Lavender Fields in Italy: Where Nature’s Beauty Meets Aromatherapy Delights
Who said that to see lavender in bloom, you had to go to France? It’s true that the most photogenic fields in Europe are along the Route de la Lavande in Provence, but you can also find them in different parts of Italy, where the climate is good for growing this highly fragrant plant, which blooms at the end of spring and the start of summer.
Lavender has a great smell and a beautiful purple color, but it also has many other useful properties. For example, it can be used to calm headaches, anxiety, insomnia, and nervousness, and its balsamic properties can help with flu, cough, and cold.
In fact, even bees love its flowers, which they use to make a delicious honey. Lavender essential oil has been a very popular perfume in the cosmetics industry for hundreds of years.
Today, there is a whole world of people who are interested in the plant. They come from all over the world to see it grow and buy the best products. Lavender grows most often in the north of Italy, between 300 and 1000 meters above sea level. However, it is also common in some parts of the peninsula’s center and south. As a weekend trip idea, we’ve put together a list of places in Italy where you can see lavender in bloom.
Where in northern Italy to see lavender fields
Piedmont is in bloom
Piedmont is without a doubt the place in Italy where you can see the most beautiful lavender fields. In the province of Cuneo, there are spontaneous blooms in Demonte and Valle Stura. Lavender has been an important economic resource for this area for hundreds of years, as shown by the fact that there are businesses like Rocchia Distillerie, which has been getting essential oil from lavender for hundreds of years.
At km 16 of the SS21, between Borgo San Dalmazzo and Colle della Maddalena, you can get a great view of the fields. Enjoy the beauty of nature, and if you love taking pictures, don’t forget to bring your camera, because it’s a great place to do so.
In Andonno, near Cuneo, there is a lavender festival in August with different activities and food and wine walks through the fields. In Sale San Giovanni, in the Alta Langa, you can see lavender hills, as well as hills with mallow, lemon balm, and hyssop, where the “Not just herbs” fair of medicinal and aromatic herbs is usually held on the last weekend of June.
If you go to Monferrato, which is in the province of Alessandria, you can see lavender in the town of Ponti, where the “Cascina Blengio” company used to grow it to make medicine, food, and beauty products. Today, the business has closed for good, and we don’t know what will happen to the fields.
Lavender in Liguria
Even in Liguria, in the valleys of the so-called Mystical Alps, lavender grows and blooms. In the area around Sanremo, which is in the province of Imperia, lavender has been grown and distilled for hundreds of years. Similar speech for Taggia, where the month of July is marked by the collection of this beautiful plant. According to an old tradition, this plant is spiritually linked to Saint Mary Magdalene as a symbol of rebirth.
In Carpasio, which is not far away, you can see the first lavender museum in Italy. It has working tools and themed workshops for you to try out. Still in Liguria, you can go hiking in the Pietrabruna area, like on the ring that starts and ends at Torre Paponi and goes through an area with purple lavender fields in the summer.
Lavender fields in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
We switch regions and go to Friuli, where Lavender angustifolia has been grown for hundreds of years in the town of Venzone, which is in the province of Udine. This lavender has a strong smell and narrow leaves. Even though the town did well in terms of tourism, it has shut down. The Palazzo della Lavanda, a store that sold products from Venzone Lavanda and gave tours of the lavandeti during the summer, went out of business. In August, there is also the Lavender Festival, which includes a parade of floats with different themes, markets with products made from this plant, workshops, and meetings.
Emilia-Romagna’s lavender is in full bloom
In the 1970s, Augusto Rinaldi Ceroni started the Herb Garden in Casola Valsenio, a town in the Romagna hills in the province of Ravenna. The Herb Garden is where many medicinal herbs are grown. Lavender, of which there are 22 different kinds, is one of the stars of the fields. In June, the village also has Lavender Day and Viola Night, which bring a market, street food, music, and exhibitions to the streets of Casola Valsenio’s historic center. Information is here.
Where to see lavender fields in central Italy
As you move down the boot, the chances of finding environments and climates that are good for growing lavender go down. However, you can still find some purple corners, especially in farmhouses, in the Marches, Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio.
On the Casalventi farm in the town of Castellina in Chianti, which is in the province of Siena, many plants are grown, such as nine types of lavender, Damascus roses, iris, oak moss, hyssop, etc. This is a very special place that is almost entirely used for making wine.
Where to see lavender fields in southern Italy
If it’s true that the plant grows best in the middle and north of the peninsula, it’s also true that there are some lavender fields in the south.
In particular, the species that can be seen in Calabria is the so-called Loricanda, which is a recent selection from Lavanda angustifolia and grows naturally between 900 and 1700 meters above sea level in the Pollino National Park. At the Lavanda & Lavandule farm, which is in the Campotenese plain (Morano Calabro municipality, Cosenza province) at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level inside the National Park, you can learn more and see the flowers in all their glory in the Lavender Park that the Rocco spouses made.
Events that are all about lavender
In a small part of the town of Zocca in the province of Modena, people always look forward to the Montombraro Lavender Festival in July. Among other things, the festival has a competition for the best lavender garden.
Between the end of June and the beginning of July, the Lavender Festival has been held in Tuscania (province of Viterbo), with days devoted to the colors and smells of the plant. Around the same time, in Umbria, a small Lavender Festival is held at the “Il Lavandeto di Assisi” company in Castelnuovo di Assisi (Perugia).