The Buskett Gardens are located in a fertile valley located to the south of Rabat and just east of Dingli. The gardens are at their best in the Spring but they offer shade from the harsh mid-summer sun and offer a quite place for a walk in the Winter months. Verdala Palace is located on the edge of the Gardens.

The gardens get their name from the Italian word "Boschetto" - meaning a place where aromatic firs grow.

Many different trees and shrubs grow in the gardens but there are also many fruit-bearing trees there as well. This is one of the greenest areas in Malta. Indigenous forests once covered Malta, but trees were cut down for shipbuilding in the era when galleons plied the Mediterranean waters. Perhaps the Buskett Gardens offer a glimpse of what Malta looked like in those days.

The gardens are very popular with Maltese people. People often visit the gardens to go for walks in the peaceful settings of the garden and to enjoy a picnic in the shade of the trees. The gardens are also the site of the popular feast of Imnarja (the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul) which is celebrated on June 28th and 29th. Hundreds of people flock to the gardens to eat the traditional Maltese dish of Rabbit Stew cooked in wine and to listen to traditional folk music and singing. Many people stay overnight although not too much sleep can be had in the festive atmosphere. The morning after the Imnarja festivities, there is usually an agricultural show where farmers and gardeners exhibit their produce, plants and flowers and enter them in competitions.

The Imnarja is a must-see if you happen to be in Malta at the time but to enjoy the nature and the quiet of Buskett Gardens, it is best to visit after the feast is over.

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