The Giardino Botanico Hruska — now officially the Fondazione André Heller garden — is one of the more quietly beautiful spots on the western shore of Lake Garda. Created in the early twentieth century by Arturo Hruska, a Czech dentist who served as personal physician to Tsar Nicholas II, the garden was later redesigned by the Austrian artist André Heller, who added contemporary sculptures by artists including Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring.
The garden layers subtropical plants, rock formations, waterfalls, and art across about two acres of terraced hillside. Palms, bamboo, cacti, olive trees, and flowering plants that would not survive in most of northern Italy thrive here in the exceptionally mild microclimate of the Gardone shore. The effect is calmer and more contemplative than the nearby Vittoriale — this is a garden for wandering slowly and looking closely. Visit in spring for the best flowering, or in early summer before the summer crowds arrive in force.