On a budget, Bardini Gardens still earns its price.
€10 (often combined with Boboli/Pitti)
Smaller and far quieter than Boboli, with a baroque staircase and one of the loveliest framed views of the Duomo in the city. The real risk is timing and access: the celebrated wisteria pergola blooms for only about two weeks in mid-to-late April, and people routinely misjudge it and arrive to a bare frame; the garden is also a genuine uphill climb on the Costa San Giorgio, and the combined Bardini/Boboli ticketing confuses visitors at the gate. Get the timing and the ticket right and it's a serene reward; get them wrong and it's a hot walk to a pergola of sticks.