All I’ve ever wanted in life is to prance around in a Dutch tulip field. Ideally at sunrise, in a beautiful dress and a big old bow in my hair. On my first trip to Amsterdam last month with my husband, I was set on visiting these beautiful flower fields.
But, visiting Holland tulip fields isn’t exactly easy. The Netherlands tulip season is short, and hard to predict if it’s too warm or cold that year. Plus, it’s not like there is a giant Amsterdam tulip field in the middle of the city.
It takes planning to visit tulip farms but don’t fret – I have the perfect guide for you to use so you can see these beautiful tulip flower fields during your visit to the Netherlands!
Did you know that tulips are grown for their flower bulbs, not the actual flowers? Holland makes about $2 billion in tulip bulb exports annually, and while the fields of rainbow flowers are super pretty, it’s really just the bulbs the farmers are after.
Tulips are grown and allowed to bloom, but then the head of the flower is cut off, this helps the bulb grow even larger.
This year, in 2024, the flower forecast was off from the normal schedule. It was colder out and harvest season began about a week earlier than normal. Most of the fields were already cut down during our visit, but we did luck out and managed to see a few before the farmers cut the flowers off!!
My friend who lives in Amsterdam was texting me before we left the United States basically saying ” get your butt to the tulip fields they’re being cut down every day!!” I was nervous we wouldn’t get to see them after the whole point of the trip was to see the flowers, but it worked out! We had a great tour guide who made things happen.
There Are Many Small Flower Farms, And One Giant One
Keukenhof Gardens is the famous tulip experience with acres and acres for millions of tulips. It’s like Disney in there, but for flowers. It’s the most popular place for tourists to visit during the 6 week long Tulip Festival, as it’s the easiest to visit from the city.
But there is also smaller, independent farms that grow flowers to harvest tulip bulbs. You usually have to have a car to visit these flower fields, as they are further from the city and not reachable by public transportation.
That’s why we choose to book a small tour, since the guide knows farmers and has a car so we could easily see the large farm, but also the smaller ones.
I Booked Used A Guided Tulip Tour On Airbnb
I can’t say enough wonderful things about the guided tour we took from Airbnb with Chris. I saw his tour on TikTok and immediately booked it (consider my influenced!)
We met Chris near Amsterdam’s Central Station along with 2 other couples around 7am. There’s a 6 person max limit for each tour, and he does these daily during the tulip season.
He had his van stocked with water and little Dutch cookies for us as we drove off. It was early, but that’s the point – he wanted to make sure we could all beat the crowds at Keukenhof Gardens! About 50,000 visit each day.
On the way to Keukenhof Gardens, he spotted a tulip field that wasn’t cut down yet and we quickly pulled over so we could take photos! He knows the farmer and has gotten permission to bring tour groups there. We didn’t have a lot of time since we had to go to Keukenhof Gardens, but running through the fields was totally the highlight of my day.
He starts the tour at Keukenhof Gardens, armed you with a custom flower map and gives you about an hour to explore the gardens. When we arrived there were maybe 100 other people there, so it felt empty and beautiful. By the time we left an hour later, it was so packed I could hardly walk.
Keukenhof Dutch tulip fields is very neat, and I’m glad we got to visit. They have a windmill you can climb up with a stunning view of flower fields, multiple garden buildings, playgrounds and of course, millions of tulips of all varieties.
My favorite Tulip was white and was called “Healthcare”. For real.
When you visit, I recommend you make a beeline to the Keukenhof tulip shop. You can pick out tulip bulbs and them in the autumn they will mail them to you to plant (since you have to plant them in the fall so they bloom in the spring.)
I sent a pack to my mother who loves gardening! Saves suitcase room on another gift, too.
After we piled into his van and he gave us a little sweet treat, and we headed off to Zaandam and Zaanse Schans. Normally he uses this time to take tours to small tulips fields in Holland, but since they were mostly cut down by now we just went on to Zaanse Schans right away.
Don’t Miss Historic Zaanse Schans Windmills
What I loved about this tour was that it also includes a visit to Dutch windmills!!! Zaandam is a very neat town about a 15 minute train ride out of Amsterdam with an iconic hotel you probably recognize from TikTok.
But Zaanse Schans is the historic village on that edge of town that is a bit harder to get to without a car or a bike. Another reason I chose to do a guided tulip and windmills tour!! Chris was such a pro at guiding us through Zaanse Schans. Apparently this town used to have hundreds of windmills, but now there are just a handful remaining.
Most are still operating and making artisan goods the classic way: with wind power!
Chris knows most of the windmill owners and was able to cut through some lines and help us move through the village with ease. It was crowded on a sunny, warm Sunday but we never had to wait in line and even got time to shop at places like the cheese shop!
We also got to see a wooden shoe-making demonstration (very neat!) and I was extremely tempted to buy myself a pair of wooden clogs but Robin talked me out of it. (To be fair, when would I actually use or wear them?)
We Visited The Famous Zaandam Hotel
You’ve probably seen the Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaandam all over social media. It has a wacky exterior with blue, green and red paint. It looks like a lego house and is absolutely utterly unique. It’s normally not on this tour, but we asked Chris if we could make a stop at this famous hotel and he said yes!
He drove us as close as we could get, and the entire van jumped out and ran over to the hotel to take pictures.
We didn’t have too much time to explore the town since we all had to get back to Amsterdam, but I can’t wait to come back one day to explore this cute town. So many colorful buildings that look like they should belong in a Wes Anderson movie!!
If you want to rent a car, you can totally visit tulip farms on your own, but it was so much fun doing this guided tour, I don’t really see a point in doing it on your own if it’s your first visit to Amsterdam tulip fields.
Next time I visit, though, I do want to rent a car and visit the Dutch flower fields at sunrise to take all the photos I want. But that’s just because I’m a photographer! Not needed for regular folks.
I may even be tempted to rent a Helicopter Tour to photograph them from the sky…
Frequently Asked Questions About Netherlands Tulip Fields
What Month Are The Tulip Fields In the Netherlands?
Tulip fields in Holland usually bloom from mid-April to mid-may, give or ake a few days depending on the weather. The Dutch Flower Parada is usually the second week of April.
I thought visiting April 25th meant we were in the clear for blooms, but this year the flowers bloom early so by May 1st, they were mostly all gone.
That’s the hard part about flower chasing – you can’t rely on mother nature to be on your schedule!
Where is The Best Place To See The Tulip Fields?
The easiest place to see millions of tulips are the Keukenhof Gardens, which are open daily during tulip season and can easily be reached by shuttle buses that leave Amsterdam hourly.
Must Know Tips For Visiting Keukenhof Gardens
- Get there before doors open to avoid crowds
- Everyone goes right, you should go left at the entrance to work against the crowds
- Don’t miss the bulb shop to send bulbs home!
- It will be the least crowded on a weekday, so go then if you can.
I hope this helps you plan an amazing day trip from Amsterdam to see these flowers! Robin and I had such a fun day on our tour with Chris. We ate well, bought a lot of cheese, climbed inside a real Dutch wimdills and of course, got to witness these beautiful flowers in person.
I can’t wait to come back to Amsterdam again one day and do this all again!
