Keukenhof Gardens In Holland – Located in Lisse, Netherlands, Keukenhof is the largest flower garden in the world. Its name translates to “Kitchen Garden” in English and is also known as the European Garden. This popular tourist attraction has more than 7 million flower bulbs, which are planted in the garden every year. Keukenhofen covers 32 hectares of land.
Century The area is also a good source of herbs, which are often used in the kitchen of Jacqueline, Countess of the castle of Hainaut. It is for this reason that the park earned the name Keukenhof. In 1949, the park was officially established by the mayor of the city. At the time, the aim of the garden was to help the Dutch export industry by creating an exhibition where local and European flower growers could present their hybrids.
Keukenhof Gardens In Holland
Although the park is open for a short time, it is well worth planning your trip to coincide with this stunning event. The spectacular display of 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Keukenhof Gardens: 10 Practical Tips For The Tulip Fields » Maps & Bags
Throughout Keukenhof, tourists will find a variety of gardens with different styles. The English Garden has interesting winding paths, while the History Garden is enclosed and has a variety of different bulbs. Many areas of the park also include water gardens, fountains and ponds.
Keukenhof is only open for a few short weeks each year. Typically, the garden opens at the end of March and closes at the end of May. During this time, Keukenhof is open every day from 8AM to 7:30PM, including public holidays.
For hungry guests, there are several pavilions in the garden and self-service restaurants to accommodate your needs. Food offerings include smoked sausage sandwiches, waffles and Dutch herring. Several vendors are located throughout the garden as well. The pavilion includes:
Keukenhof is located in the province of South Holland in the city of Lisse, which is south of Haarlem and Amsterdam. This area is known as Dune and Bulb region, or Duin-en Bollenstreek. Tourists can easily reach the farm via bus or from the train station in Leiden, Schiphol or Haarlem. This post may contain affiliate links, which means we can earn a small commission, at no cost to you, for qualifying purchases. More information: Disclosure.
Dutch Tulips, Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam in the Netherlands is known as one of the best places to see tulips and other spring flowers in the world. So it is not surprising that it is a very popular destination that attracts huge crowds.
With a short opening season and more than 1.5 million visitors coming to see the flowers each spring, the park can be very crowded.
So if you want to visit Keukenhof and enjoy it, there are a few things you want to know before you go.
Good to know: We live just over the border in Belgium and visit Keukenhof Gardens in Holland almost every spring. In this guide, we share experience-based tips to help you make the most of your day.
Visit To Keukenhof Tulip Gardens In Holland
You will find all kinds of useful information, tips and tricks for your first visit to Keukenhof. With some preparation, you can make your visit more enjoyable, even if traveling during peak tulip festival season. Find out!
Tip: If you don’t have time to read the whole article, here are the best Keukenhof ticket options (you really need to pre-book because they are now available with timed entry slots!):
If you are reading this article, it means you already have a head-start compared to the majority of other visitors. Doing some research and planning ahead of time is essential!
First, you should know that Keukenhof Gardens are only open for about 7-8 weeks in the spring. So if you want to see tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and other spring flowers called the ‘Tulip Festival in Holland’, you should plan to visit the Netherlands between the end of March and the beginning. May.
Fields In Holland
You will be amazed at how often I get questions about where to see tulip fields or gardens from people planning to visit Amsterdam in the summer or even at Christmas… No, it’s really not possible!
Also in this short ‘flower season’, there is a big difference in what you will get to see at Keukenhof depending on when you visit. Some flowers simply bloom earlier than others, plus, you never know in advance how the weather will be this spring.
If you visit early in the season, you can expect to see crocus, hyacinths, daffodils, and early tulips. If you really like tulips, it is better to come in April. By the end of the park’s opening season, some of the flowers may be gone.
But – as long as Keukenhof is open – you can be sure that it’s worth a visit. There is always plenty to see and the gardeners do an amazing job of making sure the garden looks amazing throughout the opening season.
An Insider’s Guide On How To Visit Keukenhof In 2024
As you can imagine, with a short opening season and lots of interest from locals and international visitors, Keukenhof can be very busy. To give you an idea, on peak days, the Keukenhof gardens receive more than 45,000 visitors a day…
We once visited Keukenhof on a sunny Saturday at the end of April. There are queues everywhere – starting with traffic jams to get to the park, car park, flower pavilion, restaurant, and bathroom. It’s so busy until early afternoon, you can hardly step on the main path around the pond. At one point it got so bad we decided to leave and go to a nearby tulip farm (which was too busy, btw)…
So take this into consideration when making your travel plans. If possible, avoid visiting Keukenhof on weekends and public holidays. And there are several public holidays in the Netherlands and surrounding countries in the spring! Try to avoid Easter weekend, King’s Day in the Netherlands (April 27), Labor Day (May 1), etc.
There is only one exception to this – if you want to see the famous Keukenhof Flower Parade, which always takes place on Saturday. This year, the Flower Parade is on April 20, 2024. If you want to visit on that day, book now!!! We recommend this highly rated ticket. Among other things like transport from Amsterdam, it also includes Grand Stand seats in the Flower Parade.
Visiting Keukenhof, The World’s Largest Tulip Garden
Good to know: The quietest days to visit Keukenhof are Mondays and Tuesdays (unless it’s a public holiday weekend). Wednesdays usually aren’t too bad either.
Tip: If you can’t avoid the busiest days, try to at least avoid the busiest times of the day – see below!
This picture was also taken on the same day as the one above, just a few hours earlier. The park is busiest around noon and early afternoon.
Since most people visit Keukenhof on day trips, the busiest time in the park is between 10:30 and 16:00. The absolute peak time seems to be around noon – early afternoon (12-2 pm). Most of the ‘early morning’ tourists haven’t left yet and everyone else has arrived too, so it can get very busy.
Opening Keukenhof 2024
If you want to avoid the biggest crowds, try to visit early in the morning or late afternoon. Not only will it be busier, but the lighting for photography will also be better.
Good to know: Keukenhof Garden is usually open from 8 am to 7.30 pm. If visiting in the afternoon, remember that you must leave the park at 7.30pm. So it might not be the best idea to book the last time slot you only have an hour inside (and that’s not enough – more info below).
Also on a busy day, you can enjoy the park and take some nice pictures. So don’t worry too much if you can’t change your itinerary.
Keukenhof Garden is big and there is a lot to see. To give you an idea, they plan around 7 million flower bulbs every year! The park has small paths, a large pond, many smaller canals, fountains, windmills, and several large pavilions where you can also find more exotic flowers.
Why Everyone Should Visit The World Famous Keukenhof Gardens
In addition, they also work with several artists and you can find all kinds of sculptures and artworks all over the park.
If you want, you can also take a ‘whisper boat’ and see some tulip fields. It starts near the windmill and takes about 45 minutes (not counting queues). However, while it’s nice to do, it’s always busy and not really the best way to see the tulip fields (but more detailed information about this further down).
Anyway, even if you just want to walk through the park and get a good taste of what it is, you should count at least 2 hours to come to Keukenhof Gardens. If you want to see ‘everything’, have a quiet lunch, etc, you can easily spend 3-5 hours here. And quite likely, you will stay
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