Keukenhof Gardens in early May??

You may also check out their website for dates of the season. Good luck!

Several years ago I was at the Keukenhof near the end of the season. It was still magnificent with many flowers (including tulips) to see.

We visited Keukenhof on May 12, 2022, one of the last days it was open. We had visited another year in April and wondered if this was too late in the season. We were very pleased! Yes, some tulips were not at their prime, but there were plenty to enjoy.

We’ve visited twice in May and once in the last week. Everything was beautiful. I wouldn’t hesitate. Safe travels.

I agree with the others and will add that they plant the bulbs 3 deep and take in to account early and late bloomers!

BTW, if you follow their Visit Keukenhof FB page you'll see that on Oct 5 they started planting for next spring!

If I were in The Netherlands when it was open I would not miss it. It is an amazing place. Even though I was there in April so can’t speak re May I wanted to add there are many, many other types of flowers too.

Keukenhof is neither a wilderness area, nor a bulb farm which only harvests one crop a year. It is a beautiful, elaborately planned Botanical Garden, with annual, perennial, shrub and tree, and bulb areas, which are ENGINEERED to last for an entire (announced in advance) open period in the Spring. Absent hurricanes or droughts, there is no reason to fidget over the mistaken concept that a visit on one week or another might be a waste of time and money. As others have noted, the bulb displays there are PLANNED within an inch of their lives.

Try to avoid crowded weekend visits, but the weekdays are busy too. Normally, you can view (from far away) several commercial, unaffiliated, bulb-farms from the perimeter fence of Keukenhof. I'm not making predictions about that. But Early May cannot be dismissed for that, either. Temperature and rainfall in 2024 are a factor as well, of course.

There is a big difference between the Keukenhof and the tulip fields that surround it. The gardeners of the Keukenhof use all kinds of techniques to make sure that there are flowers on display during the entire time the Keukenhof is open. So no, in early May the tulips in the Keukenhof won’t be past their prime. I don’t know where your friend would have heard that.

Or maybe your friend was confused with the tulips in the flower fields? But even for these tulips there is a very good chance that they aren’t past their prime either. The flowers of the tulip plants are usually cut off in the first week of May. So if I were you I would visit on May 1 and there is a very good chance you will see tulips in bloom in both the Keukenhof and the bulb fields.

We've been three times in May and were never disappointed. However, perhaps checking out some of the old posts on this site will set your mind at ease. https://tulipsinholland.com/

We were there this year in the second week of May, and while the flowers were on their last legs - with some already cleared - it is still a lovely place to spend a sunny afternoon. Besides the tulips (which are pretty and nicely arranged), the grounds are fairly extensive and there were many places to eat, sit, people watch, and just relax in general.
It might not be the optimal time to visit (first week of May), but it will still be lovely.
Next time, I would likely go earlier in the season and probably make it part of a bike trip out and back.

Thank you all for your info. This forum never disappoints. I will now add Keukenhof to my early May (midweek) itinerary and look forward to it with confidence. Much appreciated everyone!!