Easter Monday hunting for botanical treasures in the Parco Pallavicino

On Easter Monday Parco Pallavicino in Stresa is being transformed into the playing field for a colourful treasure huntaround its tree-lined routes and flowerbeds. The Terre Borromeo natural site is participating in a recreational and educational initiative by Grandi Giardini Italiani by organising the “Botanical Treasure Hunt” for families on Monday 18 April. By exploring the park, children of school age (between 6 and 10 year old) will learn their first notions on botany through play. A stimulating way to encourage them to love nature, thanks to an interactive outdoor activity.

The “Botanical Treasure Hunt” returns to the scene this year, in its 25^th edition with a renewed format, after the digital parenthesis of the last two years.

The day will begin with the distribution of a map to participants with drawings of ten symbols, such as trees, flowers andfountains, spread around the route between the departure point and a “treasure chest” representing the final stage. Eachsymbol has a corresponding multiple choice riddle concerning a number of the most important spheres or aspects of the garden, from botany to history, from curiosities to the history of art. At the end of the game, the children will hand over their maps with the answers and receive the Young Botanist’s Certificate if the higher percentages of their answers arecorrect.

Prince Vitaliano Borromeo, President of Terre Borromeo, says: “We are happy to support this educational initiative with the prestigious structure that is Grandi Giardini Italiani, with which we have collaborated for many years now. ParcoPallavicino is the space par excellence for families, with its wildlife and natural and scientific heritage of great value,above all as regards the attention and care devoted to recovering species at risk. A fine example of the safeguarding of the environment that the families visiting here can discover along with the botanical treasures”.

“Today is the time for gardens, leisure and contact with nature” – explains Judith Wade, founder and CEO of Grandi Giardini Italiani – “surrounded by art and culture, immersed in the beauty that gives us consolation and helps us grow with awareness. Two years of a pandemic have taught us to truly appreciate what we always considered an Italian asset that was always available and whose role we only understood at the moment when it was denied to us”.

At the end of the game, visitors can relax in the picnic areas of Parco Pallavicino or at the Caffetteria del Roseto, which takes its name from its view of one of the oldest rose gardens on Lago Maggiore.

Opening times for Parco Pallavicino: from 10am to 5.30pm (closing at 6.30pm).

Opening time for the “Botanical Treasure Hunt”: from 10am to 12 noon and from 2pm to 4pm.

Entry for adults (15 years and over): €13; older children aged from 6 to 15: €8; younger children (under 6 years of age): €4. The “Botanical Treasure Hunt” is included in the prices.