Trebah Garden – Mawnan Smith, Nr Falmouth TR11 5JZ

Trebah Garden is a uniquely beautiful, wooded 25-acre sub-tropical ravine garden that descends to its own beach on the beautiful Helford River. It is the wild and magical result of 160 years of inspired and dedicated creation. The natural spring at the top of the garden drops 10ft into the Koi Pool and cascades through drifts of brightly coloured waterside plantings.
Mediterranean and southern hemisphere plants intermingle with Trebah’s groves of huge Australian tree ferns and palms. A giant plantation of gunnera and clumps of huge bamboos give this garden a unique and exotic wildness matched by no other garden in the British Isles. It has been rated as one of the best 80 gardens in the world. Many of the plants, such as the azaleas and rhododendrons, selected for their fragrance, have been planted in drifts on the ravine sides.

The award-winning Visitor Centre houses a distinctive restaurant with a Mediterranean-style terrace, plant and gift shops. Open all year. Find out more.