The most beautiful spring garden in the world

Holland=Tulips=Keukenhof

Developing new tulips is a long-drawn process, taking several years

Our family (with the Pai family) was fortunate to visit Keukenhof on 27th April this year (King’s Day, the birthday of King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands). “The most beautiful spring garden in the world”, spread over 32 hectares, is open for about eight weeks every year, during March-May (Dutch spring). So one needs to plan well to get to see the millions of flowers, primarily tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, in full bloom. This period and the weeks prior to it are busy for the Dutch floriculture industry, enabling flower and bulb sellers display live brochures of their products.

After entering the park

Tulip artwork

The free maps are important to find one’s way around the extensive park…

… and to decide what to see in the limited time at hand

An old lady visiting in a stretcher-bed along with her caregivers

There is space for everyone… walkers, wheelchairs, strollers…

The Adriaen is a street organ built in 1978 using old organ parts. It uses punch cards to make music and has been playing at Keukenhof for over 25 years. During the rest of the year, it plays at locations all over the world.

The Adriaen

There are loads of photo ops.

Pai and Manay-Yajaman families

Dutch ‘kat’ alone for but a fleeting moment

The Keukenhof interactive zoo with sheep, rabbits and other domestic animals is a good distraction from the flowers.

The Keukenhof interactive zoo

The maze.

The watch tower at the end of the maze gives a good view of the park and adjoining tulip fields

Exploring the flower fields.

One can take a ride through the fields in the ‘whisper boats’…

… or just walk around (thanks Lalit for the pic)

Tulips are named after people places and things.

Tulipa Vincent van Gogh – tulips with a deep velvety look

Tulipa Rembrandt

The Rembrandt tulips have cultivars with broken colours and stripes that are caused by virus infection. Different colour breaks depend on the variety of tulip and strain of virus.

Every year, the Keukenhof flower show is built around a theme.

‘Romance in Flowers’, the special theme for 2018

Pretty in pink

And if you haven’t had enough of the flowers…

We had covered only a small portion of the park before it was time to leave, but we must admit we have seen our fair share of Dutch flowers.

Keukenhof… till next time

Getting there: Keukenhof is next to Lisse village. From Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport or Leiden Centraal station one can reach Keukenhof directly by buses that run specially to Keukenhof. The journey by bus takes 30-40 minutes.

Opening dates for 2019: 21st March to 19th May