The Gardens of Versailles are world famous, and apparently receive over 6 million visitors a year. They're stunning gardens to visit, but I can't help but think that some other European courts might have decided to build their own similar.
Are there any other similar parks elsewhere in Europe that can be visited? Ideally ones still in / restored to the Versailles style?
On the Italian side there is:
Yes, there is! 750km North-East of Paris is the delightful city of Hanover (Hannover), which has the Great Gardens at Herrenhausen Gardens (Großen Garten of Herrenhäuser Gärten)
This was largely laid out in the late 17th century, and one of the leading gardeners from Versailles was commissioned to help lay it out, so the styles of the two are very similar!
It's a bit easier to get to than Versailles is from Paris - it's about 10 minutes on the tram from the city centre, or you can walk down the tree lined avenue from the city centre through Georgengarten (park).
Sadly I didn't have a good camera with me, but here's a cc photo from dierkschaefer from Flickr that shows what it's like:
And another, this one from grebein which shows more of the fountains in full display:
Wikipedia also has an aerial shot, which gives more of an idea of the scope + layout
Vienna and its surrounding has several gardens:
There are quite a few in the UK as well, with Blenheim Palace being probably the most famous (but by any chance not the only one). The gardens look like this:
Peterhof just outside St-Petersburg is really amazing.
Although the style is a bit different than the gardens in Versailles, the Hellbrunn Palace (Schloss Hellbrunn) outside Salzburg makes for an impressive visit nevertheless.
The gardens and fountains make for a pleasant visit, but the real joy is that the grounds were rigged to play practical jokes on visitors by the archbishop who commissioned the palace's construction, so the stone seats throughout the garden contain fountains that spray visitors (they still operate) and water-operated musical theatre is designed to soak the audience.
In short, the grounds are beautiful, and it makes for a good history lesson when you learn what the slightly immature prince-archbishop of Salzburg did in his free time.
I can add 2 more beautiful gardens in Germany:
In Portugal, just outside of Lisbon, there is the Queluz National Palace which is famous for its gardens and is often referred to as the Portuguese Versailles.
I've long thought of the Tivoli Gardens of Copenhagen, Denmark as being somewhat similar to Versailles.
It has the "fountains and flowers" generally associated with Versailles. But Tivoli was created as an amusement park with the intent of having the OPPOSITE effect of Versailles. That is, King Christian VIII created it for the "people" to defuse the possibility of revolution, while Louis XIV created Versailles for himself and other "royals" and aristocrats, thereby increasing the probability of the French Revolution.
You can see a list of French formal garden (jardins à la francaise) at the end of the wikipedia article on the topic.
and don't forget Paleis het Loo in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands (wiki page includes a link to a list of baroque style homes and palaces) for further inspiration)
While a lot smaller, they're rather charming. An active residence, only part of the palace and its gardens is open to the public.
