Lost Gardens of Heligan
location: Nr St Ewe, PL26 6EN
Heligan was recently dubbed ‘The Nation’s Favourite Garden’ by BBC Gardeners’ World viewers after the award-winning restoration of its productive gardens, but this is just one of many features that make this a fantastic year-round destination.
The 22-acre ‘jungle’ was created as a horticultural playground to indulge the passion for sub-tropical plants that swept the country over a hundred years ago. Now some of the most lush vegetation in the country can be found in this steep-sided valley garden, including the largest collection of tree ferns in Europe, thickets of bamboo and a banana plantation.