Keukenhof (kitchen garden in Dutch) is the largest tulip garden in the world. It’s situated in Lisse in Holland, very close to the town of Leiden, and not so far from the city of Amsterdam. It’s open only for 2 months between the end of March and the end of May, when the blooming of the tulips take place. Keukenhof occupies 32 hectares and you can find more than 800 different types of tulips there. Every year more than 7 million tulip bulbs are planted in the park.
We had the chance to travel to Amsterdam on the first weekend when Keukenhof was already open, and as you might now already, Rachele is especially a huge fan of flowers, hence the park was an obligatory visit for us.
The best time to visit the park is in April, when most of the tulips are blooming and the park is really spectacular. We visited at the end of March, when some of the tulips haven’t bloomed yet, but the garden was still a spectacular sight.
Keukenhof is like a huge botanical garden where you can really get deep into the magical world of tulips. Each flower bed has a small sign that shows name of the flower composition, and another sign that tells the tulip type they planted there. We would have never imagined that so many kinds of tulips existed.
We enjoyed our time like little kids with these flowers of a million colors. Apart from tulips and other flowers, Keukenhof Park also offers cultural events and activities for children. During our visit there were several concerts in the park.
There’s also a traditional Dutch mill in the park, and you can go up there. Nevertheless, the best in the park is just getting lost in this tulip festival with thousands of colors.
Useful information
Opening times
The park is open from 8 AM till 7.30 PM. From Amsterdam it takes around 1 hour to get there by public transport. There are also lockers in the park, where you can leave your luggage, thus a possible option is to visit the park before going to the airport.
If you travel by public transport, you have the following options:
– take a train at Amsterdam Central Station to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, and there you can get on the bus Nr. 858 that will take you to the park.
– take bus Nr. 197 in the city center of Amsterdam to Schiphol Airport and there you can change to bus Nr. 858
– take a direct bus from the stations in Harlem, Leiden and Noordwijkerhout
Other activities
Bike excursion
At the park entrance you can rent a bicycle to explore the tulip fields that can be found in the surroundings of the park. There are 4 different itineraries from 5 to 25 km.
Boat excursion
You can also hop on an electric boat, which takes you on a trip in the canals near the park. You can contemplate the tulip fields in total relax.
Independently of which option you take, you will not be able to stop taking pictures in this marvelous environment. See tulips bloom in Holland is something you must see once in your life, therefore if you visit Amsterdam during the blooming season, you know that Keukenhof is a great option to see these beautiful flowers.
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