Literary Travel in London, Florence and Rome
Guided by the pages of influential writers, we explore the imagination behind the most romantic of European cities.
An oasis on the fringes of Berlin’s urban metropolis, the Botanical Garden is a lush paradise bursting with flora and fauna from all over the world. Second largest in worldafter London’s Kew Gardens, it’s an unmissable leafy retreat when visiting Berlin, especially in the summer when it comes alive with blooms and dazzling events. Let Hotel de Rome organise your picnic hamper!
Go Green
Back in 1889, the garden’s first director, Adolf Engler, had a dream to create ‘the world in a garden’. Strolling around its immaculately manicured grounds, it’s clear his vision became a reality. Home to over 20,000 types of plant, Berlin’s Botanical Garden is packed full of horticultural wonders from all over the globe.
Take a journey to the tropics in its incredible Great Pavilion—a giant Art Nouveau glasshouse filled with palms, orchids and carpets of ferns. Journey to Japan in the Victoria House, a colourful plant paradise teeming with lilies, with an attractive bamboo bridge. Its famous giant South American water lily, ‘Victoria’, makes an annual appearance here each summer. And don’t miss the grand Italian Garden, which evokes the grounds of a regal Tuscan estate.
After you’ve explored the grounds, unfurl a blanket under a shady tree in the arboretum and tuck into a picnic with your family.
Summer sensations
In summer, the Botanical Garden reverberates with the sounds of Portuguese fado music, 60s funk & soul and classic swing & jazz. Every Saturday their Summer Concerts series sees nine spellbinding performances of open-air music, the perfect entertainment to enjoy as the sun goes down. On 20-21st July, the garden transforms into an illuminated wonderland during the scintillating Botanic Nights. During this nocturnal spectacle, flowerbeds and pavilions glow with colour while dance performances delight guests and fireworks light up the skies.
Occupying Berlin’s historic Bebelplatz, Hotel de Rome makes a luxurious destination from which to explore the German capital’s beautiful gardens, parks and iconic sights.
Photo Credit:
Gewaechshaeuser © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
GrossesTropenhaus_aussen3 © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
Italienischer_Garten © I. Haas, Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
Guided by the pages of influential writers, we explore the imagination behind the most romantic of European cities.
Sicily is “the key to everything”, or so wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his works, Italian Journey. Throughout history, the largest island in the Mediterranean has captivated travellers as a land of myth, natural beauty and ancient memory. Shaped by Greek colonies, Emirates of Crete, Roman Provinces, Norman Kingdoms and Spanish rule, Sicily holds the imprint of civilisations past. Woven into its landscapes, their presence remains with its buildings, ruins and along the pretty coastal paths that follow its shores.
Vivacious, glamorous, powerful. Few figures encapsulate the effortless grandeur of the Belle Époque quite like Donna Franca, our Sicilian muse. Famed for her petite frame, thick dark hair and an exquisite fashion sense that has endured for over a century, Franca was the epitome of an era that placed beauty and high fashion at its forefront.