With 80 acres of the most delightful gardens to be found anywhere in the world, this fabulous combination of formally planted and landscaped gardens, woodlands, streams, waterfalls, ponds, meadows and terraces would provide succour for any soul in perpetuity.

For the living, however, this is indeed a 'must-visit' for lovers of gardens and nature.

'If heaven or nirvana ever get filled up then there's always room at Bodnant.'

Planted and developed over 150 years and gifted to the National Trust by the McLaren family, Bodnant Gardens nestle in the foothills of the Snowdonia National park providing an impressively broad palette of plants and planting styles.

This really is a garden for any season with large collections of shrubs, trees and richly planted borders to provide colour and interest all year round.

Spring is very well served when the Magnolia, Camellia, Rhododenron and Azalea that line the steep banked gullies leading down to the Dell will be a blaze of colour, set off with bulbs bursting through the woodland floors.

Later in that season the famous Laburnum Arch turns on it's golden fleece lining - a feature often copied but Bodnant did it first and to spectacular effect.

This reviewer arrived in June when the rose gardens were awash with colour and fragrance to overwhelming effect, though the mixed borders were also fleshing out to be at their mutli-faceted best in mid summer.

Taller perennials like Astilebe and Rogersia provide backdrop to the lower shrubs, annual flowers and grasses including Poppies, Astrantia, Paeony, Aquilegia, Cistus, Dianthus, Freesia and a host of Geranium and Pelargonium of all sizes. 

While the Dogwoods brighten longer vistas with their China white and rose tinged, flat flowers, splayed out across their foliage.  Whkile the Smokebush ignite their steely bronze glow to reflect on all around.

In the Rose gardens pathways lined with richly blue Campanula set off the lush displays of beds each planted with just one rose variety to make a mass impact while also allowing individual bloom appreciation. 

The roses are mostly mass blooming Floribunda hybrids, many from David Austin, though the climbers and scramblers are also given plenty of room to cover pergolas and archways, combining at times with Clematis, creating the ultimate romantic garden fantasy.

Water features are used to good effect with larger tranquil lakes reflecting the towering Cedars above, the elegant Canal Terrace set in Italianate formal settings and the newly restored 'Far End Lake' providing a peaceful setting for birdwatching or just simple contemplation.

For those who like to stretch their legs there are innumerable pathways that wind along the side of the Dell, lined with Azalea while revealing some of the most spectacular 'Champion' trees as they tower upwards including some truely awesome Redwoods.

Bodnant should, by default, be in everyone's bucket list. It is not possible to be un-moved by this this place. It presents a microcosm of the best of nature in one convenient and beautiful location. This reviewer has visited many of the world's great gardens and I can say with great confidence that its difficult to find any better than this.

In December 2021 storm Arwen swept through the gardens causing considerable damage and loss of some of the gardens oldest trees and rhododendrons. The pictures displayed here were taken before the storm.