The secret gardens of Italy’s most beautiful hotels

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” Such an astute observation — made by the prolific 1st-century B.C. Roman writer, orator, and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero — is perhaps most true in Italy, where magnificent gardens (not to mention historic libraries) seem to be around every corner. For the Italy-bound traveller, these nine hotels — some located in the middle of major cities like Rome and Florence, others set along the Mediterranean coast or the shores of Lake Como — each offer spectacular gardens filled with azaleas and jasmine, hibiscus and wisteria, cypress and evergreens. Don’t forget to bring a good book, and you’ll have everything you need.