Inside 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 summer traveler, 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.