Tivoli is short drive into the hills east of Rome, where natural springs attracted the Romans to build baths and where Hadrian built his expansive villa. The main attraction is a smaller villa, the Villa d'Este, whose terraced water gardens are a UNESCO world heritage site. A pinnacle of High Renaissance garden design, Villa D'Este tumbles down the hillside near the center of the town. The sounds of rushing, splashing, spraying water fill the air, muffling the birdsong, as first one fountain, then another, comes into view.

South of Rome is Ninfa, a medieval village abandoned to malaria and time for hundreds of years, which was resurrected as a romantic garden swooning with roses and calla lilies and irises in the late 19th-century. Near Anzio and the sea, Lavinia Taverna created an inspired and inspiring 20th-century garden in an olive grove at La Landriana. Castel Gandolfo is one of the Castelli Romani situated in the Alban Hills, about 45 minutes southwest of Rome, long the site of villas and palaces built as retreats from the heat of Rome's summers. The hills are covered with vineyards which produce many more than respectable vintages as well as excellent olive oils. Castel Gandolfo itself is a picturesque hideaway overlooking Lake Albano, now perhaps best known as the summer residence of the Popes.

Renaissance gardens at Castello Ruspoli and Villa Lante in the Lazio countryside north of Rome. A Mannerist garden of monsters carved from bedrock at Bomarzo. Civita Castellana, dating back to the Etruscans, nestles in the undulating hills and ancient groves of Sabina, a startlingly beautiful corner of Lazio some 40 miles north of Rome. Ponte Clementino, the 18th century bridge by which the town is approached, gives spectacular, if somewhat vertiginous, views over the river valleys, gorges, cliffs, and old buildings encapsulated into the mountainous landscape surrounding the town.

In 1948 English composer William Walton married the beautiful Argentine Susana Gil. He was 46 and she 22. In 1956 they bought land on Ischia, most of it a stone quarry. Lady Walton later wrote, 'To make an exotic garden out of a lava riverbed needed wild dreams strengthened by blissful ignorance.' The gardens were designed by Russell Page and contain hundreds of rare plant species from around the world. Ischia is a lovely island, with long sandy beaches, hot mineral springs, vineyards covering the slopes of Monte Epomeo, and the poetic ruins of an Aragonese castle.

Pompeii and the beautiful Bay of Naples, where traces of hundreds of gardens have been unearthed. The astonishingly lovely Amalfi Coast, and in Ravello Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo perched high above the sea.

Axel Munthe was born in Sweden in 1857 but spent much of his adult life working as a physician in southern Italy. As a young man he volunteered tirelessly during typhoid and cholera epidemics and earthquake disasters. High up on the rocky ledges of Anacapri, at the foot of Monte Barbarossa, he built a white villa surrounded by a garden. He wrote 'I built it on my knees, like a temple to the Sun, where I would seek knowledge and light from the radiant God whom I had worshipped all my life.'

Sheltered by mountains and tempered by sea breezes, the Sorrentine Peninsula has been abundantly blessed by the gods. Deep gorges radiate down to the sea, wild rocky promontories separate the gorges, all bearing witness to cataclysmic geological events of the distant past. Steep slopes covered with ancient olive trees drop sharply into the sea. Sorrento is a busy resort town with an air of gentility about it and a dramatic setting on a cliff above a small bay, with hills and mountains rising behind. Picturesque narrow streets in the old town, interesting churches and walks through the olive groves in the hills above the town make it a lovely place to stay.

Lovely Procida is small enough to cross on foot in half a morning. The air is filled with the heady scent of lemon blossom, and the lemons produced are the finest in Italy, thin-skinned and heavily perfumed. Large old pomegranate trees shade the dusty lanes leading from one quiet village to the next. Most people here still make their living from the sea, either as fishermen or as sailors.

Vico Equense, clinging perilously to the cliffs, is an unspoilt small town with fine views of the Bay. Picturesque narrow streets, interesting churches, and walks through the olive groves and perfumed Mediterranean scrub in the hills above town make it a lovely place to stay. The history of Vico goes back to the Etruscans. Early inhabitants settled near the sea but were driven, by nature and pirates, to move towards higher, safer areas, where they settled among the hills. A pre-Roman necropolis was discovered here in the 1960s. Vico has its own station on the Circumvesuviana Railway, giving easy access to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples and Sorrento.

A clearing afternoon, a dash for the cable car, then a dizzying swoop up to the top of Table Mountain to walk the winding paths amongst the fynbos and court vertigo with the extraordinary views. Another day a lengthy wander in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which stretch up the eastern slopes of Table Mountain and merge into the fynbos. Proteaceae in abundance, as well as Restionaceae, Asteraceae, Ericaceae, the Cape Floral Kingdom in a nutshell. The Dell, filled with cycads and tree ferns in great variety. And don't forget the shopping!

Stellenbosch, a short drive from Cape Town, is the oldest town in South Africa, with pretty Cape Dutch buildings and a wonderful botanic garden belonging to Stellenbosch University. Proteas and other exotica galore. Company's Garden, in the center of Cape Town, with handsome government buildings and statues and museums and Bishop Tutu's church nearby. Bo-Kaap, the brightly painted old Malay quarter of the town. Another day, a drive down the Cape Peninsula, calling in at Hout Bay to visit the fur seals, at Simon's Town for lunch and at Boulders Beach for the penguins. Then on to the Cape of Good Hope for crashing waves, baboons and fynbos

On safari in Hluhluwe, one of Africa's largest and oldest game reserves. Looking for lions and tigers and bears. No, wait a minute, that's a different story. Looking for rhinos and zebras and giraffes and hyenas (hyenae?) and dung beetles with Brad, who races Land Rovers in the off season. Also looking for Cape buffalo, ellies, ostrich and lots of other birds.

Giant strelitzia at Natal National Botanical Garden near Pietermaritzburg, as well as weaver birds weaving, protea sightings and a 100-year-old avenue of plane trees. Sunshine and blue skies at Durban Botanic Gardens, along with collections of cycads and tree ferns, amazing flowering trees, avenues of palms, spoonbills nesting, pelicans resting, white-faced ducks posing, moorhens tending their young. A cruise on the St. Lucia Estuary along the Zululand coast, where crocs snooze, rousing only to hiss as we pass, and hippos lurk in the shallows, while kingfishers and storks and herons keep watch on the fish.

Three days at Mont aux Sources, walking in the hills, looking at wildflowers and baboons, taking potshots at Hadeda Ibis, cheering on the South Africa rugby team and recovering from nine hours of jet lag.

South from Shrewsbury to visit the garden of Mrs. Charis Ward at Abbey Dore Court near Hereford. On to Weobley and nearby Arrow Cottage belonging to David and Janet Martin. Lunch in Hay-on-Wye, the bibliophile's mecca on the border between England and Wales. North to Presteigne and Bryan's Ground, the home of David Wheeler and Simon Dorrell. North to Wollerton Old Hall near Market Drayton.

Bodnant with its beautiful terraces and wooded ravine. Dinner at Bodysgallen Hall, with time to enjoy the elegant formal gardens. South along the England-Wales border to Powis Castle.

South from Llandudno, through the Vale of Conwy and Gwydyr Forest to Portmeirion, the seaside Italianate village created by the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Then on to nearby Plas Brondanw, the private Edwardian-style garden of Williams-Ellis and his wife. Crug Farm, north along the coastal road toward Caernarfon, home and nursery of Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones.

Back and forth on the ferry, crossing the Straights between Portaferry and Strangford. Visits to Seaforde, Castle Ward and Rowallane in County Down. Lunch in Saintfield, then on to Timpany Nursery. Overnight stop in Newcastle in the shadow of Slieve Donard, a visit to the Annesley Garden in Castlewellan National Arboretum, then it's on to the ferry at Dun Laoghaire and across the Irish Sea to Wales.

East from Belfast towards Newtonards for Gary Dunlop's garden, Ballyrogan, then on down the Ards Peninsula to visit Mount Stewart. Out into the Belfast suburbs along King's Road for Redcot, the garden of Mr. Knox Gass. After lunch in Bangor, up to Helen's Bay and Guincho, then on to Nick Burrowes' garden in pouring rain. Finally, a drive along Strangford Lough to Portaferry at the tip of the Ards Peninsula.

North from Belfast to Carrick-A-Rede and Giants Causeway.

Travels out into the countryside surrounding Lucca: Villa Reale at Marlia, Villa Torrigiani at Camigliano, Villa Mansi near Segromigno, Villa Massei near Massa Macinaia. A walk around the city atop the old city walls. A climb up Torre Guinigi, with its olive grove planted high in the sky.

Cooking, wine tasting and lunch at Castello Vicchiomaggio near Greve-in-Chianti. South to the garden at La Foce in the Val D'Orcia, with stops in Montepulciano and San Gimignano.

Garden visits in and around Firenze. Boboli and Villa Stibbert in Florence itself, Candida's Garden on the outskirts. Giardino di Castello and Villa della Petraia on the slopes of Monte Morello near Sesto Fiorentino, Le Balze in Fiesole, Villa Gamberaia a short walk from Settignano. Views out over the city from San Miniato, then a walk down to Piazzale Michelangelo and the Giardino dell'Iris.

Bourton House, Upton Wold, Rodmarton Manor, Hodges Barn, Hidcote and Kiftsgate in the Cotswolds. Dinner at Pigeon House, a private 14th-century manor house and garden near Cheltenham. The Walled Garden at Wormsley, the estate of the late Sir Paul Getty, in the Chiltern Hills. The Royal Horticultural Society garden, Wisley, and Hampton Court and its Flower Show.

Sissinghurst Castle and Waystrode Manor in Kent. Great Dixter, Nyman's and Pashley Manor in Sussex.

Alan Bloom's Dell Garden and Adrian Bloom's Foggy Bottom at Bressingham and The Old Vicarage at East Ruston in Norfolk. Beth Chatto Gardens and Saling Hall, 'Tradescant's Garden', in Essex.

Mantua! A small city, midway between Venice and Milan, surrounded on three sides by lagoons which are covered by flowering lotus in the summer, a funny sort of place where they eat donkey ragout and pumpkin ravioli and drink fizzy wine. Italians go there for the art and the lakes, but tourists from other countries haven't discovered it yet. Oh, and the art! Astonishing, amazing Renaissance art and some of the best erotic art in Europe, whole rooms covered from floor to ceiling and across ceiling and back down to floor again.

Bus from Riva del Garda to Trento, then train to Bolzano, where a funivia will whisk you right up from the center of Bolzano, 3000 feet to Soprabolzano on the Altopiano del Renon. A half-hour west of Bolzano by train is Merano, a charming old resort and spa.

The north Italian lakes are very picturesque, and Riva del Garda must hold the crown of being the most well kept, cleanest lakeside town of all. Set as it is at the northern tip of Lake Garda, thrusting into the foothills of the former Austrian Alps, the views in early morning sunlight are of mountains in layers of increasing height, some still with snow on the peaks. The lake, disappearing into morning haze, has steeper cliffs on the western side, the tops being like smoothly worn teeth. At certain places on the side of the mountains cling little churches or dwellings appearing to be totally inaccessible, and in fact many of the lakeside villages were only accessible by boat until the new road was chiseled and blasted through at the base of the cliffs. As the towns at the southern end of the lake fill with people, Riva remains calm and peaceful. Nearby is the serenely beautiful Lago di Ledro.

In Varenna, neighboring villas Monastero and Cipressi, overlooking the lake. In Bellagio, Villa Serbelloni in the hills above the town and Villa Melzi on the lakeside. Near Lenno, the romantic and immaculately groomed garden of Villa Balbianello, situated on a promontory between the bays of Venus and Diana, last home of Italian explorer Count Guido Monzino. Villa Carlotta and its gardens at Tremezzo near Menaggio, the villa now a museum with sculptures by Antonio Canova. Moltrasio, a village on the western shore climbing steeply the hillside overlooking the lake.

The three Borromean Islands are set like jewels on the surface of Lake Maggiore. Isola Bella, once a barren rock, now an enchanting garden with a flock of white peacocks trailing the long tails across the lawns. Isola Madre, quiet and peaceful with a vast collection of plants and remarkable trees - and yes, more peacocks, also Chinese pheasants. Isola Superiore dei Pescatori, the Fisherman's Island, just the place for lunch on a sunny day.

Funivia to Giardino Botanico Alpinia, half-way up Monte Mottarone above Stresa. Silvio and Sophia della Valle di Casanova's romantic late-19th-century garden at Villa San Remigio. Villa Taranto, the 1930s garden of Captain Neil McEacharn.

The early 20th century garden of Baronness Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, Ile de France, high on Cap Ferrat, visible from both Villefranche and St Jean. Lunch in Monaco, then a visit to Le Jardin Exotique. The garden of Sir Thomas Hanbury near Ventimiglia at La Mortola, on a steep site terraced from 300 feet above sea level, down to the shore. A holiday in Rapallo, with time to visit Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure, San Fruttuoso by ferry.

William Waterfield's garden, Clos du Peyronnet; La Serre de la Madone, Lawrence Johnston's 'other' garden (his first garden was Hidcote in the English Cotswolds); Le Jardin Botanique Val Rahmeh, created in the 1950s by botanist Miss Maybud Campbell.

Les Colettes, Renoir's house and garden, near Cagnes-sur-Mer. A walk around St-Paul-de-Vence, later dinner in Vence. The garden of La Casella, a short walk through olive groves from Opio. The village of Gourdon and garden of Chateau de Gourdon, perched high above the Gorges du Loup. The Fragonard perfumery in Grasse.

To view an image in a larger size, click on thumbnail.

To view an image in a larger size, click on thumbnail.

To view an image in a larger size, click on thumbnail.

To view an image in a larger size, click on thumbnail.

North from London, up the west side of England, stopping at BROOK COTTAGE in the Cotswolds, then COUGHTON COURT. The glorious DOROTHY CLIVE GARDEN in a quarry in Staffordshire, HOLKER HALL, then Wordsworth's home and gardens at DOVE COTTAGE and RYDAL MOUNT in the Lake District. In Yorkshire the grand landscape of STUDLEY ROYAL, the ruins of FOUNTAINS ABBEY and the exquisite borders at NEWBY HALL. Southwards to CHATSWORTH in Derbyshire, then on to COTON MANOR and HADDON HALL.

To view an image in a larger size, click on thumbnail.

Arduaine and Crarae, both plantsmen's paradises in Argyll, Western Highlands. Inverewe, created by Osgood Mackenzie on a windswept promontory at latitude 58 degrees north, near Poolewe on the north west coast of Scotland. Cawdor Castle, linked by Shakespeare with the story of MacBeth, near Inverness in the Highlands, with three lovely gardens dating back hundreds of years. Greenbank garden on the outskirts of Glasgow, a demonstration of the possibilities a suburban garden can offer.

The Lost (and found) Gardens of Heligan, Pine Lodge, Trebah, Trewithen in Cornwall. Tresco Abbey in the Scilly Isles.

Abbotsbury, Garden House, Hadspen, Hardy's Cottage, Hestercombe, Ivy Cottage, Knightshayes, Mapperton, Tintinhull & Wayford Manor.

In East Anglia, ANGLESEY ABBEY, BETH CHATTO GARDENS and BLOOM'S OF BRESSINGHAM. A stop in CAMBRIDGE. Autumn color at GREAT DIXTER in East Sussex and at HEVER CASTLE and SISSINGHURST in Kent. Snow flurries at the top of Vita's tower. Magic!

BARNSLEY HOUSE and SEZINCOTE in the Cotswolds. Then north to BIDDULPH GRANGE in Staffordshire, CHATSWORTH in Derbyshire, COTTESBROOKE HALL in Northamptonshire, TATTON PARK in Cheshire. Also CLIVEDEN ESTATE, SAVILL GARDENS and WISLEY near London.

Rosemary Verey's garden at BARNSLEY HOUSE. Lawrence Johnston's HIDCOTE MANOR, with its beautiful succession of elegant garden rooms and nearby KIFTSGATE COURT, a classic Cotswold garden. A warm welcome at BROUGHTON CASTLE, built in 1300 on an island surrounded by a 3-acre moat, setting for parts of the film "Shakespeare in Love". Romantic SUDELEY CASTLE and COUGHTON COURT, a magnificent Tudor house with recently restored gardens. Oxford, OXFORD BOTANIC GARDEN, dinner at the private 14th-century PIGEON HOUSE.

The cottage garden created in the mid-20th century at EAST LAMBROOK MANOR by Marjorie Fish, well described in her many books. MOTTISFONT ABBEY with the spectacular old rose collection of Graham Stuart Thomas. FORDE ABBEY, a former Cistercian monastery, surrounded by 30 acres of gardens. Nori and Sandra Pope's classic country house garden at HADSPEN HOUSE. HEALE HOUSE, an 8-acre garden set beside the river Avon. BATH BOTANIC GARDEN and, nearby, the recently restored PRIOR PARK, a steeply sloping landscape garden with a lovely Palladian Bridge, one of only four remaining in the world. STOURHEAD, a beautiful example of 18th-century landscape gardening.

Romantic gardens in Kent: SCOTNEY CASTLE, the garden set around the ruins of a 14th century castle; PENSHURST PLACE, a medievel manor house surrounded by walled gardens; GREAT COMP, a lovely private garden with ruins created by the owner; and SISSINGHURST Castle, the garden created by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson, a series of rooms surrounding the remnants of a medieval castle and a romantic tower. Christopher Lloyd's GREAT DIXTER with fine topiary and a magnificent Long Border. Elizabeth Strangman's WASHFIELD NURSERY, long known for superb hellebores.