Boboli Gardens

Laid out from the mid-sixteenth century for the Medici family, the Boboli Gardens climb the hillside behind Palazzo Pitti and cover some forty-five thousand square metres of avenues, terraces, grottoes and fountains. The Buontalenti Grotto, the amphitheatre with its Egyptian obelisk, the Viottolone cypress avenue and the Isolotto pond with its Oceanus fountain are the set pieces, but the quiet upper paths give the best views over Florence and the Tuscan hills. The garden is an open-air museum of Renaissance and Baroque sculpture and part of the UNESCO-listed historic centre. Opening information: the gardens normally open at 8:15am. Closing times change seasonally and the last admission is one hour before closing. The gardens may close because of dangerous weather. Opening hours and admission arrangements can change. Check the official website for the current seasonal closing time before travelling.