By air
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), ~20 km
Europe · Netherlands
Keukenhof, Netherlands
Seven million tulips in bloom
Getting there
Best time to visit
Late March to mid-May — the garden's only season
Don't miss
Keukenhof
The Lisse bulb fields
The garden's windmill
Haarlem
Things to do
The gardens
Cycling the flower fields
A canal boat among the bulbs
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Atamari · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Layers, a rain jacket
A quieter corner
Cycling through the bulb fields around Lisse
Questions travellers ask
When can I visit Keukenhof?
Late March to mid-May — the garden's only season, when seven million tulips are in bloom.
What else is there besides the gardens at Keukenhof?
Cycle through the bulb fields around Lisse, take a canal boat among the bulbs, and see the garden's windmill. You can add Haarlem, too.
How far is Keukenhof from Schiphol?
About 20 km from Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS).
What should I bring to Keukenhof?
Layers and a rain jacket. Refuel with poffertjes, the mini pancakes.
About Keukenhof
- Inland
Where it is
Keukenhof is a spring flower garden in Lisse in the province of South Holland, Netherlands, south of Haarlem in the Dune and Bulb Region, the flat bulb-growing country behind the North Sea dunes.
History
In the 15th century the grounds were hunting land and the kitchen garden of Teylingen Castle, whose best-known resident was Countess Jacoba van Beieren. A manor house named Keukenhof was built in 1641, the park was redesigned in the 19th century by Jan David Zocher and his son, designers of Amsterdam's Vondelpark, and bulb growers and exporters founded the flower show in 1949.
People
Locals speak Dutch, and the Dune and Bulb Region is home to generations of bulb-growing families whose fields bloom in bands of colour each spring. Their bulbs are sold around the world, and each April a flower parade of floats decorated with blooms travels through the region.
Known for
- Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in spring
- The striped bulb fields around Lisse
- Themed gardens and flower pavilions
- The garden's windmill
- Castle Keukenhof and its estate
Did you know?
Keukenhof means kitchen garden: in the 15th century these grounds, now famous for flowers, supplied the kitchen of Teylingen Castle.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.