I often spend the spring regretting the fact I forgot, once again, to plant spring bulbs in the fall. Not the case with Keukenhof Gardens, where they plant over 7 million bulbs annually. Okay, they get a little bit of help from over 1300 people-- so clearly not a fair comparison.
Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands is often on the top 10 lists of the most beautiful gardens in the world and for good reason. This 79-acre garden, known as the “Garden of Europe” features themed gardens with sculptures designed by artists. Keukenhof is only open for 8 weeks a year, from mid-March to mid-May. We were lucky to visit the gardens in early April 2016. It was a bit early for tulip peak, but the garden has so much more than tulips- including hyacinths, daffodils, irises and more.
For Mazzy’s senior year of high school, we decided a big spring break trip was in order ---who knows when a kid goes off to college if they will ever vacation with the family again??. We spent half the trip in London with some dear friends, then took a train up to Amsterdam for the second half. The timing was excellent to see the tulips blooming throughout the city and head out to Keukenhof.
Tickets for Keukenhof can be purchased online. We purchased the combi ticket, which included transportation on buses that take the 1 ½ hour drive from Amsterdam to the garden in Lisse. Get a window seat for the bus ride, as you'll pass by the amazing striped color fields that go on for as far as your eye can see. At the bus stop, we were a bit nervous that the crowds would be insane (and you know we hate those crowds…)—but when we arrived at Kuekenhoff, the grounds are large enough to absorb huge crowds and not feel overwhelmed.
Allow a good 3 hours for your trip here, not counting transportation. If it was up to Mazzy and me, we would have spent an entire day here. The boys were less enthused but still enjoyed the trip. Once Declan discovered how fun it was to slowly and loudly mispronounce all the plant labels in front of other people (daff-o-dial, tul-ip, for-sy-thia, etc). It was quite funny and perhaps captured a kid’s experience of being in a country where you don’t know the language and struggle in the pronunciation. Whatever it takes to keep everyone happy!
It’s devastating for Keukenhof to not be open this year due to the COVID crisis, but the park has a history that dates to the 15th century, so I’m sure there is a way for it to survive going forward. Every year they have a different theme that shapes the garden designs and exhibits. This year is “A World of Colours”. Check out the virtual tours they are offering in lieu of physical tours this year and put this place on your list of "must-see" places.
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