Two of the world's best gardens are in North Wales - including one 'hidden' site

Two gardens in North Wales have been named on a list of the best in the world. A new study from InsureandGo has revealed the top places in the globe for plant lovers to explore.

From their research they drew up a list of the 15 best botanical gardens in the world. They also looked at which countries were best for visiting these gardens - with the UK coming top.

The index used several factors in each country, including the number of recorded plant species, the number of botanical gardens per square mile, how many photos of flowers and plants had been posted on Instagram, and Google search demand for gardens across the country, before combining them to give each country a ‘botanical bliss’ score.

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The researchers then analysed the reviews of over 100 botanical gardens worldwide, ranking them according to which ones have the highest percentage of four and five star reviews.

The good news for North Wales is that the region had two sites in the top ten. They didn't quite get the top spot which went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Arizona, which is home to over 3,200 different plant species as well as lush gardens nestled in the middle of the arid landscape of the Sonoran Desert.

But following closely behind with 97.5% of their reviews sitting above four stars, was Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens near Menai Bridge on Anglesey. The gardens have a series of grottos, follies, dark tunnels and no fewer than four waterfalls.

There’s a walled garden, a “jungle” and an avenue of yew pyramids. For views, there are belvederes from which to admire wild woodlands and, in the distance, the rising peaks of Eryri (Snowdonia).

They were truly hidden until recent years with Anthony Tavernor working through 70 years of undergrowth after taking the site on in 1996. More on the garden on this link.

The other local site on the list is Bodnant Gardens in the Conwy Valley - which came in sixth. Established in 1874 by scientist, businessman and politician Henry Pochin, he and his family filled the garden with plants collected by famous global explorers such as Ernest Wilson, George Forrest and Harold Comber. It is now run by the National Trust, and it welcomes visitors all year-round.

Alongside towering trees and an awe-inspiring array of flowers, every spring, a mesmerising Laburnum arch blooms within the botanic garden, enabling visitors to be enchanted under a ceiling of dangling flowers.

Other notable gardens in the top 15 most highly rated worldwide include the National Orchid Garden in Singapore, one of the largest orchid collections in the world, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, one of the oldest in Australia that is home to several heritage-listed trees, and the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage site found in Cape Town, South Africa.

The 15 highest rated gardens in the world, according to traveller reviews