Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden in Valnontey

What it is

Paradisia is the alpine botanical garden of Gran Paradiso National Park, in Valnontey, a hamlet of Cogne, at 1,700 m. It covers about 10,000 m², a hectare of natural hollows and gullies that give mountain plants the conditions they need, with the Gran Paradiso massif behind. It was founded in 1955 by decision of the park itself. The name does not come from Gran Paradiso, as it seems, but from the St Bruno's lily (Paradisea liliastrum), a white flower that grows alone in the surrounding meadows.

It is the best place in the park to learn to recognise the flowers you will later see on the paths.

What you see

• More than 1,000 species, all collected in the wild or raised from seed in the garden's nursery.
• Coloured labels on each plant: yellow for species from Italy (Alps and Apennines), white for those from other mountains of the world and red for medicinal ones; those with a skull are poisonous.
• Reconstructed habitats: pseudo-steppe, peat bog, scree slopes and alder groves, with the plants that characterise them.
• The rock exhibition from the Cogne Valley and the rest of the park.
• The lichen exhibition on large blocks of stone, which survive only thanks to the cleanliness of the air.
• The butterfly garden, a trail in the upper part dedicated to these pollinators.

When to go

The garden opens only in season. In 2026 it opened from 30 May to 13 September, every day:

• From 30 May to 30 June: 10:00 to 13:00 and 13:30 to 17:30.
• From 1 July to 30 August: 9:30 to 13:00 and 13:30 to 18:00.
• From 31 August to 13 September: 10:00 to 17:30.

The most intense flowering runs from mid-June to mid-July, depending on how the year goes. The 2027 dates are published on the park's website in spring.

Entry and guided tours

• General admission: €5.
• Free: under-18s, people with disabilities and their companions, university students and naturalist, tourist and mountain guides, among others.

The guided tour costs the same as admission. There are three a day, at 10:30, 14:30 and 16:30, and it is advisable to let [email protected] know, although it is not compulsory. If you go independently, at the entrance they give you a leaflet with the main features of the garden. In September 2026 there were no guided tours, but the garden could be visited free of charge.

Allow an hour; with the guided tour or with curious children, a little more.

Getting there

Valnontey is about 3 km from Cogne along the valley road, at the foot of Gran Paradiso. Park in Valnontey and walk to the garden entrance, next to the hamlet. From Cogne you can also walk along the valley floor.

The garden is right where the path to the Vittorio Sella hut begins, and the park itself recommends seeing it before going up. From Lillaz, on the other side of Cogne, you can reach the Lillaz waterfalls and Lake Loie: with all three you have two days in Cogne.

With children and accessibility

It is a visit designed for all ages: children enter free up to 18, the route is short and the butterfly garden hooks them. The park also organises nature games and themed visits according to its seasonal calendar. For accessibility, the park publishes on the Paradisia website an easy-read guide describing the layout; download it beforehand, because the terrain has natural slopes.