October 11, 2014 11:00am by David Farrar

Hamilton Gardens

Last week Hamilton Gardens was named Garden of the Year at the prestigious 2014 International Garden Tourism Awards in Metz, France. It’s too big a stretch to say the almost 50ha site on the city’s Cobham Drive is the best public garden in the world, but it’s right up there, nominated and chosen for this honour by a global jury network.

They are a somewhat hidden treasure. I went there around two years ago and they’re a great place to spend half a day at. The different country themed areas especially works well.

Hamilton Gardens is the most visited tourist attraction in the Waikato with approximately one million visits per year. Half of these are tourists and those numbers are constantly increasing: 50 per cent are Hamiltonians; 30 per cent rest of New Zealand; 20 per cent international.

Annual 2013 Hamilton City Council budget for Gardens’ upkeep: $2.378 million.

Not too bad for 500,000 tourist visits a year from out of towners.