Whether or not you have the proverbial green thumb, you can’t deny that a beautiful garden is the ultimate calming oasis. Whether it’s filled with colourful plots of fragrant blooms or neat rows of towering trees, the public gravitates to these spaces across the globe. Luckily, for anyone in need of a sweet-smelling escape, the world is chock-full of architectural gardens that make even the busiest cities feel serene. Some are old and have been firmly planted in their cities of residence for hundreds of years, while others are technological achievements of the 21st century, but all of them are equally beloved.
From the acres-wide beautiful garden at Versailles to New York City’s Little Island that opened on the Hudson River in the middle of 2021, there are beautifully landscaped gardens everywhere. You just have to know where to find them. Here are 12 of our favourites, from Rio de Janeiro to London.
1. Berkshire, England
About two hours outside of London, Cliveden House was home to quite a few of the world’s wealthiest people, from English royalty to William Waldorf Astor, who purchased the estate for more than $1.25 million in 1893. Nearly 100 years later, Cliveden House became a luxury hotel, but aside from the public’s ability to book a suite for a week-long vacation, not much has changed—especially the 376 acres of Grade I-listed formal gardens and woodlands. They may be on Cliveden’s estate, but they’re owned, managed, and tended to by the National Trust.
2. Nassau, the Bahamas
Though all Four Seasons resorts boast the hotel group’s signature luxury, they’re all designed with the location in mind. Case in point: The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas along Nassau Harbor. Most hotels’s pièces de résistance are typically either the lobbies or top-floor suites, but at this historic spot, the centerpiece is the garden. Dubbed The Cloisters because of the stately presence of the 12-century open-air arches, this particular garden is full of antiques, including works by Lorenzo Bartolini.
3. Versailles, France
If the Neoclassical-style Petit Trianon looks fit for royalty, that’s because it was King Louis XVI’s gift to his young queen, Marie Antoinette. Built between 1762 and 1768 by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, Petit Trianon resides within the gardens of the king’s own palace, which was called the Grand Trianon. When Marie Antoinette accepted the gift, her first order of business was replacing her husband’s work with an Anglo-Oriental garden. Throughout the rest of her life, she continued to embellish her beloved garden.
4. Paris, France
Known as the contemporary inventor of vertical hydroponics gardens, Patrick Blanc is a French botanist whose green work is on display worldwide. His most notable work, however, is scattered throughout his home country—especially in Paris. L’Oasis d’Aboukir, for instance, was a rather ordinary structure on the corner of Rue des Petits Carreaux and Rue d’Aboukir and is now one of the most photographed street corners in the whole city. Outfitted in plants of various green shades, the windowless wall is certainly a sight to see within the City of Lights.