The Best Baroque Gardens of Europe
The baroque garden, developed in seventeenth-century France and exported across Europe over the following century, was the most ambitious garden form ever realised. Its monumental axial geometry, mass plantings, hydraulic spectacles and integration with palatial architecture defined royal landscape design from Madrid to St Petersburg.
Schönbrunn, Vienna
The Habsburg summer palace, with parterres laid out by Jean Trehet in 1695 and the Gloriette terminating the central axis. UNESCO World Heritage.
Caserta, Italy
Charles III's vast garden south of Naples, with a 3-kilometre water axis and Venus and Adonis fountain at the head. Often called the Italian Versailles.
Nymphenburg, Munich
The summer palace of the Wittelsbach electors, with a French formal core extended by Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell into an English landscape park.
Het Loo, Netherlands
The Dutch baroque garden par excellence, begun in 1685 for William III, restored in the 1980s to its 1690s state.
Drottningholm, Sweden
French baroque garden begun under Queen Hedvig Eleonora in 1681, expanded into an English landscape park under Gustav III. UNESCO World Heritage.
Versailles, France
The supreme baroque garden, Le Nôtre's masterpiece for Louis XIV.
Peterhof, Russia
Peter the Great's Russian Versailles, with the Grand Cascade leading to the sea.
La Granja de San Ildefonso, Spain
Philip V's Versailles in the Sierra de Guadarrama, with cascades, fountains and an exceptional location at 1,200 metres altitude.
Wilanów, Poland
The Polish royal palace garden, with two-tier baroque planting begun for King Jan III Sobieski.
Belvedere, Vienna
Two-tier baroque garden by Dominique Girard for Prince Eugene of Savoy, with a panoramic view across central Vienna.
Explore on the map
All of the gardens mentioned in this article are pinned on the interactive map. Use it to plan a route, group nearby sites into a single trip, or compare gardens by style and season.