Gardens of the Trianon Estate of the Chateau de Versailles, Paris; a visitor's guide

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Visit Gardens of the Trianon Estate

The Trianon Estate is a part of the Chateau de Versailles estate and can be found in Versailles about sixteen kilometers south-west of Paris.

Explore the gardens of the Trianon Estate

French Gardens review: The gardens of the Chateau de Versailles are magnificent but gardeners will particularly appreciate the gardens of the Trianon Estate as they are much more flowery.

Petit Trianon at Versailles

The Trianon estate can be found on the northern edge of the estate of Versailles. It can be reached either from the Versailles gardens or from the town of Versailles at the Saint Anthony Gate. The Trianon estate opens at midday.

The Trianon estate is made up of the Petit Trianon, the Grand Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet. The estate was begun under Louis XIV to provide some respite from court life.

Louis XV had a keen interest in gardens and spent a lot of time in them. By the time of his death he had one of the best stocked gardens in Europe.

The Petit Trianon was given to Marie Antoinette by King Louis XVI and apart from the French garden she massively changed the gardens to give them an Anglo-Oriental style in vogue at the time.

When entering by the Saint Anthony gate you will first arrive in the English Gardens of the Petit Trianon.

This garden looks like an English country park with lots of attractive trees and bushes. There is a water course and a small lake and two buildings have been added to complement the garden.

These are a 'love monument' and a belvedere. The love monument is round with twelve columns and a cupola roof. At its centre is a statue of 'Cupid fashioning his bow from Hercules' club'. This is a copy of a statue by Bouchardon.

There is also a man-made grotto with a waterfall inside that was created at this time.

This garden lies on one side of the neo-Gothic Petit Trianon building and on the other side leading towards the Grand Trianon building is the lovely flowery French Garden.

This is a French formal garden in style and has long geometric borders edged with clipped hedges and trees and filled with a profusion of colourful flowers including salvias, verbenas and hibiscus.

There are two attractive pavilions in the garden as well as a Chapel and the Queen's Theatre.

The gardens around the Grand Trianon are extensive French-style gardens. Next to the palace which is a beautiful long, one-storey building with a peristyle of pink marble, the gardens extend outwards.

There is an upper parterre with two fountains next to the palace. Below this is the lower parterre with symmetrical beds and a fountain and views over a large pool and fountain decorated with dragons.

To the side are views over the Horseshoe fountain and the Grand Canal beyond.

The flower beds on these terraces are a mass of flowers with dahlias and salvias in particular providing lots of colour.

Beyond these the gardens extend into a series of groves laid out in geometric patterns and sometimes with a water feature integrated into the design.

On the other side of the gardens is a large courtyard with parterres filled with purple and white flowers. Very simple in design but very effective.

Also in the Trianon estate is the Queen's Hamlet which has a large rustic looking house and several other buildings designed to give the impression of a rural retreat.

These buildings include a watermill and a dairy and each has its own garden all of which are given over to kitchen gardens except the Dovecote garden which is a herb garden and the Marlborough Tower which doesn't have a garden.

As with the other gardens on the estate these gardens are laid out in a formal style.

In total on the Trianon estate there are a hundred and twenty varieties of plants, vegetables and herbs.

There are also a number of noteworthy trees and you can find these with the help of a map given out with your entrance ticket.

The gardens are a classified remarkable garden

Garden guide to the Trianon Estate

The Trianon Estate gardens are open every day except Monday from 12.00 until 05.30.

The gardens are located at Versailles about 16km south west of Paris.

It is possible to arrive by train or bus from Paris.

Grand Trianon at Versailles

Places to visit nearby

The gardens of the Chateau de Versailles are also well worth visiting especially on days when the fountains are in operation.

Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with lots to see and also lots of green spaces to enjoy. The Parc Floral de Paris is one of our favourites and also the Parc des Buttes Chaumont.

You can find more local travel ideas in the Paris guide,