Holland tulips are in bloom from March to May

A trip to the tulips in Holland at Keukenhof 

See tulips in Holland when they are in bloom at Keukenhof. The time of the tulip bloom is in spring one of the most beautiful travel times in Holland, Between late March and mid-May, it blooms in the region west and north of Amsterdam, Tulips in all shapes and colors. On Visit to the Keukenhof in Holland is a must have for anyone who is interested in tulips. Together with thousands of other visitors from all over the world we stroll through the show gardens of Keukenhof.

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I expected to see flower fields with tulips of all colors. Instead, we are surprised that the Keukenhof is a park in whose flowerbeds, in addition to tulips, hyacinths and daffodils vie for the favor of flower lovers. Although we can see a few of the fields in the area surrounding the park, we find it in other regions of North Holland more. Even on the Texel in the Wadden Sea there are tulip and daffodil fields.

 

Keukenhof Holland - a paradise for tulip lovers

The Keukenhof is an exhibition ground for tulips in the Netherlands. The flowers come from farms in North Holland. Here come the buyers, who inform themselves about new tulip breeding. Of these, there are the best kinds. The color variety of spring flowers ranges from violet to pastel colors to multi-colored splendor specimens. Some are hardly reminiscent of tulips in their form. We can hardly get enough of the flower shapes and colors.

In the pavilions there are flower shows, where you can see the tulips in their diversity. Exhibitions show how tulips are decoratively presented. You can also buy tulips and tulip bulbs.

Keukenhof - you should know that

Keukenhof opening times

March 20 to May 9, 2021
The cash registers are open from 08.00 to 18.00.

Keukenhof prices

Adults € 18,50, - (Skip the line tickets can you order online*)
Children (0-3 J.) free
Children (4-17 J.) € 9, -
Groups of more than 20 people: € 17 per person
Car Parking € 6,00

Keukenhof ticket

If you live in Amsterdam, it is best to book one of the Amsterdam Keukenhof transfers *, With these, entry to the gardens is included in the ticket prices, and you save yourself queuing up at the cash desk in the gardens and can go straight to the entrance.

Amsterdam Keukenhof transfer incl.Keukenhof ticket *

Arrival by public transport

From Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: Keukenhof Express Bus 858
from Leiden Central Station: Keukenhof Express Bus 854

Parking and access by car

There is a parking lot directly at the Keukenhof. Especially on the weekends, this fills up quickly. There is only one access road to the gardens. Therefore, you should plan for the journey a lot of time, because the traffic jams often over long distances. We therefore recommend staying overnight and cycling to the gardens. You can book accommodation nearby using the link in this article (see above) and the map of our partner booking.com.

Keukenhof map

Here you will find one Orientation map for the Keukenhof.

Keukenhof best time

The Keukenhof Gardens are a magnet for visitors. Especially during the tulip blossom in April, the park is very busy on the weekends. We therefore recommend a visit from Monday to Wednesday. A good time is also a visit in the morning or evening hours. Then it is quieter in the park.

Visit the Keukenhof with dog

Dogs can be taken as long as they are kept on a leash.

The tulips in Holland come from Turkey and China

Did you know that the tulips originally came from a mountainous region between Turkey and China? Not me. Turkish sultans celebrated the tulips in the spring - by the way, as well as the Dutch today Tulip festivals in Holland, Specialized tulip varieties have even been published as illustrated books. The tulip was a decorative motif on tiles and other utensils.

 

 

Than in the 16. In the 20th century, when Dutch international trade became increasingly important, Turkey became the focus of the Dutchman. Constantinople was a trading port, and the Tulip pleased the traders from Holland well. Botanists like Carolus Clusius wrote about the tulip bulbs and exchanged them within their network. 1593 became Clusius director of the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, where he planted tulips. So the tulip found its way to Holland.

 

 

Tulips in Holland were once a luxury item

Tulips quickly became a luxury item in Holland. They reproduce only slowly, and so the value of the tulip soon rose to dizzying heights. The "Anvers" tulip achieved a maximum price of 510 guilders. At that time (in the 17th century) a teacher received an annual salary of around 200 guilders. Between 1634 and 1637 the reached Tulpenmanie culminating.

 

Holland tulips are available in an enormous variety of colors and shapes in the tulip park

I could continue the photo gallery here, so big is the selection of colors, shapes and sizes of tulip flowers. They are all beautiful. But apparently, some customers prefer short tulips, while others prefer long-stemmed ones. The colors are even more varied. Once there was the hunt for the black tulip Furore. In 1850 Alexandre Dumas published his book "The Black Tulip". In it he reported about a competition in Haarlem in 1672, in which a high prize money was advertised for the new breeding of a black tulip variety.

Nature does not know the color black. Tulips are dark red or purple. At the end of the 19th century, the Dutch managed to cultivate varieties of tulips that came close to the color black. "The Queen of the Night" and the "Black Parrot" still exist today. If you want, you can find these rarities in the Keukenhof. However, we did not discover them on our tour, although we take an entire afternoon to visit Keukenhof. We'd rather let the flowers work on us during a break on one of the benches or watch the swans as they make their way to the centrally located lake on one of the canals in the park, with an island in the middle.

 

When is flowering time?

From mid-March to mid-May, flowering is in North Holland. This is celebrated every year, such as the Bollenstreek flower corso, The main flowering time for tulips is in April. Then the North in Holland to a sea of ​​colors and flowers, On our onward journey through the Villages in Holland we meet the first colorful tulip fields. At Bloeiend Zijpe in St. Martinzee we learn more about the problems that tulip growers face when producing the tulip varieties. “Last night we had a little frost here,” says Miranda van Straten, who runs a tulip with her husband. "We have to consider how we can protect the shoots against it."

 

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We learn that the tulips thrive in the fields along the seashore. The wind from the sea keeps the vermin away. The flowers in these fields are not intended for sale, but are in a kind of intermediate stage. When the tulips bloom, a selection takes place that sorts out sick plants. In the same way, plants are removed whose flowers do not correspond to what is supposed to grow on the field.

 

 

What happens after the selection?

Once the selection has taken place, the flowers are capped. This ensures that the power of the plant flows into the onion. This way you get the tulip bulbs, which are harvested in autumn and offered on the flower markets of the world. The demands of the buyer regions are different: Russia prefers tall tulips, while in other countries certain colors are in demand.

"We are busy all year round looking after the tulips in such a way that they deliver the optimal result at the time of harvest," explains Miranda van Straten. “This also means that we plant varieties that mature at different times. This is the only way we can provide the right cultivation for the individual varieties. ”For this reason, in addition to tulips, the van Stratens also grow lilies that are only harvested in November. “This is how we distribute our workforce better,” says Miranda.

 

Flower sea to the horizon

And so we see in the north of Holland in the land behind the dikes, but still the huge areas with tulips in different colors, which I had already expected at the Keukenhof in this form. In the future, I will certainly look at the tulip bouquets in our supermarkets with different eyes and with a little bit of memory of the tulip fields of the polder landscapes in Holland.

Accommodation near Bloeiend Zijpe *

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Travel Arrangements:

Getting there
KLM and Lufthansa fly to Amsterdam.

Cars:
Cheap Car Hire - Book Fast and Easy! *

Keukenhof 
Stationsweg 166A
2161 AM Lisse

Opening hours:
March 20 to May 9, 2021, daily from 8 a.m. to 19.30 p.m. Tickets are sold until 18.00 p.m.

The motto for 2021 is 'A world of colors', 

Please note: There may be changes due to the coronavirus. Click here you can follow the current status.

Excursions from Amsterdam and sightseeing tours:

This Excursions and sightseeing tours * You can easily book through our partner Get Your Guide. Under this link you also get tickets without queuing (highly recommended!).

Accommodation in the surroundings of Keukenhof:

Hotels around Keukenhof * You can book through our partner booking.com at this link.

Bloeiend Zijpe
Groteweg 9
1756 CK 't Zand
In April, hiking, trekking and cycling through the tulip fields are offered here. The current dates for these tours you will learn here.

For overnight we recommend this
Landgoed Duin en Kruidberg
Duin en Kruidbergerweg 60
2071 LE Santpoort
Information, availability query and online booking *

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Find more Slow Travel Tips Destinations can be found here. Discover others Gardens and parks.

More tips for tulips in Holland you find on the travel blog of Simone

Source: own research on site. We thank you for inviting iamsterdam and the Dutch office for tourism

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline