A firsthand guide to the gardens, the Terrace of Infinity, tickets, and the heartbreak behind Ravello’s most beautiful garden.
You’ve probably seen the view before, even if you didn’t know its name: a long stone terrace lined with marble busts, the Amalfi Coast falling away beneath it, and the sea and the sky blurring into one endless blue. It’s the Terrace of Infinity, the crown of the Villa Cimbrone gardens in Ravello, and it’s one of the most photographed views in all of Italy.
I came to Villa Cimbrone thinking that terrace would be the highlight, and I was wrong. Not because the terrace disappoints, because it doesn’t, but because by the time I reached it, I’d already fallen for everything that leads up to it. Funny enough, Luca almost didn’t come at all. We’d just driven the long, winding road up from Nerano, and all he wanted to do was relax at the hotel. I insisted he shouldn’t miss this. By the end, he was telling me it was one of the most beautiful places he’d ever seen. So let me tell you why this is a place you don’t rush.
How to get to Villa Cimbrone: the walk through Ravello
Villa Cimbrone sits at the far end of Ravello, past the main square, along a walk that’s half the pleasure. We set out from our hotel meaning to go straight there, and of course we didn’t, because Ravello doesn’t let you.
We passed the main piazza with its cathedral, the kids playing soccer, the families out for aperitivo, and then we got happily sidetracked at a little ceramics shop called Ceramiche d’Arte Carmela, where the owner, Alfonso, walked us through his hand-painted pieces and sent us home with two beautiful serving plates. We stopped at the San Francesco cloister for a quiet moment before carrying on, and by the time the path narrowed and the crowds thinned and the entrance finally appeared, we’d already slowed to Ravello’s pace. Which, it turns out, is exactly the pace Villa Cimbrone asks of you.
For the full picture of the town, where to stay, eat, and what else to see, start with my complete Ravello travel guide.
What Villa Cimbrone actually is
Here’s the thing to understand before you go: Villa Cimbrone is two things at once. It’s a five star hotel, one of those once-in-a-lifetime places to stay, but its gardens are open to the public, and for the price of a ticket, anyone can walk through what is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful gardens in Italy.
And here’s the detail that changed how I saw the whole place, the one almost no one tells you: it feels ancient, but it isn’t. The cloister that looks medieval, the Gothic crypt, the classical temples scattered through the gardens, none of it was inherited from some distant century. It was all dreamed up and built in the early 1900s, by one grieving man and a local craftsman. Once you know that, the whole garden reads differently. It isn’t a relic. It’s a vision, made real.
The history of Villa Cimbrone: a grieving lord and a barber from Ravello
The man was Ernest William Beckett, later Lord Grimthorpe, an English aristocrat. In the early 1900s, after the loss of his wife, he came to the Amalfi Coast to heal, on the advice of friends who believed no one could stay sad for long in a place this beautiful. On his travels he found Villa Cimbrone, then a derelict farmhouse standing on the ruins of an eleventh century estate, abandoned and overgrown. He fell in love with it, and in 1904 he bought it, determined to turn it into what he called the most beautiful place in the world.
What he did next is the part I love. Instead of hiring a famous architect, he entrusted the work to Nicola Mansi, a barber and builder from Ravello whom he’d met years earlier in London. Together, the heartbroken lord and the local craftsman spent years building the gardens you walk through today, blending styles and centuries with a freedom no purist would have allowed. English romantic gardens met the Mediterranean landscape, and Moorish and Sicilian details sat beside Gothic arches and classical temples. They even set genuine salvaged fragments, including an old terracotta tile attributed to the Renaissance master Luca della Robbia, into brand new stone. The crypt, with its massive columns and medieval feel, was actually built between 1907 and 1911, modeled on Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, near where Grimthorpe was born.
None of it is quite what it pretends to be, and that’s exactly the magic. It’s a romantic dream of the past, built piece by piece on a cliff above the sea.
Luca pointed out something I hadn’t thought about, and it stuck with me. He loved that the place is still called Villa Cimbrone, after Cimbronium, the ancient name of the rocky ridge it stands on, rather than Villa Beckett or Villa Grimthorpe, as so many men in his position would have named it. He poured his heart and his fortune into it, and then he let it keep the name it had carried for centuries before him. There’s a kind of humility in that, and once Luca said it, I couldn’t stop noticing it.
Walking the Villa Cimbrone gardens: a walk through nature and history
The map they hand you at the entrance describes the visit perfectly: a walk through nature and history. It lays the garden out as a numbered route of twelve stops, from the Cloister and the Crypt to the Rose Terrace and the Avenue of Hydrangeas, each one its own little scene.
But you don’t have to follow the numbers, and we didn’t. Instead of starting at the Cloister, we walked straight down the Avenue of Immensity (Il Viale dell’Immenso), the long central path that pulls your eye out toward the horizon, and made our way to the Terrace of Infinity first, taking in all the detail of the gardens as we went. I visited in August, when the pergola along the avenue was green rather than in flower, but in spring this walkway erupts with cascades of blue and white wisteria, and I’m told it’s absolutely spectacular. It’s worth timing your visit for if you can.
Along the way we stopped for a gelato at Lucille Bar, tucked into the gardens, and it was one of my favorite moments of the whole day. Just the cicadas in the background, the green all around, and the view over the valley below. Peaceful in a way that’s hard to find on the Amalfi Coast in high season.
From there we wandered on toward the Temple of Bacchus (Il Tempietto di Bacco), past the Statue of Ceres, Mercury’s Knoll, Eve’s Grotto, and a bronze David that’s a replica of Donatello’s. One of my favorite discoveries was the Tea Room (Il Tea-room), a Moorish-style gazebo ringed with old Roman columns and tucked into the greenery. Something about it instantly made me picture Lady Olenna and Margaery trading secrets over tea in King’s Landing.
We saved the Cloister and the Crypt for the very end. And every so often, there was a bench placed exactly where you most wanted to stop. One of them carries an inscription about sitting alone and communing with your own heart. It’s often attributed to D.H. Lawrence, who did spend time here, but the words are actually the Roman poet Catullus, written two thousand years ago. Somehow, they fit the place perfectly.
The Terrace of Infinity: the most famous view on the Amalfi Coast
The moment the path opened and the walls fell away, I understood what all the fuss is about. The Terrace of Infinity is a long belvedere lined with marble busts, with the whole Amalfi Coast spread out beneath you and the horizon dissolving into blue until you can’t tell where the sea ends and the sky begins.
The writer Gore Vidal, who lived in Ravello for years, once said that the view from this belvedere on a clear day, when the sky and the sea are so vividly blue you can’t tell them apart, was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in the world. Standing there, I understood him completely.
Villa Cimbrone’s famous guests, and the one who never left
Part of what gives Villa Cimbrone its atmosphere is knowing how many people have felt what you feel here. Over the years, the villa drew an extraordinary cast of artists, writers, and thinkers: Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury circle, D.H. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, T.S. Eliot, and the economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1938, Greta Garbo famously escaped here with the conductor Leopold Stokowski, hoping for privacy and instead becoming an international headline the moment word got out.
But the guest who never left is Grimthorpe himself. He died in London in 1917, and his ashes were brought back to Villa Cimbrone and placed in the little Temple of Bacchus, in the garden he built to heal. Most visitors walk right past it. The man who created this place to climb out of his grief is still here, inside his own dream, and it’s the detail I think about most.
The family who saved Villa Cimbrone
After the Second World War, the villa was confiscated and left to decline. In 1960 it was bought by the Vuilleumier family, who rescued it from years of neglect and have preserved it ever since, restoring rather than redesigning, so that what you walk through today is still, faithfully, Grimthorpe and Mansi’s early-1900s creation. It’s now protected as a cultural heritage site, and the villa operates as a serene 19-room hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Flauto di Pan. The gardens remain open to everyone, and that openness is a gift I don’t take for granted.
Visiting Villa Cimbrone: tickets, opening hours, and tips
- Tickets: entry to the Villa Cimbrone gardens is €10, paid at the entrance, and you don’t need to book in advance.
- Opening hours: the gardens are generally open daily from 9am to 8pm (last entrance 7.30pm)
- How long to spend: the official suggestion is about an hour and a half, but my honest advice is to give it hours, not minutes. Go slowly, sit on the benches, and let the story unfold.
- When to go: arrive right at opening or in the last hours before sunset, when the light is soft and the day trippers thin out. For the wisteria, come in spring, when the Avenue of Immensity is in full bloom.
- Getting there: it’s a roughly ten to fifteen minute walk from Ravello’s main square, along a mostly gentle, well-marked path. Wear comfortable shoes for the garden’s steps and slopes.
Villa Cimbrone FAQ
Is Villa Cimbrone worth visiting?
Absolutely. Its gardens are among the most beautiful in Italy, culminating in the famous Terrace of Infinity, one of the most breathtaking views on the Amalfi Coast. Even if you’re not staying at the hotel, the gardens are open to the public and well worth the visit. It was the highlight of our time in Ravello.
How much does it cost to visit Villa Cimbrone?
Entry to the gardens costs around 10 euros. The hotel itself is a separate, five star experience, but anyone can walk the gardens for the ticket price.
How long should you spend at Villa Cimbrone?
The official recommendation is about an hour and a half, but I’d set aside longer if you can. The gardens are designed to be wandered slowly, and the benches and viewpoints reward taking your time.
Who built Villa Cimbrone?
The gardens as you see them today were created in the early 1900s by the English aristocrat Ernest William Beckett, Lord Grimthorpe, who came to Ravello grieving the loss of his wife. He worked with Nicola Mansi, a builder from Ravello, blending Moorish, Gothic, and classical styles into a single romantic vision.
Is Villa Cimbrone a hotel?
Yes. Villa Cimbrone is a five star boutique hotel with 19 rooms and a Michelin-starred restaurant, set inside the gardens. The gardens are open to day visitors, while the hotel offers the rare experience of having them nearly to yourself once the gates close.
Where is Villa Cimbrone?
Villa Cimbrone is in Ravello, a town perched high above the Amalfi Coast. It’s about a ten to fifteen minute walk from Ravello’s main square, at the far end of town.
When is the best time to visit Villa Cimbrone?
Late spring, especially when the wisteria is in bloom, is magical, as are the shoulder months of early autumn. Within the day, aim for opening time or the golden hours before sunset to enjoy the gardens with fewer crowds and the best light.
Planning where to base yourself? See my guide to where to stay in Ravello, and my complete Ravello travel guide for everything else to see and do. And if Ravello is part of a larger itinerary on the Amalfi Coast, check out my complete Amalfi Coast travel guide.
