The two plane trees
More than four centuries old, at the entrance.
Pudelek (Marcin Szala) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · BuhaM — CC BY-SA 4.0 · BuhaM — CC BY-SA 4.0 · BuhaM — CC BY-SA 4.0
**The oldest arboretum in the world** by many reckonings: a botanical garden created by the noble Ragusan **Gučetić** family around their summer villa in the late **fifteenth century**, who asked the captains of their ships to bring back seeds and cuttings from every port they reached. Over centuries the garden filled with species from the East, the Americas and Asia unknown in Europe at the time, and became a botanical laboratory before it was a pleasure ground. It runs today over some **twenty-five hectares** descending from the road to the sea. At its heart are a Baroque **Neptune fountain** and a centuries-old aqueduct still working, olive and citrus groves, and paths between cypress and pine ending at the water. At its entrance stand two enormous **oriental plane trees** more than four centuries old, among the best-known trees in Croatia. ⚠ For anyone who knows it from television: the **royal palace gardens** in *Game of Thrones* were filmed here. ⚠ The garden was badly damaged by fires in 2000 and by **shelling in 1991**, and what you see is a patient recovery.
More than four centuries old, at the entrance.
Baroque, fed by a centuries-old working aqueduct.
Cypress and pine descending to the water.
20233 Trsteno, Dubrovnik-Neretva
Worth it for anyone who likes gardens and quiet, and for anyone worn down by the old town's crowds. The garden is **large and descends to the sea**, its paths mostly shaded, entry is cheap, and it is **very quiet** compared with anything in Dubrovnik. But be realistic: the journey is about **30–40 minutes each way** by bus, and the garden is **not manicured like a French one** — it is a historic garden recovering from fire and shelling, with parts left to themselves. Anyone after horticultural perfection will be disappointed; anyone after an old, beautiful, quiet place will be glad.
The **royal palace gardens of King's Landing** were filmed here across several seasons — the paths between cypresses, the stone steps and the sea-facing pergola appear in characters' conversations. That has made the garden a destination for the show's followers, and there are tours combining it with other Dubrovnik locations. ⚠ But don't come expecting a set-up film location with signs and props: **nothing here refers to the show**, and it is a historic botanical garden first and last. Anyone who knows the scenes will recognise the places themselves.