Cap Roig Gardens

Nikolai Woevodsky, a Russian colonel who left after the revolution, and his wife Dorothy Webster, an English aristocrat, bought land on the Cap Roig headland in 1927 and spent decades building a mock-medieval castle and terracing the cliff into a garden of about seventeen hectares, planted with more than a thousand Mediterranean and subtropical species arranged in themed terraces stepping down toward the sea, with sculpture, viewpoints and paths cut into the red rock the cape is named for. It passed to a bank foundation in the 1970s and opened to the public. Since 2001 an amphitheatre in the garden has hosted the Cap Roig Festival each July and August, drawing international acts to a small clifftop venue.

Highlights

• The terraced cliff garden - a thousand species stepping down toward the sea.
• The mock castle - the Woevodsky house built from the 1920s.
• The red rock paths - routes cut into the cape's characteristic stone.
• The summer festival - concerts in a clifftop amphitheatre in July and August.

When to go

April to June and September to October for the garden at its best without festival crowds; July and August bring the concerts, when access is limited on event days. The garden closes earlier in winter.

Practical notes

Festival days restrict or close normal garden visiting, and concert tickets are separate and expensive. The garden is steep with many steps. Parking at Calella de Palafrugell is difficult in summer.

Nearby

Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc are along the coast; the Cami de Ronda coastal path passes below.