50 Top-Rated Gardens in Europe

With some travel restrictions being dropped from the 17th of May, many Brits are rushing to book holidays to warmer climes this summer. With this in mind, and with several European countries currently on the green list, we analysed TripAdvisor data to discover the top-rated gardens across Europe. Read on to find out more…

Analysing TripAdvisor Data

Based on TripAdvisor’s top 50 suggested destinations for "gardens" in 'Things to Do' in Europe, correct as of 09/05/2021, we analysed the average rating and number of reviews for each attraction, before multiplying these figures together to form an overall score.

Ordered from highest score to lowest, the findings revealed the following:

RANK GARDEN LOCATION COUNTRY AVERAGE RATING REVIEWS SCORE*
1 Luxembourg Gardens Paris France 4.5 34,883 156,973.5
2 Real Alcazar de Sevilla Seville Spain 4.5 34,640 155,880.0
3 English Garden Munich Germany 4.5 17,831 80,239.5
4 Quinta de Regaleria Sintra Portugal 5 13,313 66,565.0
5 Musee Rodin Paris France 4.5 12,460 56,070.0
6 Keukenhof Lisse Netherlands 4.5 12,079 54,355.5
7 Gereralife Granada Spain 4.5 11,267 50,701.5
8 Schonbrunner Gardens Vienna Austria 4.5 10,251 46,129.5
9 Royal Botanic Garden Kew Kew England 4.5 8,491 38,209.5
10 Monte Palace Madeira Funchal Portugal 4.5 8,480 38,160.0
11 Chatsworth House Bakewell England 4.5 8,432 37,944.0
12 Upper Barrakka Gardens Valletta Malta 4.5 8,257 37,156.5
13 Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos Corodoba Spain 4.5 7,947 35,761.5
14 Fondation Claude Monet Giverny France 4.5 7,893 35,518.5
15 Madeira Botanical Garden Funchal Portugal 4.5 7,797 35,086.5
16 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Edinburgh Scotland 4.5 7,565 34,042.5
17 Jardin des Tuileries Paris France 4.5 7,525 33,862.5
18 Princes Street Gardens Edinburgh Scotland 4.5 7,323 32,953.5
19 Nymphenburg Palace Munich Germany 4.5 7,232 32,544.0
20 Mirabell Palace and Gardens Salzburg Austria 4.5 6,905 31,072.5
21 Villa d'Este Tivoli Italy 4.5 6,481 29,164.5
22 Regent's Park London England 4.5 6,377 28,696.5
23 The Lost Gardens of Heligan Pentewan England 4.5 6,336 28,512.0
24 Palazzon Pitti Florence Italy 4.5 5,738 25,821.0
25 Giardino di Boboli Florence Italy 4.5 4,722 21,249.0
26 Botanical Gardens (Jardin Botanico) Puerto de la Cruz Spain 4.5 4,662 20,979.0
27 I Giardini di Castel Trauttmansdorff Merano Italy 5 3,464 17,320.0
28 Villa Cimbrone Gardens Ravello Italy 4.5 3,843 17,293.5
29 Chateau de Villandry Villandry France 4.5 3,717 16,726.5
30 Arundel Castle and Gardens Arundel England 4.5 3,297 14,836.5
31 Villa Carlotte Tremezzina Italy 4.5 3,253 14,638.5
32 Villa and Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat France 4.5 2,494 11,223.0
33 Trebah Garden Mawnan Smith England 4.5 2,453 11,038.5
34 Jardines de Santa Clotilde Lloret de Mar Spain 4.5 2,421 10,894.5
35 RHS Garden Wisley Wisley England 4.5 2,363 10,633.5
36 I Giardini di Villa Melzi Bellagio Italy 4.5 2,326 10,467.0
37 Blaire Castle and Hercules Gardens Blair Atholl Scotland 4.5 1,836 8,262.0
38 Jardin des Plantes Paris France 4.5 1,748 7,866.0
39 Isola Bella Lake Maggiore Italy 4.5 1,703 7,663.5
40 Les Jardins d'Etretat Etretat France 4.5 1,588 7,146.0
41 Jardin Botanico Viera & Clavijo Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Spain 4.5 1,585 7,132.5
42 Wallenstein Palace Gardens Prague Czech Republic 4.5 1,408 6,336.0
43 Villa Monastero Varenna Italy 4.5 1,340 6,030.0
44 Luxembourg Palace Paris France 4.5 1,189 5,350.5
45 National Trust Cliveden Taplow England 4.5 1,098 4,941.0
46 Winterbourne House and Gardens Birmingham England 4.5 1,078 4,851.0
47 Highgrove Gardens Tetbury England 4.5 1,011 4,549.5
48 Palmengarten Frankfurt Germany 4.5 1,008 4,536.0
49 Botanical Gardens Flora Cologne Germany 4.5 790 3,555.0
50 the Vrtba Garden Prague Czech Republic 4.5 715 3,217.5

With almost 35,000 reviews, Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France took the top spot, with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5. Real Alcazar de Sevilla in Seville, Spain took a close second, whilst English Garden in Munich, Germany; Quinta de Regaleria, qin Sintra, Portugal; and Musee Rodin, in Paris, France made up the remainder of the top 5.

Gardens based in England featured 10 times, making up 20% of the top 50 gardens in Europe, as suggested by TripAdvisor. Taking 9th place overall, Royal Botanic Garden Kew was the first appearance for England, with an average rating of 4.5 from 8,491 reviews, closely following by Chatsworth House in Bakewell (11th place overall).

Also proving popular, gardens based in Italy and France featured 9 times each, followed by Germany (4), Portugal and Scotland (3), and Austria and Czech Republic (2). Gardens based in the Netherlands, and Malta were also featured in the top 50 list.

If you’ve been inspired by the European gardens mentioned in our research, why not optimise your favourite European gardens in your own home! Clever choices on which flowers, plant, and topiary to include, as well as mimicking layouts and landscaping from your favourite garden, are a great place to start.

For Parisian look, keep a perfectly maintained lawn lined with colourful flowers, or opt for native flora, such as iris flowers or lilies, for a more muted palette. Choosing the right garden paving can also be the perfect way to transform your outdoor space – mainly used to guide guests around the gardens to specific focal points or spots of interest, paving slabs can also be used as another design feature in your own garden.

*All data correct as of 09/05/2021