About to book our tickets for next spring and wondering if the Flower Parade on April 12 in 2025 is worth changing dates over. It is about a week earlier than we are planning to travel to Amsterdam….any thoughts on this? We are planning to see gardens and the tulips and just wondering if we need to change our dates to include this parade….thank you!!!!
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San Diego, California
4867 posts
I was just at the Flower Parade nine days ago. I was in Haarlem. The parade was suppose to arrive at 10:00pm, but was significantly late, and it was 46 degrees. I used my wool socks for gloves. The floats were beautiful, but I was too cold and exhausted to watch all of it, having waited so long. I walked back to the hotel a bit after 11:00pm.
Upon reflection, I wouldn't watch it in Haarlem after dark. Altho the floats have lights and music, it was still difficult to appreciate all the colors. The floats were on display the next day April 21, 2024, in Haarlem, but unfortunately we flew out that morning. The parade is 9-10 hours long, not sure how all the participants survive.
I know you can watch the parade along the way, but I don't know the details. Many roads are closed along the way, so what is unclear how one travels to the various towns along the parade route with road closures.
I wish I could have seen the floats once they were parked in Haarlem in the daylight. For the parade, the floats are interspersed with high school (I assume) marching bands and civic groups. It was not difficult to find a place to watch the parade without folks in front of you, but again, this was after 10:00pm.
From my perspective, enjoy the flowers at Keukenhof, and don't rush through the gardens. If the parade fits into your schedule , fine, but don't plan around it. Perhaps someone who had the daytime experience would advise differently. And perhaps they could advise how to travel to a spot along the route with public transportation, (I'm assuming.)
Next year's Flower parade is a little earlier in the month, I see.
Enjoy the beautiful gardens and the whole area. Be prepared for brisk temperatures and strong wind, and we did get a lot of rain. But it was a glorious trip and a memorable experience.
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21 posts
My husband and I just returned from 14 days in the Netherlands and Belgium. One of the highlights was seeing the Flower show as well as Keukenhoff gardens. We did not do them on the same day. We spent Friday (day before the parade) at Keukenhof, stayed in Lisse and saw the parade the next day. After seeing pictures of the crowds at Keukenhof to see the parade, I'm glad we chose to stay the night in Lisse. The parade went by about 3:15 through Lisse. We bought grandstand tickets for the parade which were covered and dry (it did spit rain a little). IT was so much fun. We also went on Sunday into Haarlem to see the floats up close. That was amazing. I highly recommend seeing the flower parade. Also, keep in mind that the tulip season is variable. This year they bloomed early and many tulip fields are already closed.