Villa Taranto

Neil McEacharn, a Scot, bought the estate in 1931 after seeing an advertisement, and spent decades reshaping it: hills were moved, seven kilometres of paths laid, and plants imported from around the world, building a collection of some twenty thousand species and varieties across sixteen hectares. He named it after an ancestor's title. Terraced gardens, a valley of azaleas, a dahlia collection of hundreds of varieties, and greenhouses of giant Amazon waterlilies are the set pieces. McEacharn left the garden to the Italian state and is buried in a mausoleum within it. The lake's mild climate allows plants that would not survive elsewhere at this latitude.

What you actually see

• The terraced gardens - formal terraces and pools above the lake.
• The dahlia collection - hundreds of varieties flowering in late summer.
• The Victoria waterlilies - giant Amazon lilies in the greenhouses.
• The imported collection - some twenty thousand species and varieties.

When to go

April to October; azaleas and rhododendrons peak in spring, dahlias in late summer. The garden closes for winter, roughly November to March.

Honest expectations

The garden is closed for several months over winter. Paths are long and the site is hilly. It is at its best in specific flowering windows rather than throughout.

Nearby

The Borromean islands lie offshore; Lake Orta is west.