Giardino Giusti | A Hidden Renaissance Garden in Verona
Last Updated on December 8, 2025 by Charlotte
If you’re anything like me, you make an effort to seek out botanical gardens wherever you travel. To me, there’s something restorative about wandering through curated garden paths after long days of cobblestones and cathedrals. Unsurprisingly, Italy has some of the most spectacular gardens in the world. In Verona, I was mildly surprised to learn that the Giardino Giusti wasn’t in most travel blogs or guidebooks. I found Giardino Giusti the old-fashioned way, by scrolling around on Google Maps while looking for green spaces near our accommodation. And I’m so glad I did.
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From Dye Factory to Renaissance Masterpiece
Here’s what I love about Giardino Giusti: it originated from very humble beginnings. The Giusti family were textile merchants who moved to Verona from Tuscany in the late 1200s. For generations, this spot was an industrial site, where workers boiled enormous cauldrons of dye and hung wool out to dry. Then in the 1580s, Agostino Giusti decided to transform the family business into something more refined. Agostino was a Knight of the Venetian Republic with connections to the Medicis and Habsburgs, and he had the cultural ambitions to match. He modeled his new garden after the famous Medici gardens in Tuscany, and it quickly became a must-see stop on the “Grand Tour,” attracting Mozart, Goethe, and even Russian tsars.
This is something I find endlessly fascinating about traveling in Europe. These “big families”—the Medicis, the Savoys, the Giustis—competed not just through politics and commerce but by creating things of beauty. They built gardens and universities, libraries and palazzos, and places that still exist centuries later, most of which are now open to the public. Say what you will about Renaissance-era wealth inequality, but at least the billionaires of that era invested in things the rest of us can still enjoy (as opposed to building themselves private doomsday bunkers on Kauai. But I digress.)
What to Expect on a Visit to Giardino Giusti
We visited in the morning, right after the garden opened, and we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. Our only company was the fat bumblebees, lazily buzzing around the flowers, drunk on pollen.
The air was scented with a hint of jasmine, sun-baked cypress, and boxwood, a distinctly Mediterranean combination of herbs and florals and long summer days. It was the perfect antidote after a day and a half of bustling piazzas and tourist crowds.
The Giardino Giusti is divided into two distinct garden areas. The lower portion features the formal Renaissance garden with symmetrical boxwood hedges, marble statues, and gravel pathways lined by Italian cypress trees.
There’s a small labyrinth near the entrance that’s fun to explore. According to local lore, lovers who enter separately and find each other inside the labyrinth will stay together forever—so naturally, we had to try it out.
Up on the hillside, you can see this “grotesque mask” which, once upon a time, used to exhale smoke and flames for opera performances. Hidden throughout the gardens are little follies and grottos in varying states of decay.
A spiral staircase in the tower leads you up the mountainside to a balcony above the grotesque mask. The upper portion is wilder and more naturalistic, with winding paths that climb the hillside to a belvedere with panoramic views over Verona’s rooftops.
Fair warning: the path to the viewpoint involves stairs and uneven terrain, so it’s most certainly not wheelchair accessible.
But if you’re able to make the climb, the views from the belvedere are worth the effort. You can see the whole city spread out below, sliced in two by the Adige River, and the rolling hills beyond.
On our visit to the Giardino Giusti e Palazzo, the palace apartments were closed, which was a real bummer, since I LOVE a good palace tour.
Giardino Giusti Visitor’s Information
Giardino Giusti is located in the Veronetta district, just across the river from the main historic center. It’s about a 15-minute walk from Piazza delle Erbe. We chose to walk to the garden on foot, but it is also possible to take the city bus.
Hours and Admission
The garden is open daily from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM in the summer, and from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in winter, closed only on December 25th.
Admission Fees
- Full price ticket: 13.00 €
- Verona card holders: 9.00 €
- Reduced Family Ticket (2 adults + 1 child 6-18 y.o.): 25.00 €
You can purchase your tickets online in advance from the official website.
Facilities and Accessibility
Thankfully, there are toilets available on site for visitors.
In terms of accessibility, the lower formal garden is mostly flat, but many of the paths are lined with pea gravel. However, the upper hillside paths and belvedere are not wheelchair accessible due to stairs and uneven terrain. Throughout the whole property, there are plenty of benches and places to sit and rest your feet.
Best Time of Day to Visit
In the summer, early morning, right when the garden opens, is the best time to visit. You’ll have the paths mostly to yourself, and the light filtering through the cypress trees is beautiful. In the winter, you might want to visit later in the day so that it is not so cold.
Ready to Plan Your Verona Trip?
Giardino Giusti was part of our three-day exploration of Verona, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable stops. For a complete itinerary including the Arena, Torre dei Lamberti, and for a carbonara spot that we loved so much, we went back twice, check out my full 3-Day Verona Itinerary.
