Château de Chantilly Gardens

Chantilly


Sprawling over 115 hectares, the wondrous gardens of the Château de Chantilly encompass the formal Jardin Français (French Garden), with flower beds, lakes and a Grand Canal all laid out by Le Nôtre in the mid-17th century, northeast of the main building; and the ‘wilder’ Jardin Anglais (English Garden), begun in 1817, to the west. East of the Jardin Français is the rustic Jardin Anglo-Chinois (Anglo-Chinese Garden), created in the 1770s.

The foliage and silted-up waterways of the Jardin Anglo-Chinois surround the hameau, a mock village dating from 1774, whose mill and half-timbered buildings inspired the Hameau de la Reine (Queen's Hamlet) at Versailles. Crème Chantilly (sugar-whipped cream) was invented here.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chantilly attractions

1. Château de Chantilly

0.24 MILES

A storybook vision amid an artificial lake and magnificent gardens, the Château de Chantilly contains a superb collection of paintings within the Musée…

2. Grandes Écuries

0.42 MILES

The Grandes Écuries, built between 1719 and 1740 to house 240 horses and 400-plus hounds, stand west of the château near Chantilly’s famous hippodrome …

3. Musée Vivant du Cheval

0.44 MILES

Inside the Grandes Écuries (Grand Stables), west of the château near Chantilly's 19th-centrury hippodrome (racecourse), the Musée Vivant du Cheval's…

4. Forêt de Chantilly

1.37 MILES

Once a royal hunting estate, the 63-sq-km Forêt de Chantilly is criss-crossed by walking and riding trails. Long-distance trails here include the GR11,…

5. Senlis Museums

4.43 MILES

Senlis was a royal seat from the time of Clovis in the 5th and 6th centuries to Henri IV (r 1589–1610), and contains three small but well-formed adjacent…

6. Cathédrale de Notre Dame

4.46 MILES

Senlis' Gothic cathedral was built between 1150 and 1191. The cathedral is unusually bright, with original stained glass. The 78m-high south tower dates…

7. Parc Astérix

5.54 MILES

Inspired by the Gaulish comic book, this theme park 35km north of central Paris covers the whole ambit of European history, from prehistory to the 19th…

8. Basilique de St-Denis

18.84 MILES

Once one of France's most sacred sites, this basilica was built atop the tomb of St Denis, the 3rd-century martyr and alleged first bishop of Paris who…