2024 - April - Keukenhof

Would you like to meet people from all over the world, thousands of them thronging through gardens and exhibitions? Then you should definitely come to Keukenhof during peak times between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Extra tip: crowds are guaranteed, especially in the early afternoon.

If you would rather avoid this, I would strongly recommend getting up early and coming to the park when it opens at 8:00 a.m. Then you will still have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful park in peace.

Originating from an English garden, you can admire the largest tulip garden in the world here. The Keukenhof is a pure spring garden, however. This means that it is only open from mid/late March to early May each year. When exactly the flower show begins and ends varies slightly each year. Of course, there are not only tulips here, but also many other early bloomers to see.

But I think it's a real shame that the park with its beautiful old trees is not open all year round and with other flowers. But this is a showcase for the flower bulb growers, which is now open to the public for the 75th time.

In fact, millions of flower bulbs are planted every year in September, then topped after flowering so that the plant's strength goes into the bulb, and then dug up again. After that, the cycle begins again, although of course it is redesigned every year.

It is worth visiting the 32-hectare park every year. And of course, Keukenhof is one of the tourist magnets in the whole of Holland.

The park only had to remain closed during the Corona period. But now around 1.5 million visitors come again every year. Incidentally, the gardeners had been busy planting tubers even before the Corona closure, but the park could only be admired online.

By the way, you don't need a car to visit Keukenhof. There are various shuttle buses from the surrounding towns, such as Amsterdam, Leiden, Haarlem and a few more. When you book your tickets, you can reserve the bus ride at the same time.

Finally, something for fact lovers. What does Keukenhof actually mean in translation? In the 15th century, the area was used as a kitchen courtyard to grow herbs for the palace kitchen. So the Keukenhof is a kitchen courtyard.