Japanese Garden of Monaco

The Japanese garden at Larvotto was laid out in 1994 on reclaimed land beside the sea, designed by a Japanese landscape architect and built with materials shipped from Japan: a pond with koi, a waterfall, a tea house, stone lanterns and raked gravel, arranged on Zen principles in a space of around seven thousand square metres. It was consecrated by a Shinto priest and functions as a quiet space in a crowded principality.

Highlights

• The pond and koi - the water at the centre of the layout.
• The tea house - the wooden building in the Japanese idiom.
• The raked gravel - the dry garden section of the design.
• The seaside position - a Japanese garden built on reclaimed coast.

When to go

March to June is when the planting is at its best. The garden is open year round. It closes in bad weather.

Practical notes

It is small and an hour covers it easily. The setting between apartment blocks and the sea is not what the design implies. It closes in wind and rain.

Nearby

Larvotto beach is alongside, and Monte-Carlo is west.