Fountain Neptune at the Trsteno Arboretum.

©nadtochiy/Shutterstock

Trsteno Arboretum

Southern Dalmatia


Gorgeous whatever the season, this leafy garden, 14km northwest of Dubrovnik, is the oldest of its kind in Croatia. It was during the Renaissance that Dubrovnik’s noblesse started to pay extra attention to their gardens. Ivan Gučetić started the trend at his Trsteno estate in 1494, and his descendants maintained the garden throughout the centuries. The land was eventually taken over by the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences & Arts, which turned it into a public arboretum.

The garden has a Renaissance layout, with a set of geometric shapes formed with plants such as lavender, rosemary, fuchsia and bougainvillea, while citrus trees perfume the air. It's set around a stone villa (built around 1500), with a cliff-edge pavilion in front and a chapel behind. There’s also a small hedge maze, a fine palm collection (including Chinese windmill palms) and a gorgeous pond overlooked by a statue of Neptune and filled with white waterlilies and dozens of bullfrogs and goldfish. It’s only partially landscaped, though – quite a bit of it is wonderfully wild.

Don’t miss the two giant plane trees at the entrance to Trsteno village – each is more than 500 years old and around 50m high. They're among the largest of their kind in Europe.

To get to Trsteno, catch local bus 12, 15, 21, 22 or 35 from Dubrovnik's bus station. Otherwise any intercity bus bound for Split will stop here.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Southern Dalmatia attractions

1. Franciscan Monastery

2.31 MILES

The first sight of Lopud when sailing into the harbour, this beautiful 15th-century complex has an immense seawall and 30m-high bell tower. The monastery…

2. Your Black Horizon Art Pavilion

2.32 MILES

The joint work of Olafur Eliasson and David Adjaye, the Art Pavilion is an amalgamation of contemporary art and architecture, set in an orchard of cypress…

3. Lopud

2.36 MILES

Car-free Lopud has the prettiest settlement of all the Elafitis, composed of stone houses surrounded by exotic gardens and overlooked by ruined fortresses…

4. Ɖorđić-Mayneri Park

2.49 MILES

A cool retreat on a sunny day, this gorgeous little park was laid out in the late 19th-century by the great-granddaughter of Dubrovnik's last rector. The…

5. St Nicholas' Church

2.57 MILES

Dedicated to the patron saint of sailors, St Nicholas attests to the times when Lopud was an important seafaring centre. Positioned on the waterfront,…

6. Koločep

3.13 MILES

The nearest of the Elafitis to Dubrovnik, this sweet island is inhabited by a mere 163 people and is covered in centuries-old pine forests, olive groves…

7. Šipan

4.73 MILES

At 16 sq km Šipan is the largest of the Elafiti Islands and was a favourite with the Dubrovnik aristocracy, who built houses here. Most ferries dock in…

8. Dr Franjo Tuđman Bridge

6.07 MILES

When it opened in 2002 this 518m-long lopsided cable-stayed bridge cut the drive west from Dubrovnik by 20 minutes. Park at the lot on the far side of the…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "croatia/southern-dalmatia/attractions/trsteno-arboretum/a/poi-sig/1194981/1319358",
      "destination": "Southern-Dalmatia",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Croatia",
      "region": "Southern-Dalmatia",
      "position": "superzone"
    }