I walk through the gates of Keukenhof and the first thing that hits me is the smell. Or perhaps that should be ‘fragrance’. It’s like a bottle of expensive perfume. And then I see the tulips. So many different colours arranged in elaborate designs. It’s beautiful. And breathtaking.
It’s mid-afternoon and the sun is beating down. Any clouds that were in the sky are breaking up. There are big blue patches which contrast so well against the colourful flowers.
We’re halfway through our one day exploring the beautiful tulips of the Netherlands. Visiting Keukenhof Gardens and the stunning Lisse tulip fields. A hastily planned day trip that couldn’t have fallen on a more perfect day. In this moment, I’m so glad that we worked the tulips into our European itinerary.
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Back to the start: planning our day in the tulips
When we set off for our career break, I never expected we would be able to see the tulips in the Netherlands. In fact, we weren’t even meant to be in Europe in the spring. But, when we decided to extend our career break, we found ourselves in Europe at the start of April.
We quickly pulled together our European bucket list. Those places and things we’ve yet to experience on our travels. We realised that seeing the tulips was high up there for us both (although I’m sure Jeff will argue he just included it on his list to make me happy!).
The inspiration to visit the tulips came from many places. My step-grandmother was born and grew up near Lisse, the area famously known for its tulips. Over the years she would tell me about how beautiful the area is during tulip time.
Also, it is hard to go through a northern hemisphere spring without seeing a billion photos of tulips on Instagram and Pinterest. Okay, it might not be that many, but it sure feels like it when you’re stuck scrolling through your feed on the train to work. They just look so beautiful. But then, seeing all the photos on Insta raises the question: should I still visit the tulips if I’m not a flowy dress in the fields kinda girl? Was this really worth the trip if I’m not interested in getting ‘that’ photo? (Hint: Yes!)
We decided we were going and started planning the trip. We realised it worked best into our itinerary if we arrived in the Netherlands just prior to the Easter long weekend. If you’ve travelled through Europe during Easter before, you know that means lots of $$!
We’d been to the Netherlands, and more specifically Amsterdam, a number of times. We lived in London 10 years ago, and Amsterdam was an easy weekend getaway. We weren’t necessarily interested in staying in Amsterdam again, and wanted to explore different towns and cities. We decided to find another city to base ourselves for our Netherlands trip.
The logistics: our base in the Netherlands
The good news about travelling through the Netherlands, is that there are so many more cities and towns to explore than Amsterdam. And they’re all generally very accessible via train. There’s the university hubs of Utrecht or Leiden. The major cities of Rotterdam and The Hague. And smaller gems like Haarlem or Delft.
We chose to base ourselves in The Hague. The third largest city in the Netherlands, it is the home of the International Court of Justice. It was a great decision. The Hague is a beautiful city with a lot of attractions, such as the famous Mauritshuis. This museum features prized Dutch artworks, including Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring.’ Importantly, The Hague has a lot of accommodation options. As there were less business travellers over Easter, prices were very reasonable. We booked a few nights at the Mercure Den Haag for its central location and providing a value option for our stay.
The other deciding factor for why we chose The Hague: it was only a 40 minute drive to Keukenhof Gardens.
More logistics: car hire for our day in the tulips
Once we decided our base, the next step was to work out how and when we’d explore the tulips for the day.
We decided that it would be best to avoid the actual long weekend, as the gardens would be at their busiest. So we chose the Thursday before Good Friday for our day in the tulips.
It’s possible to travel from The Hague to Keukenhof Gardens by public bus. Also, organised day trips will take you directly to the gardens too.
We wanted the freedom and flexibility to explore the region at our own pace. So hiring a car for the day was the best option. We compare prices across multiple companies via SkyScanner Car Rentals, so you know you’re getting a good deal. It turned out that a boutique Dutch car rental agency called Stern Rent was by far the cheapest. It was located just a short Uber ride from our hotel, so we booked it. We were off to the tulips!
On our way to the Lisse tulip fields
We picked up our car rental in the morning and put Keukenhof Gardens into Google Maps. Admittedly, we hadn’t done much homework before we set off in the morning. We’d heard all about the nearby Lisse tulip fields, but really had no idea how to find them.
We had no reason to worry, because within 10 minutes of arriving at the gardens, we had already started driving past the tulips. Fields of red, pink and yellow tulips were surrounding us. It was odd and beautiful to see such bold colour palettes on the side of the road.
We couldn’t resist stopping at the tulip fields in Lisse. However, we had planned to go directly to Keukenhof. A quick check on Google Maps showed us that the gardens were already much busier than usual (it was a stunningly clear and warm spring day!). It suggested that the last few hours had the least crowds. So, we re-arranged our plans so we could explore the surrounding area first.
Exploring the different Lisse tulip fields
For the uninitiated, the Lisse tulip fields are where the flowers are grown to be harvested for sale. Which means, these are working farms. They are generally massive fields with long rows of flowers neatly laid out in front you. It’s like looking out into a sea of reds, yellows and whatever colours of tulips that farm is growing.
Now this is where my usual planned and detailed itinerary is lacking. As there were just so many tulip fields around Lisse, we didn’t take notes on where it is best to find them. But honestly, I think that is the charm of this day of tulip viewing. It’s super unlikely you’ll drive towards Lisse and not spot at least a few different tulip fields. They were all over the area!
My best advice is to just drive down different roads and stop at the fields that are open and take your fancy. After a while, they’ll start to look the same and you won’t be stopping at each and every farm you see.
Now, a word of caution about visiting the tulip fields. There’s a growing desire to get the ‘iconic’ photo walking amongst the tulips. You just need to look at #tulipfields on Instagram to see what I mean. All of the farms we visited had signs requesting people not to enter the fields. Some people will encourage you not to touch or trample on them, but the signs on the farms specifically ask you not to walk into the fields at all. You’re asked to stand directly in front of them.
After our visit we learnt that millions of Euros are lost annually in the Netherlands due to destroyed flowers. We watched at one farm as a visitor getting photos tripped on the loose soil, adding their bit of damage to the farm. At most farms, at least half the visitors were ignoring the signs. In our view, it’s private property and the rules should be respected. We’re not perfect but trying our best to be responsible travellers, and would encourage anyone visiting to do the same. If you really want to get amongst the tulips, make sure you have permission from the owner. The flowers are beautiful, but they’re no more beautiful among them.
Lunch by the beach at Noordwijk
After a few hours of exploring the tulip fields, it was time for lunch. We’d heard so much about the beaches in the Netherlands, but had never been. It was time to change that!
A quick look at Google Maps showed that there were quite a few beach towns within a 10-15 minute drive of our location. Noordwijk was the closest, so we headed there.
The thing we noticed first about the beach was that there is so much sand. It’s quite a long way from the headland out to the water. This area has been put to good use as there are multiple beach clubs dotted along the sand. They were packed full of locals soaking up the sun and downing a few drinks.
We wanted to make it a quick lunch, because after all, Keukenhof was waiting! We grabbed some fish sandwiches from a very busy food truck that was parked up near a viewing platform. It was incredible. The locals call them Fischbrötchen. Whilst the raw fish options are very popular, we went with some prawn and cooked fish options.
A dazzling display of tulips at Keukenhof Gardens
After lunch we made the short drive to the Keukenhof Gardens, passing by a lot more tulip fields along the way.
Keukenhof calls themselves “the most beautiful spring garden in the world”. I haven’t visited that many spring gardens, but I think it would be hard to top the beauty you’ll see here. Visiting Keukenhof will be indelibly marked in our minds with the most amazing colours only matched by the fragrant air.
Keukenhof has more than 7 million flowers around their large grounds, from tulips to hyacinths to daffodils. Unlike the tulips fields, the displays here have mixtures of different coloured flowers that are arranged so beautifully. The “Disneyland of flowers” is an apt description for Keukenhof, minus the rides.
When you enter, you’re given a map. We kept this at hand so we could ensure we covered all the different sections. It’s easy to get lost!
You won’t go hungry at Keukenhof. There are plenty of stalls and stands to keep you full and give off the carnival vibe. There’s the Dutch stroop waffle, cotton candy, popcorn and strawberry stands. The big kid in me was in heaven.
One section not to miss is “the Mill”. Here you’ll find a windmill surrounded by the tulip displays. That’s iconic Netherlands for you right there, and a perfect spot to grab some photos! Right next to the windmill is a spot where you can go on a boat trip around the surrounding tulip farms. It takes 45 minutes and is at the additional cost to your entry (8 euros when we visited). We skipped this because we would have run out of time.
By late afternoon we’d seen so many tulips, but hadn’t learnt much about their origin in the Netherlands. Then we entered the Tulipomania at the Juliana Pavillion. This area has signs in English that will tell you all about the history of tulip growing in the Netherlands and the process to grow tulips too. For instance, we learnt that tulips actually originate from the mountains between Turkey and China. They were introduced into the Netherlands in the late 1500s, a passed along gift from the Turkish Sultan. It’s funny to think that today they are the symbol of the Netherlands, but they’re not actually native to the area.
We spent hours here wandering through the gardens, leaving just before close. By the end of the day the crowds had thinned out, and we often had full sections of the gardens to ourselves. It was pure bliss!
The details: Entry to Keukenhof was €18 and parking is €6 per car. You pay for parking when you get your ticket and show this to the attendants on the way out. Check their website for updated details.
Unfortunately Keukenhof is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But for now you can still enjoy a virtual tour of this magnificent site here.
Dinner at another beachside town, Katwijk
As we didn’t need to drop back our car until the next morning, we decided to visit a few towns in the evening.
Our first stop for some supermarket supplies was in the small town of Noordwijkerhout. It was worth the quick detour to see the small square with a church in the middle, with gardens dotted by tulips. There were displays built by children from the local schools. It felt far away from the tourist heavy gardens and a cute spot to experience the local life.
We then headed to Katwijk. Located south along the beach from our lunch spot, this beach town similarly had restaurants dotted along the coastline. They were really well rated, but unfortunately they were all full. We wished we would have booked ahead! We ended up grabbing a bite at the Friends restaurant which offered some reasonable bistro style meals.
Are you looking to head to the tulips too? Here’s some more tips for visiting Keukenhof
The official tulip season runs from mid March to mid May. However, the local tourism boards recommend mid April to the first week of May as the best viewing periods. Like all flower displays around the world, this differs from season to season and of course depends on the weather. You can follow the updated advice from Keukenhof directly on their website.
When we visited in 2019, the best viewing period fell over the Easter long weekend. This made it super crowded. We were lucky we chose to go there on the Thursday prior, because by the weekend the town of Lisse was completely cut off to cars. Keukenhof had over 200,000 visitors on the weekend alone. So if you can, it would be best to visit mid-week. If you must attend on the weekend during the busiest periods, it might be best to catch public transport or go via an organised tour.
To maximise time at Keukenhof, you can purchase an express ticket online in advance. Less time queuing, more time seeing the tulips!
Have we inspired your own visit to see the tulips in the Netherlands? Or have you been to Keukenhof before? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Before you go, we’ve lots of other articles you may find of interest. If you love a scenic road trip, check out our guide to the Dolomites in Italy. Or follow our travels on our Instagram.
