Why go
The park explains why the palace’s setting feels inseparable from its architecture. Follow the paths to notice the shift from local mountain terrain to deliberately planted groves, including sequoias, ginkgo, cryptomeria and tree ferns, rather than treating the trees as a backdrop.
The full story
Ferdinand II developed the park alongside Pena Palace, with help from Baron von Eschwege and Baron von Kessler. More than 200 hectares of uneven terrain surround the hilltop building. Its network of paths and narrow roads connects the palace with other points across the grounds and with two gates. Ferdinand’s Romantic taste appears in the planting as clearly as in the architecture: North American sequoia, Lawson’s cypress and western red cedar sit within a collection that also includes Chinese ginkgo, Japanese cryptomeria and many ferns from Australia and New Zealand. The Queen’s Fern Garden concentrates some of those ferns and tree ferns. The paths are part of the design, encouraging a gradual reveal rather than a single formal approach. Anyone exploring beyond the palace should allow for the park’s scale and uneven ground, and decide how much of the landscape to include before committing to a long circuit.