They don’t do formal gardens much on the Costa Blanca. Maybe the climate is just too hot and dry for that kind of thing. But El Jardín de l’Albarda is a beautiful exception to the rule.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Sierra Montgó just inland from Dénia, it’s a wonderful oasis of green, with a series of differently styled gardens all built around a neo-classical villa.

It looks as if it’s been there forever. But it was only created back in the 1980s when engineer Enrique Montoliu bought a grove of lemon trees near Pedreguer and set about transforming it.

It’s still run by the foundation he set up – FUNDEM – dedicated to preserving the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean.

Working in a similar way to the UK’s National Trust, FUNDEM has also bought up other plots of environmentally sensitive land around the Communitat Valenciana to run them sustainably and ecologically. More info here.

What’s to see

Wander through the different garden styles – the formal gardens around the house, the Valencian garden with Moorish influences, and the wilder, less formal parts of the estate.

There are more than 700 species here spread across five hectares, so there’s plenty to see! And in blossom season, enjoy the seductive fragrances drifting by on the breeze.

Pergolas smothered in roses, avenues of palms and carefully-sculpted cypresses, rows of orange and lemon trees, trellises wreathed in wisteria, immaculately-trimmed formal gardens with koi carp lazily circling, natural rocky ponds loud with croaking frogs and the sound of cascading water. El Jardín de L’Albarda has the lot.

The garden boasts one of the most remarkable greenhouses I’ve ever seen. It looks more like a concert hall than a plant collection. Instead of an audience, there are rank upon rank of pots crammed with succulents of all kinds. And where you’d expect to find the orchestra, there’s a water feature and a lily pond!

There’s also an umbráculo, a structure I’ve never come across before, offering welcome shade in the heat of a Costa Blanca summer to green-leafed tropical plants.

A secret garden

El Jardín de L’Albarda isn’t that easy to find. It’s more like a well-kept secret.

The garden is a few kilometres inland from the coast and off the tourist trail, tucked away without fuss among quiet roads of holiday villas. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d never find it.

We’ve been coming to the Costa Blanca for three decades and more, but we only got to hear about it a year or two back. And we do like a garden!

It’s open from 1000-1400 every day (also evenings in the summer). Details here. €7 per person. There’s plenty of free parking just outside the gate.

There are concerts and other events from time to time – again, check the website here for details. We went to a classical concert beneath the trees in October 2025 and it was great! Lovely music and wonderful surroundings.

How to get there

El Jardín de l’Albarda is near Pedreguer, just ten minutes drive from junction 62 on the AP-7 main coastal motorway, or a 15 minute drive inland from the coast at Dénia. La Sella Urbanisation, C / Baix Vinalopó, 8.

Public transport’s a little tricky. I think the only way is via the Alicante-Dénia tram, getting off at La Xara, the third stop inland from Dénia. It’s then a half hour walk to the garden.

More sights around Dénia & Jávea

Check out these posts:

• The ruined clifftop castle of Grandadella
• Taking the Costa Blanca tram from Alicante to Dénia
• The Costa Blanca lighthouse trail – including Cabo de San Antonio and Cabo de la Nau

© Guy Pelham