As soon as you turn in to Crarae Garden, you gain the sense of arriving somewhere more exotic. Palms and miniature monkey puzzle trees line the driveway, and even the visitor centre resembles an alpine chalet. The impression is enhanced once inside, as you look up to a backdrop of towering trees, and in late spring, the bright blaze of rhododendron.

Crarae, a National Trust for Scotland garden, sits on the banks of Loch Fyne, near Minard. Water cascades down a steep gorge, bordered with vibrant species native to more humid lands, and walking up the garden’s shady steps feels as much like exploring fairyland as scaling the Himalayan Gorge it is often compared to.

There are five way-marked trails, of varying difficulty, though whichever route you take, the gorge is the star of the show. Water is central to everything here, and you hear it constantly, whooshing over the falls, babbling in the burn, or trickling around the edges of the smaller ponds – it certainly adds to the sense of the spiritual, and may be the reason that plants which have failed elsewhere in Scotland thrive here.

One of the delights of this garden is the signage, which, rather than inundate the visitor with horticultural facts, displays poetry, and tells stories about individual trees and shrubs – from the giant Norwegian Spruce that was once Sir Ilay Campbell’s Christmas tree, to the Noble Fir which bears the scars of a lightning strike.

Crarae was created in 1912 by Grace, Lady Campbell (the wife of the 5^th baronet Archibald Campbell of Succoth) a gifted gardener with a particularly useful family connection – she was the maternal aunt of the audacious botanist Reginald Farrer, who spent much of his career collecting specimens in the mountains of Japan, China, and even Korea and Tibet. Today, its good condition owes much to the commitment of the Friends of Crarae, a dedicated group of local volunteers.

While the flame-coloured giant rhododendrons that dominate the landscape are Crarae’s standard bearers, its autumn colours are striking too, with a show of maples, birch and beech. The garden is also home to several champion trees, red squirrels, otters and bats,

Crarae is a favourite with television presenter Monty Don, who says: “This is not a prissy garden, it is wild, untamed and exotic.” Its National Trust status ensures that it is a popular tourist destination, but its set back, between villages location means that those who live more locally can overlook it. It is a shame if they do, as they need only travel a few metres from the Loch Fyne roadside to enter a different world.

Crarae Garden is near Minard on the A83. Adult entry £7.50. www.nts.org.uk