Too Late For Tulips?

I went 1st week May 2019 and had visited March 2016. I would only go see it in May 2 weeks before it closes. Some years are warmer which has an effect on when things get to full bloom.

Thanks Jazz+Travels. I was planning to return home on May 1. That’s not written in stone, so the first week of May would be something to consider.

Bottom line the closer to the end that you can go the more likely everything is blooming

More accurately, the more late flowering bulbs will be blooming. There are succession plantings at keukenhoff, so early visits will see the early bloomers, and late visits will see later bloomers. If tulips are your focus, they tend to be in bloom later than other spring bulbs, although there are exceptions. And some are "forced" into earlier bloom. Providing next year doesn't see an unusually warm spring, then you should still find plenty in bloom in late April.

I agree with CJean. The bulbs are planted such that there will be early to late blooming bulbs in displays to optimize their showiness. When we were there in 2018 there were teams of discrete workers going through the beds at the end of the day propping things up and deadheading while bulbs that hadn’t bloomed yet were in the same display. I think you’ll be ok seeing more color than you’ve ever imagined. What you may miss though are some of the huge mono colored commercial fields on the route to Lisse. Some of them will be done blooming or harvested I think.

Hi Andrea,

We have been several years, always after the 22nd of April, and we have always been very very happy at Keukenhof.. It is true that some fields elsewhere nearby are getting harvested depending on weather but there is always plenty to see..

Thanks everyone! I’ll just be happy to see whatever is blooming. We weren’t planning to go to the Netherlands, but when we pushed back our trip from late November/December 2021 to March/April 2022 I decided it would be the perfect time to go there and it would be easy enough to tack it on to the end of the trip and fly home from there. We’ve flown into Amsterdam but have never flown out. It’s probably easier than CDG, which was going to be our departure airport.

Most definitely an easier airport!

I’ve flown out of CDG four times. I love Paris, so it’s worth it, but I imagine Amsterdam will be a piece of cake comparatively speaking.

Andrea, this year Keukenhof (if they are able to open) is slated to close on May 9. In previous years, the park has stayed open as late as May 19. I've not seen the park dates for 2022, but the annual Keukenhof parade is tentatively slated for Saturday 23 April. Generally, that's the week the blooms are most prevalent. As we live about 30 km from the park, we're fortunate to go every year - except last year when they did not open. In 2019, I went the first week of May and perhaps 60% of the park was still in bloom. Even then, it's quite beautiful.

You could cycle through The Bollenstreek (flower-bulb region). I have a friend who lives in Lisse and we meet and cycle there in late April. The town is surrounded by hundreds of tulip fields. FloraHolland - the world's largest flower auction - is also worth a visit!

Another wonderful flower parade happens annually, the first weekend in September, in Zundert. It's called the Flower Parade Corso Zundert. Zundert is a small town, located near the Belgian border. The stars of this parade are dahlia’s, not tulips.

We have been three times, all late April/early May. They so excel at layering that there is no bed that's not in bloom. Last year when they weren't open at all they posted videos. Look in the Keukenhof news section.

RnR, thanks for the great information. I will definitely use it to help in my planning.

We have visited Keukenhof 3 times within the late April to mid May window and have never been disappointed. I almost believe they come out at night and plant all over again. But much depends on the weather of course. The surrounding fields may not lushly blooming but the park itself has always been breathtakingly lovely. Our last trip was about two days before closing; I was afraid we were way too late but was happily very wrong. King’s Day in late April could impact travel plans...our Dutch host on our first visit urged us to avoid that time because of crowds and related difficulties...we took him at his word and scheduled around it, much as I’d like to experience it one day.

Safe travels.

Kings Day...I had no idea. Thanks for the heads up. My current plan would put us there at that time. This would be at the end of a 5.5 week trip, arriving in Germany in March. I thought we would arrive in the Netherlands on 4/26 and fly home on 5/1. King’s Day is 4/27, so maybe we can stall off our arrival until the 28th, or we could embrace being there for the celebrations. Decisions, decisions... avoid or embrace? I would love to hear from anyone who has been there for King’s Day.

We were staying near Amsterdam two years ago as part of a 3 week visit. We noticed all of the signs at train stations the week of Kings Day telling people what wouldn’t be open or allowed as far as services and behavior. The partying starts on the evening before Königsdag and lasts throughout the actual day. We decided to stay in our smaller town and see how they celebrated. We enjoyed the family flea markets along the streets, orange decorations everywhere, food and drink booths, live music and orange attire. Amsterdam seemed crowded enough with an expected 800,000 extra visitors that day. We knew we’d need to use public transportation so chose to stay put and enjoy our beach town.

Andrea, just to clarify....our host’s suggestions never implied safety issues of any sort. His concerns, as related to my inquiries, centered on transportation difficulties just before or after King’s Day. All I know is what he told us. We’ve not been there for the day itself but hope to one day. I have our orange T shirts stashed and ready. I hope you can make this trip. If conditions allow we will return in 2022 but too late for spring flowers. Amsterdam is fantastic! Good luck.

We have never been there for King’s Day but when it was Queen’s Day we missed the party day by a couple. We stayed in Haarlem told us how it is in Amsterdam. We went south instead.

In later years we have just avoided that weekend- nothing wrong with it and not violent from what I know, but not our thing....

We are looking at making plans for that trip as well. It looks like some of the hotels near the airport are very reasonably priced. Does anyone know if the drive would be doable for several days touring around the Gardens and the fields themselves? Appears to only be less than 10 miles. Is there a better place to stay that might be a bit out of the way from the crowds? In addition--are there any tips on where to go to drive through the fields to view the tulips or is anywhere in that district good for viewing? Thanks in advance!

Kathy W- you can Google driving routes to view tulips in the Netherlands. I found a blog entry that included a map the author made of his route (its at the end of the article) that was around the Lisse area. https://velvetescape.com/a-drive-around-the-tulip-fields/

Theres another area of the Netherlands that has even more tulip fields, but that is north of A'dam.

Tulips are here in full bloom now and usually every year at the end of April trees leaf out too. If you are lucky having good weather, meaning a lot of sunshine the colors are wonderful.

RnR, can't seem to access your pics, maybe I am doing something wrong? Looking forward to seeing them!

Kathy, I will rework and repost... Thanks for the note as they were working??