Make the Most of Tulip Season in Amsterdam

Catch Amsterdam’s tulips at their very best by visiting the Dutch capital in spring. That’s when the city bursts into colour and all the market stalls positively groan under the weight of tulips in a kaleidoscope of hues; a stylish stay at the boutique INK Hotel Amsterdam - MGallery puts you close to all the flowery action.

And it’s not just Amsterdam and it’s not just tulips – whole tracts of The Netherlands are transformed into vast psychedelic oceans of flowers from early March until mid-May. First come the cheery purples and yellows of the crocuses, blooming in March, followed by daffodils and hyacinths – and finally the tulips show their colours from mid-April to (roughly) the second week of May. Time a trip to Amsterdam for late April, and you’ll catch tulip season at its absolute best.

And it’s not just Amsterdam and it’s not just tulips – whole tracts of The Netherlands are transformed into vast psychedelic oceans of flowers from early March until mid-May. First come the cheery purples and yellows of the crocuses, blooming in March, followed by daffodils and hyacinths – and finally the tulips show their colours from mid-April to (roughly) the second week of May. Time a trip to Amsterdam for late April, and you’ll catch tulip season at its absolute best.

If you’re visiting Amsterdam in spring – you’ll need to book a central Amsterdam hotel too – you’ll see charming displays of tulips absolutely everywhere, from street corners and window boxes to canal bridges smothered in blooms. Tulips are also sold in all Amsterdam markets, but the star of the show is the city’s magical Bloemenmarkt flower market along the Singel Canal. Partly moored on floating barges, it’s the place to find gorgeous displays of cut tulips all year around (they’re grown in greenhouses), as well as packets of ready-to-travel tulip bulbs so you can create your own displays back home.

The bright and cheery Amsterdam Tulip Museum in Jordaan has entertaining multimedia displays charting Holland’s 17th-century obsession with tulips. Glorious photographs of the flowers adorn the walls in the basement museum, and there’s a top-quality souvenir shop selling bulbs and pretty porcelain vases.
Amsterdam Tulip Museum: Prinsengracht 116. Tram 13 or 17 to the Westerkerk. Open daily 10am–6pm. Admission €5; free with the I amsterdam City Card.

There are several bulb-growing regions in The Netherlands, but the most famous is the Bloemenbollenstreek (Bulb Region Route) around Lisse, stretching between Haarlem and Leiden west of Amsterdam. Here, more than 10,000 hectares of bulbs are cultivated every year, with spring seeing the flat, dyke-lined fields covered with regimental stripes of multi-hued blooms.

Half an hour’s easy drive from the city centre, Keukenhof gardens lie at the heart of this region and are host to possibly the greatest flower show on earth during the Amsterdam Tulip Festival. They only open from late March to mid-May – during which time 7 million tulips, hyacinths and daffodils burst into colour across the park – but in those few short weeks they will be visited by almost 1.5 million people. To be sure of securing a ticket for this floral extravaganza, book tickets well in advance online; sales open in October each year. 

Visitors in the know combine exploring Keukenhof gardens with a trip to the Lisse bulb fields. You can see them on barge cruises departing Keukenhof or Kagerplasse lake and by guided walking tour, or hire bikes at Keukenhof and cycle the flat polder landscapes amid strident blazes of colour.

If you’re in Amsterdam on the third Saturday in January, you’ll witness the first of the city’s annual celebrations of the tulip season. National Tulip Day sees more than 200,000 greenhouse-grown cut flowers laid out in Museumplein so people can pick them for free.

And of course, Amsterdam is in fiesta for the entire month of April. During the city-wide Tulip Festival you will see blooms in more than 85 locations, including Dam Square, Museumplein and the lush green Vondelpark. Serried ranks of flowers stand in museum gardens, edging the banks of the IJ River and lining the canals. They enliven shopping streets and brighten up tram stops in an incomparable, unmissable show of colour. If you’re arriving during the Tulip Festival, reserve your room at luxurious Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam well ahead of time.

The already-buzzing activity at Keukenhof flower gardens ramps up to a frenzy late in the month of April, when the famous and fabulous Bloemencorso flower parade takes place. The largest, most vibrant and most fragrant flower festival in The Netherlands, it’s a spectacle of flower-adorned floats, street artists and marching bands processing along a 42-km route from Noordwyk to Haarlem. 

Once you’ve soaked up tulip season in Amsterdam, rise with the lark and hop on the Aalsmeer train from Centraal Station to witness the frenetic bidding at the world’s largest flower auction. Trading at Royal FloraHolland starts at 7am and continues at breakneck speed; guests are welcome to watch the action from the visitor gallery.

Visit the greenhouses at Annemieke’s Picking Garden in Hillegom, just a short train ride from Amsterdam, from April to mid-May to pick armfuls of your own beautiful blooms. Keen to learn more about tulip cultivation in Holland? Check out the Museum De Zwarte Tulp in Lisse, housed in a sprawling former bulb shed.

Tulip Mania hit The Netherlands in the early 16th century. Thanks to its status as a maritime trading power, Amsterdam was by then the richest city in Europe. Spices, silks and porcelain arrived from the Far East and money filled the coffers of the merchant classes. Tulips were imported from Central Asia and soon became exotic status symbols among the newly wealthy of Amsterdam, causing the value of the flowers to skyrocket. 

Wily merchants grabbed their opportunity to make a quick profit, forcing prices up and up. At the peak of tulip madness, mansions around stately Herengracht Canal were sold for handfuls of the rarest bulbs as they changed hands for up to six times average annual incomes. All it took was a few rogue traders to renege on their promises, and in February 1637, the financial bubble finally burst. Overnight, demand for tulips disappeared and their value tumbled. The result was financial catastrophe for many, and disputes over tulip-related debts rumbled on for many years.

The Dutch tulip market may have collapsed in 1637, but it has rallied since then and today Holland produces around 80% of the world’s tulips and tulip bulbs, in an industry worth around €82 million per year. The flowers also bring in visitors by the million, who flock to The Netherlands in spring for day trips to the world-famous gardens at Keukenhof and the bulb fields of Lisse. 

It’s thanks to the Dutch climate that the polders – flat areas of land reclaimed from the sea – of northern Holland are perfect for tulip growing. The North Sea keeps winters mild, and the long cool spring promotes bulb growth. A constant wind coming off the sea ensures that insect levels are kept down, and tulips thrive in the well-drained, sandy soil of the polders. Land that was once under water now supports the growth of around 4.3 billion tulips annually.

Tulips are undoubtedly vital to the Dutch economy, but they are also a symbol of its culture; these vibrant flowers act as reminders of the country’s illustrious history. Whether it’s watching the spring flower parades, biking past seemingly endless fields of explosive colour or admiring the floral artistry at Keukenhof, you can see their role in Dutch heritage for yourself.

Don’t forget that while April is the best time to enjoy tulip season in Amsterdam, you’ll create memories to cherish whatever time of year you visit this lovely city.