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Tulips Early May

Hello - I will be in Amsterdam on May 3rd and 4th and would love to make a day trip out to see the tulips. Does anyone have any advice on planning a one-day visit? I would love to see both Keukenhof and the fields (note: will not have a car). Is this possible to do in a day without a car? Also, would you recommend changing my hotel from the Amsterdam to somewhere outside? Thank you all so much for any guidance that can be provided!

Posted by
7850 posts

You can get to Keukenof by the shuttle buses they park runs from Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden or the airport.

You can buy a combination ticket which includes entrance into the Keukenof and roundtrip transportation. The details are here on the official Keukenof website:
https://keukenhof.nl/en/plan-your-visit/

The bus passes through the tulip fields but they may or not have been harvested by May 3.

Also I have been twice using the bus and the best time to arrive was after 3 as there are less people.

Posted by
18 posts

I was in Keukenhof ten years ago in the afternoon on an overcast somewhat rainy day and about had the place to myself. I went this morning - got there at 9:00 by bus from Leiden - and it was a ZOO. Mobs of people, tour groups, lots of strollers (mentioning that because a woman rammed me twice.) There were lines at all the different places for people to get coffee. No cash, but then their card machines stopped working. AaaaRrrrghhh
But - the flowers were beautiful.

Posted by
260 posts

Highly suggest arriving at opening at 8am. I was there on a bus tour on Monday April 17th, and we were the absolutely first bus to arrive. Practically had the place to ourselves the first hour or so. Most of my pictures have no strangers in them, just the beautiful pathways and gorgeous flowers. And you could hear the birds…just wonderful. We saw the tulip fields on the drive in and out and from the windmill in Keukenhof itself but that was mid-April. Mobs of people and probably over 100 buses parked there by the time we left. We gave our tour director a round of applause when we returned to the bus. Definitely worth getting up early for (we left our hotel in Amsterdam at 7:15am).