then again in late November to early January for their light show.

2 Alpe di Siusi

Another must-see for nature lovers in South Tyrol is the Alpe di Siusi meadow. It’s the largest high alpine pasture in Europe and in spring and summer it’s bursting with wildflowers, butterflies and birds. Depending on when you visit, you can see carpets of deep purple alpine snowbells and bellflowers, delicate little yellow alpine poppies, cyclamen, pasqueflowers, gentians and alpine orchids, as well as the famous edelweiss.

It covers around 56 square kilometres, it’s almost car-free and has 450km of hiking trails, many of which are gentle enough for buggies. With cows grazing, and the sun shining it’s an idyllic place to explore, ride bikes, have picnics and let the kids run around. Dotted around there are traditional wooden hut restaurants – ideal if, like me, you need the incentive of cake and ice cream to bribe your children to undertake any kind of walk.

3. University of Innsbruck Botanic Gardens

If you have time at the start or end of your trip, then stop in at the Botanic Gardens at the University of Innsbruck. This 2 hectare garden is an important teaching resource and it’s also open to the public. Here you can brush up your knowledge of alpine plants in the alpinum, there are also tropical and subtropical greenhouses, and a sensory garden, where you’re encouraged to touch, smell and even taste the plants.

Listen to our Travel Tales podcast about my trip to the Dolomite Mountains