Val Rahmeh Botanical Garden

The Jardin Botanique Exotique du Val Rahmeh, run by the Natural History Museum of Paris, is one of the finest botanical gardens on the Riviera. Menton's frost-free winters allow plants to thrive here that would not survive anywhere else in France — the garden contains species from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas alongside Mediterranean standards.

The terraced grounds, about 11,000 square metres in all, climb up a hillside in the Garavan quarter east of the centre. In spring the garden is spectacular; in summer the shade and the sound of water make it a refuge from the heat along the coast. Allow a couple of hours.

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A story
Val Rahmeh was created in the early 20th century by a British governor of Malta, Sir Percy Radcliffe, who planted the garden to take advantage of Menton's unusually mild microclimate. The French state acquired it in the 1960s and it is now managed by the Natural History Museum of Paris as part of its overseas network.

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