Luky’s mom loves flowers, so we went together to Keukenhof, the world’s largest tulip paradise, located in Holland. You don’t have to be the biggest fan of tulips or flowers to be blown away by the endless colourful plains of tulips that cover 32 hectares.
In this article we will tell you everything you need to know for your visit to Keukenhof. We tell you when to go to the Tulips in Holland, how to get to Keukenhof from Amsterdam and where to stay.
Below the article you will find a link where to buy tickets, we bought them more than two months in advance🤯, they tend to sell out very quickly on the best days.
When do tulips bloom in Holland
Tulips and Holland belong together as much as the Czech Republic and beer. Here, however, you can have the beer all year round, while you have to go to Holland to buy tulips from the end of March to the beginning of May.
Where to go for tulips in the Netherlands?
Definitely the Keukenhof! Keukenhof Park is one of the most famous and most visited places in the Netherlands, where you can see millions (really millions) of tulips in bloom. It is only open for two months of the year when the plants are at their peak bloom.
It is close to Amsterdam, making it ideal to combine a visit to Amsterdam with a visit to the Keukenhof.
Where to stay
If you want to stay near the Keukenhof, I recommend booking your accommodation especially early. Otherwise, the best will be gone. A great hotel is the Alexander Hotel, which is a few kilometres from the gardens.
Another alternative is to stay in Amsterdam and then take the shuttle bus(you can buy a ticket with a pass via GetYourGuide)
In the centre is the super City Hotel Amsterdam or Hotel Oscar. If you’re looking for something cheaper, see if there’s availability at the Campanile Hotel & Restaurant Amsterdam, located at the final metro station.
Keukenhof: Everything you need to know
The Keukenhof is the most famous garden in Europe, where you can admire probably the largest number of flowering tulips in one place. On 32 hectares of beautiful forest park you will find more than 7 million flowers and about 800 different species.
Specifically:
- Tulips,
- Daffodils,
- hyacinths,
- Anemones,
- lobellas,
- hundreds of azaleas,
- rhododendrons,
- Japanese sakura and other mature trees.
Everything is nestled between lakes and canals and of course there is the traditional very photogenic windmill. 😁
The flowers glow in different colours and are always planted in 3 layers to ensure that they are always in bloom throughout the park’s opening hours.
The park opened to the public in 1950 and attracted 236,000 visitors in its first year. Today, it is visited by over a million tourists a year!
Where is Keukenhof?
Keukenhof is located in Lisse, the Netherlands, about 30 minutes’ drive from Amsterdam.
How to get to Keukenhof from Amsterdam?
Keukenhof is easy to get to by car, which you can rent at Amsterdam airport (we mostly use RentalCars) or simply book a bus tour through GetYourGuide.
Opening hours of Keukenhof
As mentioned above, tulips do not bloom all year round, so it makes sense that the Keukenhof is not open all year round, but only when the tulips are at their most beautiful, which is usually from the end of March to mid-May.
Keukenhof opening hours in 2024:
- When the park is open: 21.3. – 12.5.2024
- From when to when the park is open: 8:30 – 19:30
- Official website: keukenhof.nl/en
How and when to buy tickets for the Keukenhof
If you want to go to the Keukenhof, be sure to buy your tickets online well in advance. Over a million tourists visit the Keukenhof every year and many travellers don’t get in because there are no tickets left!
We bought our tickets more than two months before we left for Holland. 🤭
If you don’t buy a ticket in advance, it could be that they simply won’t be there. Tickets are bought for a specific date and you can spend the whole day in the gardens. Prices are around EUR 18.5 for adults and EUR 9 for children.
We bought our tickets on GetYourGuide, which we have had good experience with for a long time. What’s more, you can buy them directly with transport from Amsterdam. ☺️
Things to see and do in Keukenhof
It’s obvious: Seeing flowers, enjoying and taking pictures. 😁The park is a feast for your eyes, you can try to count how many types of tulips you have seen. As I mentioned above, there are more than 800 species of tulips.
You can also visit various exhibitions dedicated to tulips, where you can learn more about their history, cultivation and different varieties.
If you get hungry, don’t worry, there are refreshment stands and restaurants where you can easily recharge or drop off less enthusiastic fellow hikers.
Of course, there are also souvenir shops , you can buy bags, magnets, ceramics and cup holders with motifs of tulips and other flowers. For gardeners, perhaps the most enticing fact is that they can buy flower bulbs that they can then plant in their own garden.
Tips and Tricks for Your Vacation
Don’t Overpay for Flights
Search for flights on Kayak. It’s our favorite search engine because it scans the websites of all airlines and always finds the cheapest connection.
Book Your Accommodation Smartly
The best experiences we’ve had when looking for accommodation (from Alaska to Morocco) are with Booking.com, where hotels, apartments, and entire houses are usually the cheapest and most widely available.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Good travel insurance will protect you against illness, accidents, theft, or flight cancellations. We’ve had a few hospital visits abroad, so we know how important it is to have proper insurance arranged.
Where we insure ourselves: SafetyWing (best for everyone) and TrueTraveller (for extra-long trips).
Why don’t we recommend any Czech insurance company? Because they have too many restrictions. They set limits on the number of days abroad, travel insurance via a credit card often requires you to pay medical expenses only with that card, and they frequently limit the number of returns to the Czech Republic.
Find the Best Experiences
Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can book guided walks, trips, skip-the-line tickets, tours, and much more. We always find some extra fun there!
