Buskett Gardens

The Buskett Gardens are Malta's only closed woodland, set in a valley north of Siggiewi below the Verdala Palace. Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt laid the grounds out in the seventeenth century as a hunting reserve for the Knights of Saint John and planted pines, holm oaks, citrus and olive groves. The wood is now a Natura 2000 site protecting endemic plants and the autumn raptor migration. Families picnic among ancient orange trees, while walkers reach the Dingli Cliffs and the Wied il-Luq valley along the surrounding paths. Birdwatchers gather in early and late autumn, when honey buzzards and falcons funnel overhead. Compared with the rest of the island, Buskett feels green, cool and almost Tuscan.