Recently we cruised through tulip bulb farmers’ fields here in the Netherlands. They are such an impressive sight! We had so much fun spotting, watching and photographing them. Lying on the ground we tried to capture the most beautiful views: the typical Dutch scenes that are so famous all over the world.
People travel to the Netherlands specifically to watch the flower fields. That’s how famous they are. And indeed every year between early April and mid May the Dutch flower fields become trending topic in social media timelines. You will see pictures of flower fields as seen from airplanes, tulips in early morning fog, videos made by drones showing the immense fields full of different colors, and much more.
Never in the past years have I posted about the flower fields….until now! We are right in the middle of the tulip season (April-May) so don’t miss them if you are traveling to Holland. Now is the time to go and see them!
Where to watch flower fields?
Of course we all know about the famous Keukenhof, one of the major tourist attractions in our country. But you can also watch flowers at farmers’ fields (like we did). Trying to avoid long queues and too many people in my camera viewfinder, this is the way I prefer it. There are different regions to watch flower fields, where the most popular area lies between the cities of Haarlem (North-Holland) and Sassenheim (South-Holland). All within one hour drive from Amsterdam. There is even a Flower Radar online where you can check the status of most of the fields in this area!
Recently we became aware of another area that is quite new to tulip watchers. The tulip fields have been here for years, but only last year (2015) the local municipalities started to map out special routes past many of these fields. This Tulip Route circles around the city of Dronten, in Flevoland. Flevoland is one of our 12 provinces and situated in the very center of the country.
This so-called TulpenRoute Dronten offers hiking, cycling and car routes. Maps can be downloaded on their website and information is available in English.
Tulpenroute Dronten
So off we went! We downloaded the car route from the website and started in the city of Elburg. I think we covered around 50km of the route where we saw dozens of tulip fields, some in bloom and some not yet. We had a very tasty lunch along the route at Beach Club Nu.
Most of the farmers whose fields you’ll see here aren’t growing for the cut flower industry; they’re growing for the bulb industry. The blooms will be chopped off at just the right time in order to get healthy and strong bulbs. Not all fields bloom at the same time, so there will always be enough of them to watch (and photograph!).
Timing: when to watch tulip fields?
Peak tulip time is mid/end April, depending on temperature. When the weather has been chilly the tulips blooms a bit later. Timing seems to be essential, but there will always be fields to enjoy. And even closed blooms with lots of green leaves can be beautiful too.
Something completely different: Flevoland is well known for its wind turbine energy program. You will see them everywhere! Getting up close and personal with one of these giants can be a good alternative for yet another tulip field (although we never showed any sign of tulip field fatigue!).
Enjoy your visit to one of the many flower fields! Why not share the tulip fields on Pinterest? Thank you for sharing!
Hover over the image and click the Pinterest (Pin it) share button. Thanks!
2 comments
These are gorgeous! Puts my six sad tulips on my terrace to shame!
haha, I’m sure they do…but even those six provide you with some happiness right??