Keukenhof Gardens Day Trips from Amsterdam
If you are lucky enough to visit Amsterdam in spring, you can't miss the explosion of colours and scents of these unique gardens.
Keukenhof Gardens | ©Mario Gogh
Just half an hour from Amsterdam, between Hillegom and Lisse, lies a beautiful orchard, which in springtime is an explosion of colour as the flowers bloom.
Keukenhof, the world's largest flower park, is a spectacular sight to behold. Would you like to see it?
The most basic option: a trip to the Keukenhof Gardens
If you have little time during your trip to Amsterdam to explore other parts of the country, you can set aside a morning or afternoon of your holiday for a half-day excursion to the Keukenhof Gardens.
With an organised tour to Keukenhof, you won't have to worry about finding transport to get there, as a bus will take you to the entrance of this floral paradise.
Along the way you will see the stunning flower meadows that decorate rural Holland, and your tour guide will regale you with stories about Holland and its flowers to give you an insight into the country's close bond with nature - a little taste of what you will see at Keukenhof Park!
What will you see on this tour?
On arrival, you will be taken on a tour of Keukenhof Park, along 15 kilometres of paths amidst millions of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses surrounded by beautiful fountains and ponds.
As a curiosity, at the entrance to the park there is a large tulip mosaic which, as the guide told us, changes every season to surprise visitors with a new and different theme. It is beautiful and surprising to see the painstaking work carried out by the gardeners to create this ephemeral spectacle!
The most complete option: Keukenhof Gardens and Zaanse Schans Windmills Tour
If you have enough free time during your trip to Amsterdam to explore other parts of Holland, I recommend a day trip to Keukenhof Gardens and the windmills of Zaanse Schans.
It's a fantastic experience! Not only will you have the opportunity to see the largest flower park on the planet, but also to visit Zaanse Schans, the home of the windmills.
Why I like this tour
This is a very complete activity that will allow you to explore two beautiful places in rural Holland in one day, aboard a comfortable bus and accompanied by a guide.
On the one hand, you will discover one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe with more than 7 million flower bulbs and a total of 800 varieties of tulips. Amazing, isn't it? This spectacle of colours and scents at Keukenhof is fascinating.
On the other hand, you will walk through the streets of Zaanse Schans, a small village on the banks of the river Zaan, famous for its windmills, a collection of more than 600 of which are still in operation! Get your camera ready because its bucolic scenery looks like something out of a fairytale and you won't be able to stop taking pictures.
About the visit to Keukenhof
The tulip is the Dutch national flower and spring is the perfect time to enjoy the tulip blossom and other specimens for which the Netherlands is world famous.
This tour starts early in the morning with a visit to Keukenhof Park, the largest flower garden in the world, which is a spectacle of colours, scents and shapes.
During the tour of its 32 hectares, you will listen to the guide's stories about the origin of this park that started as a small vegetable garden (Keukenhof means "the kitchen garden") as well as the care of the plantation and all the varieties of flowers it contains.
About the visit to the Zaanse Schans
At the end of your visit to the Keukenhof gardens, you will return to the coach to go to Zaanse Schans, a small village famous for its bucolic landscape full of beautiful super-photogenic windmills. If you are passionate about photography, you will really enjoy this part of the tour.
During your visit to Zaanse Schans, you will also stop at a clog-making workshop where the master clog-maker will show you how to make clogs. Together with the windmills and the tulips it is one of the icons of Holland so it is a very curious thing to see.
How to book the Keukenhof tour?
What was once a simple, sprawling orchard in the south of Holland is now one of the most beautiful spots in the country, attracting thousands of visitors between March and May, when the park opens its doors to visitors. Keukenhof is a special place, a beautiful sea of colourful flowers worth seeing and photographing.
My advice is that if you want to include the Keukenhof gardens in your trip to Amsterdam, book your ticket online as soon as possible, as due to the limited time it is open throughout the year, many people want to enter the park and tickets sell out very quickly.
What are the Keukenhof Gardens?
With more than 800,000 visitors a year, Keukenhof Gardens has become a popular tourist destination every spring.
Located in the south of the country, in Lisse, Keukenhof was originally the kitchen garden of Countess Jacqueline de Hainaut, a place used for growing fruit and vegetables that were later used in the aristocrat's kitchen. Hence its name means "the kitchen garden".
But don't think that this park always looked like an Eden. Things have changed a lot since then and in 1949 the mayor of the city opened Keukenhof to showcase the flowers grown by local growers and help expand the industry.
Today the cultivated plants (over 7 million flower bulbs!) are no longer used in kitchens but are largely exported. Dutch tulips are world famous and together with other flowers such as hyacinths, daffodils, carnations, orchids, roses, lilies and lilies make up a 32 hectare garden that is the largest in the world. Wow!
How is the Keukenhof park structured?
The Keukenhof gardens run along 15 kilometres of paths around which there are various gardens of different floral inspirations: the English garden, the Tea garden, the Japanese country garden, the Cupid garden, the Hipster garden, the Rebel garden, the Health garden, among others.
Keukenhof Park is divided into four large areas named after the Dutch Royal Family: the Oranje-Nassau pavilion (with new floral exhibitions every week), the Willem Alexander pavilion (the largest lily exhibition in the world), the Koningin Beatrix pavilion (the largest orchid exhibition in the world) and the Koningin Juliana pavilion (where the history of the tulip is on display).
Another of the most popular areas of the Keukenhof gardens is the large tulip mosaic made up of thousands of flowers whose theme changes every year to surprise visitors with a new composition.
Tips for visiting the Keukenhof Gardens
When does the Keukenhof open?
It is open from the end of March to mid-May. This is the time of year when the flowers bloom and Keukenhof is at its most beautiful.
When is it open?
Although this park has advanced cultivation methods, the course of nature depends on the weather, so if you visit too early, some of the planted bulbs may not yet be in bloom. If, on the other hand, spring is already well advanced, you may find more cut stems than you would like to see.
Since the Keukenhof gardens are open to the public for about eight weeks of the year, I recommend that you find a date in between to see the park at its best.
What are the opening hours?
The Keukenhof Gardens are open from 8 AM to 7:30 PM. I recommend booking the first tour in the morning so that you have time to stroll around the gardens in peace and quiet when it's less crowded.
What to wear?
Although you won't walk through the 32 hectares that make up Keukenhof Park, you will walk quite a bit from one side to the other, so my advice is to wear comfortable shoes and comfortable clothes.
What should I buy on my visit?
Keukenhof Park has a typical souvenir shop where you can buy some souvenirs of your visit but I recommend that you first see the handicrafts pavilions where you will find craftsmen exhibiting their own creations with flowers. There are some amazing designs!
Is it suitable for children?
Absolutely. As well as enjoying the colourful gardens, Keukenhof Park also has a children's playground, a maze, a Miffy house and even a petting zoo - you'll have a great time!
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This excursion to the Keukenhof Gardens is one of the many activities you can do during your trip to Amsterdam, but there are plenty of them.
Travelling to the capital allows you to see some of the most interesting places in the Dutch countryside in the same day and even cities in Belgium, the neighbouring country. Don't miss the article The best excursions from Amsterdam and discover all the amazing excursions you can do on your holiday!
And if it's your first time visiting the capital and you want to get to know it in detail with a specialised guide so that you don't miss anything of this fantastic city, I recommend you to take a look at the post The best tours of Amsterdam or the post Cruises along the canals of Amsterdam if you want to explore it in a different, relaxed and stylish way. You'll have a great time!