The Powerscourt Gardens in Wicklow have been voted the third best in the world by National Geographic.

It missed out on the top spot after the gardens at Versailles outside Paris and the Royal Gardens at Kew in London came first and second.

President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina will visit the gardens on Saturday to plant a tree and congratulate staff on the accolade.

Sarah Slazenger is General Manager of Powerscourt Estate.

"Everyone should see the great sights of the world and the National Geographic has done the traveller a great service by including Powerscourt in the top ten gardens worldwide" she said.

The gardens at Powerscourt were laid out over two main periods. When the house was rebuilt in the decade after 1731, the surrounding grounds were also remodelled.

The death of the 6th Viscount in 1844 meant alterations to the gardens ceased until his son resumed the work in the late 1850s.

Further generations maintained the grounds, adding the Japanese Gardens, Pepper Pot Tower and continuing to plant specimen trees. In 1961, the Estate passed to the Slazenger family.

Powerscourt was one of only seven European entries to make the list and the only one from Ireland.

The accolade comes from the company's 'Top Ten' series of the best trips, adventures and places to visit in the world.

This follows several other awards recently, which include the Top Ten Houses in the World (Powerscourt House, Lonely Planet), the Best Parkland Venue in Ireland 2014 Award (Powerscourt Golf Club, Golfer’s Guide to Ireland) and the 2014 Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor.