tulips in amsterdam

http://www.keukenhof.nl/

Michael's advice is good--you must go to the Keukenhof Gardens or you miss an unbelieveable spring flower experience. The entire country will be alive with color. The short answer--yes, the tulips will be out.

Suzanne, there is no guarantee the tulips will be out April 24-26, however the chance is good. Bloom time depends on the previous year's weather and temperature, and it also depends on the type of tulip. Some bloom earlier, some bloom later. North of Seattle are many acres of tulips. We have an annual "Tulip Run" on the third weekend of April. Sometimes the tulips are blooming, sometimes they're not. Sometimes it's the yellow ones, but not the red ones, etc., etc.... Best of luck to you!

With or without tulips Amsterdam is still one of favorite europen cities. Room rates in April I believe are still off season. We used Priceline and found a very reasonable hotel downtown. It is a very english friendly city.

Suzanne -
I went to Keukenhof Gardens in the spring of 2008 (end of April/beginning of May) and it was absolutely phenomenal!

Go to Centraal Station and take the train back to the airport. While in the Schiphol, go to the tourist information and get your ticket to Keukenhof. From there, you will take a bus directly to Keukenhof. Plan for the entire day to do this - it took me an hour to wait in line to get on the bus, then another 1.5 hours to get to the gardens. Make sure you're wearing your very comfy shoes - tons of walking. Take pictures of yourself with the tulip fields behind you - they are pretty magnificent!

This trip sounds very similar to the first trip my now fiancee and I took 5 years ago. If you don't mind the hassle of rental car pick up and return, you can save hundreds of $US by staying outside Amsterdam. I'd suggest the Alkmaar, Heiloo, or Egmond aan Zee area. The car will shorten the trip to the Keukenhof gardens and also allow you into some beautiful North sea resort areas, plus more of the tulip fields. Realize that Holland is a very small country and that getting around doesn't take long by U.S. standards. And yes, the flowers are incredible!!!

Even if all the outdoor tulips are not in full bloom at Keukenhoff in late April (which they should be, unless the Netherlands gets hit with a bout of unseasonable weather), this should not affect the indoor displays. You wouldn't believe the colors in the central pavilion!

We were at K'hof end April 2008 and the flowers were magnificent. We spent many hours walking around and it was extraordinary. As I recall, we bought our tickets at the train station TI office in Amsterdam...I believe it included the bus and gardens admission; we got ourselves to Leidseplein and took the airport bus from there, where you change to a bus to the gardens. Time consuming but easy.

The entrance/bus ticket combo can also be purchased at the Keukenhof website and printed out at home:

http://www.keukenhof.nl/

...one less line to wait in.

I was in amsterdam the 2nd week in April 2006. The tulips were not at their fullest. They were a few weeks behind, but they were beautiful.

We rented a car for the day and traveled up to see the windmills and the garden. I suggest that you do the same. We went through the little towns and saw Holland. It was a great day trip and the roads were very easy to navigate.