My husband and I will be arriving in Haarlem on Thursday, April 28, and will be relaxing after our intentional flight. On Friday, April 29, we would like to first go to the flower auction early in the morning in Aalsmeer; get to the Keukenhof Gardens by mid-afternoon; and then return to Haalem. We will be using public transportation only. Is doing both in one day easily doable? My husband feels we should split these two activities up; however, if easily done, it would work best in our itinerary to combine them in one day on Friday, April 29. Thanks for any input.
Elle
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
With Aalsmeer closing at 11:00, I think you have plenty of time to do both. I've only visited by car, but the buses do appear to run frequently, with a transfer needed at Schiphol airport. Explore these links for buses 198 and 858. The tourist office in Haarlem should be able to confirm your plan.
http://www.touristbuddy.org/198.php
http://www.touristbuddy.nl/858_lisse-keukenhof.php
http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/plan-your-visit/public-transport/
Posted by
Cherry Hill, NJ
148 posts
For what it's worth...
We had limited time in Amsterdam prior to boarding our Rhine river cruise. To make sure I made good use of every second, we went right to keukenhof directly from the airport. keukenhof Express bus picks up at airport. One ticket covers entrance and round trip bus. We stored luggage (we travel very light) In lockers tax airport, And we were at Keukenhof by abt 1230. Ii was a glorious spring day and a great way to recover from an overnight flight. If it was raining we prob wouldn't have done it this way. When back at the airport in later afternoon, we took the train to Central station and walked to B&B and arrived abt 530 pm.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7286 posts
It's easy to have a meal at the auction building, less glamorous than Keukenhof but maybe faster. You do need to plan for Keukenhof to be crowded on a nice day. The issue is that it's a large attraction, and if you want to see everything, walking is much slower than whatever your maximum pace usually is. There's also a lot to see.
We didn't use public transportation, but there are traffic delays for cars. Anyway, I agree that it's entirely practical to do both things in one day. I don't know the website quality, but I ran across this:
http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Keukenhof/Aalsmeer-Flower-Auction
It suggests that the busses are time consuming.
Posted by
NSW Australia
703 posts
we got up quite early in haarlem and drove to the flower auction, well worth seeing. it was a self guided walk around the building, so its up to you how long you take. within a hour or so or us being there it seemed like the whole auction was drawing to a close. so we were glad we got there when we did. but gave us plenty of time to go and do other things for the day.
Posted by
the Netherlands
2487 posts
The official public transport planner for the Netherlands is http://9292.nl/en#
There are direct buses from Haarlem to Aalsmeer (fill out: »aalsmeer bloemenveiling«), and there are direct buses from the Keukenhof back to Haarlem, but getting from Aalsmeer to the Keukenhof is less straightforward. The best way might be via Schiphol, where you can pick up the Keukenhof Express (included in your Combiticket for the Keukenhof as is the bus back to Haarlem).
Your husband's plan might be the most practical. Have an early start for the flower auction, go back to Haarlem, enjoy the city, and save the Keukenhof for the next day.