Belgium and Holland Tour: Flower Market? And other questions

When exactly in April will you be in the tulip area? Thanks to all the special techniques the gardeners of the Keukenhof use, the flowers in the Keukenhof are in bloom well before the flowers in the fields. The flowers in the fields tend to be in bloom in the second half of April. If you’re here during that time frame , you can rent bikes at the Keukenhof and cycle along the fields yourself. No need for a guide, you really can’t miss the brightly colored fields!

I can’t tell you if the flower auction is something you can’t miss. I personally wouldn’t want to get up very early to see flowers being moved around on carts and racks, but most people seem to genuinely enjoy their visit. If it’s something that you think is interesting, your RS guide should be able to help you find out how to get there.

Brussels may be worth a full day before the start of your tour, especially if you fly into that airport, spend a day seeing the sights and then take the train elsewhere. I found it interesting, and the Grand Place square is gorgeous at night when it's all lit up.

We took this fantastic tour two years ago. It started on April 18, so by the time we were in the Netherlands the fields had been cleared. So it depends on when you are there. Keukenhof was spectacular. We had amazing weather and still can't believe our good fortune!

Any chance you mean "Heart of Belgium and Holland"?

I would guess that the bulb and cut flower "manufacturing" fields were cut later this year, because it was such a cold spring. We went to Keukenhof on April 2, 2026. You can see quite a few flower fields from the perimeter fence of Keukenhof, and Keukenhof sells a 45 minute electric boat run around some of the nearest fields (for those who don't want to bike, I guess.)

We liked the "Aalsmeer auction", especially since some people believe it will move entirely online in the near future. (Speculation, not statement of fact.) It's a well-constructed "factory tour", with a modest restaurant, and elevated catwalks to keep tourists safe while massive carts of flowers roll around the floor. There are windows overlooking the auction auditorium, with automated carts pulling samples of the current auction item through. We had a car, so the travel was easy for us. We may even have returned it that day, to end our vacation in Amsterdam.

I personally prefer Antwerp to Brussels; It's a larger city than Gent or Bruges, so it is more spread out. But there's more than you can see in a few days. It is less crowded than Brussels, if still very busy. (There is a short "flower carpet" event in Brussels, maybe every three years?)

While the bike paths in Amsterdam provide more protection from autos than some other places, there is considerable speeding, moped traffic, wrong direction biking, and danger of collision with pedestrians. I don't see it as a paradise. (New York City native writing.)

FWIW, we flew into Brussels on March 19, 2026, 8AM Bus Gate, and immigration took 1.5 hours in line for us, with a very long line behind us. They handed out water and speculoos cookies to the line. (There are so many trains per hour to Gent that getting a train is the least of your problems. Gent has two stations, so pay attention to which is better for your hotel.)

The flowers in the flower fields are usually cut off around the first week of May. So if your RS tour of Belgium and the Netherlands starts on April 18, like KD’s tour did, you’ll reach the bulb region at the end of April and the cutting off can already be in full swing.

Maybe the reason Brussels isn't on your tour is that I'm not the only person who questions the value of seeing a city where one of the tourist attractions is a little boy peeing. Yes I've been to Brussels and the Grand Place did not wow me. I would choose another day in Amsterdam at the end of your tour.

Thanks to everyone who replied so far!

Here are a few more details that will help describe our timeframe and plans.

Tim: Yes, I meant "Heart of Belgium and Holland". Sorry about the tour name mistake.

Dates: our tour is April 5 - 15. The day the tour visits Keukenhof Gardens is April 12. If we were to visit the flower auction or take a bike tour around the fields, it would probably be on April 15 or 16. It sounds like those are good dates for visiting the fields, based on others' comments about timing, though of course I realize that weather can change every year.

Travel: I don't know if we will fly into Belgium or not. I look for discount flights to Europe and then add on days based on where the flight goes. For example, this year we will be on the Best of Ireland tour, but we got free tickets to Munich, so we're flying to/from Munich and then flying to Dublin from there. After the tour, we'll fly to Berlin and take the train back to Munich (first to Prague) so we get to see a couple of other places. Four days in Berlin and then three in Prague, so it means we get to extend our trip and see a couple of other places.

So I'll probably plan something similar for next year's trip, based on where we are flying to in Europe. How we get to Belgium (for the tour start) will depend on where we are flying into Europe. If we are flying into Paris, for example, we might take a train.

Thanks to all!

I am one of the ones who likes Brussels. It is an interesting city and the Grand' Place is not to be missed. You don't have to see the peeing boy, but some people make a big thing of it and also look for the peeing girl and the peeing dog. There is also a museum nearby dedicated to the costumes of Manneken Pis - foreign governments all give suits to Brussels so he won't be so naked. We usually stay in the Louise district and take metro into the centre. However, two really nice hotels in the centre are the Dominican and Le Dixseptième. You couldn't go wrong with one of those, but they are correspondingly a splurge.

If you like flowers and will be in those parts in April, you should get out and see Floralia at Groot Bijgaarden just outside Brussels. They have planted a million tulips there: https://floralia-brussels.be/en .

Also the Royal Greenhouses at Laeken (Brussels' outskirts) will be open to the public as they only open once a year. However, you need a ticket to see them (I think it's a ballot).

I hope you will enjoy your time in Belgium and the Netherlands :)

Lavandula

Hi, we did a river cruise that went from Brussels to Amsterdam (April 17-24,2026) so we are just home. We did the cruise in order to see the tulips/gardens in Holland, specifically Keukenhof and they were worth every grinding air mile from Chicago to Europe and back! It was beyond description and I am excited for you to see it!

We stayed in Amsterdam an extra night because I had never been there. We did not bike, but I would caution anyone who is not a local to stay off of them, unless - as you suggest - you are way out on some empty lanes through fields. The narrow streets in AMS are teeming with bikes and they have the right of way. Pretty stressful IMO.

We did a travel matters tour where you visit the Prostitution Info Center in. the red light district, which was not creepy, just very informative young woman talking about the "trade" and how they have autonomy, etc. It's geared towards building respect.

In AMS I would definitely take advantage of the Van Gogh Museum (sold out for us) and the Rijks Museum, that was very cool!

We did not do the flower auction, heard it was very interesting.

If your tour does not stop in Brussels, I would skip it. We started there, came in two nights early. Had a nice hotel (The Dominican), but honestly, it was not a wow city and I won't be back.

We did this tour in 2025 on the exact same dates. The Keukenhof was spectacular. Also very crowded, but fortunately we had several hours so even shuffling along with the crowds we were able to see most everything at an enjoyable pace. We didn't try to visit the fields, but could see them from the bus. We flew into Paris pre-tour and spent several days before taking the Eurostar to Brussels, where we caught a train to Ghent. The ride from Paris was easy and we managed to navigate the ticket machines and get to the right platform in Brussels for the short trip to Ghent, where we took a cab to Hotel Harmony. We arrived a few hours before the tour meeting on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and the streets around the hotel and city center were packed and lively.

Stoutfella,

Thanks for your comments.

What was the weather like on your tour? I prefer traveling when the weather is slightly warmer, but this seemed like the best time for the tulips.

Did you do any memorable activities pre-tour or post-tour?

Tony
We had pretty great weather for the most part. Sunny with highs generally in the 50s and 60s. Comfortable puffy jacket weather. It was actually warmer in Paris. We arrived there on April 1 and it was sunny and around 70 for our three days, though cooler in the evenings. We had no rain except for a few showers on our last evening in Amsterdam. I will say that on the day you visit the flood barrier in the morning, put on every layer you have. The North Sea on a cloudy April morning is F-ing COLD! The afternoon visit to the Maeslant storm surge barrier, on the other hand, was sunny and fairly warm. We spent one extra day in Amsterdam and went to the Van Gogh Museum, which was excellent but VERY crowded, then went to the nearby Stedelijk Museum, where there was a huge installation by Anselm Kiefer that left us awestruck. It was a special exhibition but they may have some of his work in the permanent collection. We also went to the Resistance Museum, where you could easily spend hours. We found it to be more satisfying than the Anne Frank house, which was worthwhile, of course (I had just finished rereading her diary the night before) but hard to truly appreciate while shuffling along with the herd. As for pre-tour in Paris, well, it's Paris! What's not to love? But the highlight may well have been a food tour with Paris By Mouth on our jet-lagged arrival day. We did the West Saint-Germain tour with a terrific guide and a marvelous selection of cheese, bread, charcuterie and sweets. When (not if) we return to Paris, we'll definitely do another one. Hope you have a great trip.

Stoutfella,

That food tour in Paris (just looked it up) looks fantastic! Now I'm thinking that we might stay for a few days in Paris after the tour completes. How did you decide between the various food tours that the company (Paris by Mouth) offers?

Edit to answer your specific question: We decided on that food tour simply because it was the only one available. We hadn't talked about doing one until a week or so before. I suspect they're all pretty great.

I had seen mentions of Paris By Mouth, perhaps in forum members' trip reports. Plus, a woman my wife works with has been on two of the tours and gave rave reviews. She was right. Towards the end of our trip, my wife asked me what my favorite thing had been so far, including the Belgium/Holland tour. First thought that popped into my head was, "The cheese in Paris!"