That said, quite quickly you are aware that this place is a bit special and there is a very good reason for the full car park. So much has been achieved in the mere 10 years they have been open - bearing in mind that much of it was already here 100 years ago and had been unloved for many decades after.

This is, of course, the difference between the Eden Project and here. With Eden, they had a clean slate and biomes to sort out the right temperature and environment. Whereas here, they had to first remove the years and years of neglect, get it all back to original condition, and then get it growing and looking lush and thriving again. A mammoth task, and one which has been executed beautifully.

The entrance fee of £6.00 for adults and £3.00 for children over 5 years old is a pittance for the opportunity to go back in time and glimpse an early Victorian garden in full splendour. The gardens are set out in 4 main areas:
a) The Jungle
b) The Lost Valley
c) The Pleasure Grounds
and d) The Productive Gardens.

Each area has not only its own variety of exotic plants, but also its own personality. The Jungle with its boardwalk leads you through a myriad of subtropical palms, ferns, and bamboo with only the shrieks of hornbills missing from the setting. The Lost Valley takes you back to the lazy days of sitting by a pond watching the dragonflies dance on the water, with your head full of the smells of wildflowers. The Pleasure Grounds are much more structured and formal gardens than the former two, with many gardens within the grounds. The individual gardens are based around favourite Victorian themes such as the Italianate Garden, a Grotto, and the very restful Sundial Garden. The Productive Garden is as you would expect, crammed with fruit, vegetables, and herbs grown for their nutritional and medicinal values. There is also a good example of "companion planting" and attempts at growning exotics like bananas and pineapples.

Apart from the above four areas, there are also many follies and curiosities dotted around the site, enough to keep you interested for most of the day. There is an on-site restaurant and ice-cream shop for any required pit stops, and of course toilet facilities, though these are at the main gate.

For those with young children, the use of pushchairs or strollers is not allowed on the boardwalk due to a couple of steep gradients and the at-times-restricted width. Disabled visitors should check first with Heligan.

The gardens were the subject of a serial documentary on British TV. To cut a long story miserably short - and do read the book - this was one of the great Cornish gardens until the first world war when the gardiners were called up and never returned.

After this the gardens became overgrown and were quite literally lost. The programme and the book were about their rediscovery and the remarkable efforts of restoring them.

The house was almost certainly self-sufficient and it was necessary to rediscover the art of growing pineapples and melons. The jungle area with its banana trees leeds down to a great riverside walk where there are remains of charcoal smelting and on the other side the Home Farm has opened to the public since we were there.