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Seeing Flowers In Mid March

Posted by (Providence, RI ) on

Hello All! My husband and I will be traveling to the Netherlands for one week in mid-March, and will be based in an AirBnB in Amsterdam. It is cold where we live anyway, so the weather overall doesn't concern us. It had to be this particular week for life and work-related reasons, and we knew we would be too early for tulip season. However, I was hopeful that Keukenhof would be open for crocuses, daffodils, and indoor displays. Unfortunately, however, it looks like we will miss the opening by just a few days.

Though we will be based in Amsterdam, we plan to take at least two or three day trips to other cities around the country. We are leaning towards Delft for one, and will almost certainly visit Haarlem as well since it will be so close. We will not have a car and although we are willing to bike, I am a pretty weak biker in terms of skill and confidence. Can anyone recommend a city where we might be able to see some nice crocuses, daffodils, and other early flowers in mid-March? Or are we better off just not worrying about flowers and enjoying the food, drink, architecture, and museums? We are having a very mild winter in the states and already have crocuses in bloom in our yard in New England, but I realize Europe could be a completely different ballgame.

Posted by
2487 posts

The weather over here doesn't seem to be very different from that at your place. If the tulip fields are in flower when you are visiting, the easiest way to see them is to take the train to Delft via Haarlem. It goes right through between Haarlem and Leiden. If you break your journey in The Hague (Den Haag) you might be lucky to see the crocuses on the Lange Voorhout, a fifteen-minute walk from Centraal Station. If not, find solace in the Mauritshuis. One of the best collections of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in the country. (You can get off and on the train on the ticket to Delft.)

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you very much! It sounds like seeing some flowers will fit very nicely with what we planned to do anyway.

Posted by
6 posts

Yes, this is a crazy winter. In my whole life, I cannot recall ever seeing crocuses this early. In reality, I know that there could be quite a bit of winter left to come. At this point I am just hoping any last minute snow storms will avoid interfering with our flights to Amsterdam!

Posted by
703 posts

molly, have you considered going to the aalsmeer flower auction? out near the airport. its so interesting to see 30 plus million flowers being moved through in only a few hours. we did a self guided tour. it was well worth getting up early to see.

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you, Glenn! Yes, I definitely hope to visit the flower auction, no matter what weather we end up with by the time of our trip. It sounds extremely neat!

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