Keukenhof Botanical Garden Amsterdam The Netherlands
Keukenhof is a large botanical garden in Lisse, The Netherlands. It Is often referred to as the Garden of Europe, but it is actually one of the largest gardens in the world. Keukenhof is only open in the springtime with large areas of beautiful flower displays for guests to explore. It is a popular tourist attraction for people visiting Amsterdam and I would definitely recommend visiting if you love flowers and nature.
I hope this post can be helpful and informative to people planning a visit to Keukenhof and Amsterdam. However, I did visit in 2023. So please make sure to check out Keukenhof’s official website HERE for all up to date information, and to book tickets if you decide to go!
Fun Facts
– There are approximately 7 million flower bulbs planted at Keukenhof during the autumn to create the amazing spring displays. Of this huge number of flowers, there will be about 800 different times of tulips!
– The gardens are used for companies to exhibit their flowers. About 100 different companies create displays at Keukenhof.
– The botanical garden covers an area of 32 hectares or nearly 80 acres. For comparison, a football field is only about 2 acres.
– Tulips first arrived in Holland in the 16th century and they have remained popular ever since!
What’s On Offer
Keukenhof Gardens has many things on offer to keep visitors entertained. The park is made up of many different areas of flower displays to walk through. They do an amazing job at making it all unique and interesting to see, I loved getting to explore here. They also include fountains, Ponds and sculptures around the gardens to give you plenty of things to look out for.
There are also several different inside areas with their own unique displays. There are sections with unique flower arrangements and others with rows of tulips. They are of many different types for you to learn about.
If you fancy exploring more of the surrounding area on your visit you can also rent a bike at Keukenhof. I unfortunately didn’t have time to do this on my visit but I think it would be nice to do if you can. They have multiple different mapped-out routes you can explore where you should be able to get some views of their tulip fields.
Another experience offered at Keukenhof is there whisper boat tour. This is where small boats take you along the canals running through the flower fields. They provide you with headphones for a guided tour which I found to be very informative. You get to spend about 45 minutes cruising past the flower fields.
Finally, they also offer a number of food options. From sit-down restaurants to ice cream stands. If you would prefer you can also bring in your own food and they offer picnic areas.
Why I Loved Visiting
I found out about Keukenhof when I was looking into seeing the tulips whilst visiting Amsterdam. The popular garden is by far the easiest option to see flowers near the city centre. They run buses from multiple locations in the city and one from the airport. I brought a combined park entry and bus ticket with the airport pick-up option and it took around 30 minutes to get there.
My favourite thing about visiting the garden was of course the range of flowers they had there! The variety of flowers and the amazing different displays are a must see. You can easily spend all day here exploring the different arrangements they put together. Many people (myself included) also love the endless photo opportunities available. Aside from exploring the main gardens the opportunity to rent bikes or take a whisper boat ride is also an exciting add-on.
Things To Consider
As much as I loved visiting Keukenhof and would definitely recommend it, I do think there were some downfalls that are important to mention to people considering a visit.
The first being just how busy the park was. Unfortunately, just like any popular tourist destination nowadays, it was incredibly busy. I visited in April and chose a Tuesday hoping it would be quieter but it still seemed packed to me. As mentioned I still had an amazing time despite the crowds but I think it should be kept in mind when booking. I would also recommend taking a packed lunch with you as the restaurants were the most crowded places by far.
You should also know If your main purpose for visiting is to get the viral flower field photos, this isn’t the place for you. As mentioned the gardens do have tulip and daffodil fields but these can only be viewed from a distance. It is incredibly harmful to the flowers to let people enter the fields so this is not something you can do in many areas. The gardens have many other lovely photo opportunities and I was still able to get some of the tulip fields in the background.
With the tulip fields becoming so popular, some other places are beginning to open up that do allow you into the fields. These are being set up for tourists and not to harvest. I would recommend checking out THE TULIP BARN for a more photo based experience.
Mother Nature
Another thing to keep in mind is the weather. Now of course this isn’t anything anyone can control (we wish!) but being spring time it can be very unpredictable. You should definitely check the forecast for the day and probably keep an umbrella and coat handy. I particularly found the whisper boat ride very cold. The wind seems to get pushed down the channels so wrap up for this if it’s a colder day.
Along with the weather is the time in which the flowers bloom. The park is open from mid-March to mid-May but tulips only bloom for 1 – 2 weeks. So of course, not everything will flower at once. They do their best to have an array of flowers visible at all times though and flowers that bloom at different times. For example daffodils tend to bloom earlier so expect to see more of these if you visit in March.
Overview – Visit Amsterdam In Spring
Keukenhof botanical gardens is a truly amazing place to visit and I have yet to experience anything else quite like it. The flower displays are beautiful and if you can avoid the crowds a bit it makes for a great day out.
Overall spring is a great time to visit Amsterdam too. Not only can you visit tulip fields and gardens such as Keukenhof, the city centre has plenty to explore as well. You can check out my 3 free things to do in Amsterdam HERE and start planning your trip to Amsterdam for next spring.