When to see tulips?

When I asked my sister what she wanted for her birthday, she stated that she wanted to go to Holland and see the tulips. After picking up my bottom jaw, I decided that might not be a bad thing. I'm sure she was just kidding. But, maybe, I could really make it happen. What I want to know is where and when to go. Anybody out there have some suggestions?

KevJan said:

When I asked my sister what she wanted for her birthday, she stated that she wanted to go to Holland and see the tulips. After picking up my bottom jaw, I decided that might not be a bad thing. I'm sure she was just kidding. But, maybe, I could really make it happen. What I want to know is where and when to go. Anybody out there have some suggestions?

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I would say typically May. I was there in mid April one year and they were still shut tight. Here is a great tourist place to see the flowering blub plants and I think they offer some advice: http://www.keukenhof.com/ . We visited and enjoyed our time there even though most of the flowers had yet to bloom.

The good news is that Holland is a relatively dinky country (geographically) so you an stay in the busy city of Amsterdam or out in the countryside. In addition to the two day trip mentioned above, I also did a full week in Holland, staying in Volendam (a fishing village about half an hour or so from Amstedam) and much more conducive to seeing the country (in my opinion).

I've written a travel journal for IgoUgo and you can use the link in my sig line to get there.

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Hello Kev

You could also try this ---go to Ottawa - Canada's capital city, in Ontario.

http://www.tulipfestival.ca/en/index.php

To thank Canada for the effort during WWII the Dutch sent Ottawa all the tulips - and one things lead to another. And you save that really really long flight.

And as much as I love Utah ( Moab - Zion - Park City etc ) you could have fun in Ontario & say - New York State ... NYC - Toronto, Quebec City !!!! - Niagara Falls, wilderness fishing & hiking -

Regards
Greg H

Hi,

Just wanted to let you know that I live less than 5 minutes drive from the Keukenhof in Lisse, Holland.

Usually, from the 3rd week in March, untill half May, many tourists come here to visit the Keukenhof, but also all the bulb fields in the neighbourhood. I was a little surprised to read that in April, they were shut tight, since normally that is not the case. This year, it was so warm during that time of the year, that it was difficult to keep them from outgrowing at the end of April. Most tourist buses are here around Easter, that is usually the best time to visit.

Now, the Keukenhof is 20 minutes away from Amsterdam Airport, 20-30 minutes from Amsterdam, 20-30 minutes from The Hague, 20 minutes from Haarlem and Leiden. (NOT during rush hours though.) Volendam would be 1.5 hour. Volendam and surrounding villages would be indeed nice to see as well - as a tourist.

If you do not want to stay in Amsterdam or The Hague, I would recommend staying in Leiden or Haarlem, there are trainstations, they are cities but smaller than Amsterdam or The Hague. If you would like to drive however, I would recommend staying in Lisse or Noordwijk/Noordwijkerhout. You could still take trains or buses to the cities but in this area it is really easy to drive.
In the "center" of Lisse, there is a small hotel with appartments which I am told, is very popular among Americans.

If you would like to have more information about anything, I would be more than happy to help you!

Not that it'll help you get to Holland, but right here in the USA you can see fantastic tulip fields, with acres and acres of flowers numbering in the millions: http://www.tulipfestival.org/

I happen to live right up the road from this one, so I know it's amazing.

Dave

We arrived in Amsterdam April 18th this year and were in prime flowering time. We absolutely loved Amsterdam! We'll definitely return. We used Priceline.com and got the 4* Marriott for less than $100.00 (dollars, not euros) a night--really nice hotel, great location, great price, and flowers everywhere.

DH and I graduted from Hope College located in the tulip city of Holland, Mi. Early to mid-May is the best time for viewing. We like to visit just before or just after the festival to avoid big crowds.

I know that a city in Iowa (Orange City?) and also Linden, Washington have tulip festivals.

The Marriott is indeed a very nice hotel. I grew up in Amsterdam, and went to school very nearby (this was at what you would call highschool). I remember that we thought it was very cool to visit the hotel and just sit there for hours (you know, teenage girls...), drinking one hot chocolate, because we could not afford to get more since we had to use our pocket money for that. I used to go there a lot with my parents as well, my father worked for IBM and many of his collegues from abroad would stay at this hotel. Now, it is one of the hotels we use when we stay in Amsterdam - our office is only 5 minutes away and it almost feels like a second home. To get the Marriott for that price is a very good deal I suppose; it has a great location indeed, very close to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, PC Hooftstraat, Leidseplein, Vondelpark....

SherryS,
I was just looking at a resort in Holland, Michigan!
We will be in Chicago in May for a conference but we do have a week before this conference will start. We thought it might be a nice idea to look for a resort near the lake, with a reasonable driving distance from Chicago Airport. I am going to look for the driving directions NOW!

A few years ago we went to Amsterdam in May. It was a particularly cold spring and daffodils and tulips were in full bloom when we were there. I'd highly recommend it.

You may also want to check out Holland, MI. Although I'm not sure, I believe they also have a beautiful spring with tulips and other bulb flowers.

Sue

I went to the Keukenhof a few years ago, and loved it! I was staying with a friend in Amsterdam. However, getting from Amsterdam to the Keukenhof without a car was not easy; we needed to switch trains, maybe more than once (can't remember.) We actually paid for a tour to the Keukenhof, and took that to get there. But, we wanted to stay longer, so we left the tour and got back on our own. My friend had lived in Holland for years and knew the train system (and the language) well. I'm not sure I could have figured out how to get back to Amsterdam on my own.

Tulip Time in Pella Iowa

Come and visit us in Pella, the first weekend of May. We have lots and lots of tulips and parades and all kind of fun stuff to do. You can visit www.pella.org for a bunch of information. You won't be dissapointed!! It would be cheaper then going to Holland