Candie Gardens are the finest public gardens in St Peter Port, occupying a hillside behind the town centre with views across the harbour to the other islands on clear days. The Victorian layout is intact: formal flower beds, a bandstand structure (now the museum), a restored greenhouse, and a sequence of terraces that make the most of the sloping site.
The gardens contain a prominent statue of Victor Hugo, who lived nearby during his Guernsey exile. He is shown in his characteristic cloak, looking out to sea. The statue was erected in 1914 and has become one of the most photographed spots in town, though Hugo himself didn't pose for it — it was made 26 years after his death.
The Victorian greenhouse holds a collection of Guernsey Lilies — the island's emblematic flower, a species of nerine that was mistakenly believed to have arrived on Guernsey after a shipwreck but is now understood to have been introduced from South Africa via England. The gardens are free to enter and a pleasant retreat on a warm afternoon.