If you are a gardener or have done research on Amsterdam you know that as the days start to grow longer and the weather warms, the flowers start to peak out from the ground, breaking the city out of the clasps of winter and bursting it into colorful spring. There are a few ways to take in the beauty that is spring in Amsterdam. The most popular way is to drive 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam to the city of Lisse. Lisse is home to fields of flowers – namely hyacinths, daffodils, and of course, tulips. There are two great ways to take in flowers while in Lisse. The first is a visit to the Kuekenhof gardens. The second is a bike ride around the city passing by the fields of fresh blooms. Lucky for you, I have participated in both activities through various points of the season and can fully report of the experience.
Logistics
Before I get into the flowers themselves I’ll share some logistics on Lisse for any of you lucky enough to visit in the months of March through May. I would say you need at least a half day to enjoy either the gardens or to bike around. If you want to do both, I would say plan the full day. I would recommend doing both if you are there in peak season (middle 2-3 weeks of April). If you’re visiting in March or even the first week of April, the fields likely won’t be in full swing and starting the last week of April all the farms will cut the flowers so there won’t be much to look at. I would also recommend getting up and attem to beat the crowds. This is a tour bus destination and it’s much more enjoyable without hoards of tourists and their invasive selfie sticks.
You can easily get to Lisse from Amsterdam. Online you can find a combination ticket that includes transport to and from Lisse and entrance to Keukenhof. When the bus drops you off you will be directly outside the Keukenhof but you don’t actually need to visit the Keukenhof. You can proceed directly to the fields if you want and skip the gardens. If that’s your play, all you need is a metro card. Once you get to the bus itself it’s about a 30 minute drive, direct route with no stops. The Keukenhof itself is pretty massive. They have maps but you can just take random turns as you see flowers you like and just see where the wind takes you. This is extremely out of character advice for me to give as you well know I like to have regimented schedules while traveling. But this is a great place to sit back and smell the tulips as one might say.
When you’re through, go back out the main entrance. You can proceed back to the buses or, to view the tulip fields, veer left to the bike stand. You can rent the bike for 3 hours for €10 which is plenty of time. The vendor has plenty of bikes so no need to reserve one in advance. When you checkout the staff will provide you with a map with 4 routes ranging in length. They will also let you know which route has the best flower viewing as fIeld bloom at different times. All the paths are very clearing marked along the way so don’t worry about getting lost just remember the path number you are on. I would also recommend bringing gloves if it’s a little chilly because the wind is definitely amplified on a bike.
Ok now on to the show!
End of March
My first visit to Lisse was at the end of March when my sister Liz came to visit. It was opening weekend of the Keukenhof. I was skeptical of how many actual flowers would be blooming in the gardens as there weren’t any blossoms around the city yet. Much to my surprise there were actually many flowers in bloom, namely daffodils and crocuses. There were many tulips actually in one of the greenhouses on the property but not fields and fields like you would expect from social media. If you go during this time of year I would say stick to the Keukenhof as the fields won’t have many buds. We did see some daffodil field but definitely too early for the star of the show – the tulip. Also it will still likely be chilly so biking around won’t be as pleasant. Here are some photos which will say more than me blabbing on and on.
tulips in the greenhouse:
Mid April
If you can swing it, this is the time to come see the flowers. The tulips are in full bloom! We were fortunate enough to tag along with our friends Nick and Megan in town from Brussels during their tulip trip. Be warned if you visit this time of the season though as you will not be the only ones trying to see the flowers. You will be greeted by many, many tourists so get there early. The whole front parking lot was filled with rows and rows and rows of tour buses there that weekend, some double decker. It was actually incredible.
I would definitely recommend biking around as well during this period as the fields will be beautiful. If you’re imagining a picture in the rows of tulips themselves, forget those. The farmers are very strict about not letting you in to the actual fields. They are worried you will step on the flowers, thereby ruining the bulb, which is what they are actual selling. Here’s some photos from our trip in April.
biking around:
Late April
They next visit to Lisse was right after Kings Day ie the end of April. My friend Shannon visited for Kings Day so of course we had to swing by Lisse. There were still lots of tulips but they were slightly more droopy than when we went 2 weeks previously. Also, at this point it’s too late to see the fields as the gardeners have headed all their blooms by this point. The gardens themselves were not nearly as crowded as when we went 2 weeks previously which was a nice change of pace. Nevertheless it was still crowded and as the morning progressed more and more people flocked to Keukenhof. Here is what you can expect visiting this time of year:
End of May
Just as I saw opening weekend at Keukenhof I also experienced closing week. My parents (including Ann Oster gardener extraordinaire) were visiting from Colorado so of course we had to visit. I was very nervous there would not be many flowers left as everything was really blooming on the previous 2 visits and flowers only live so long. Much to our delight there were still many flowers to be seen. It seemed they switch out the flowers in the beds so there are still blooms to see. Here is the views of you stop by at the end of the season:
Hopefully this helps give some insight into your spring visit to Amsterdam if flowers are on the agenda. Bill isn’t even a flower person and he thought it was pretty amazing. If that doesn’t inspire you to visit I don’t know what will. Until next time. Tot ziens!
Have Passport Will Travel 
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