I only pulled out my last tulips only a week ago so I don’t feel too bad that this post is a little out of season. Back in April my friend and I took an overnight visit to Kuekenhof Gardens in Amsterdam. I’d seen a lot of Pinterest action around the garden, ladies twirling in pretty dresses with big hats amongst the flowers but not much else, so wasn’t sure what to expect prior to our visit.
Thankfully the gardens delivered so much more than a Pinterest moment. The gardens themselves were stunning, the planting a lesson in perfect tulip growing – there was something for every taste and style. I learnt so much more than I expected too and didn’t think I could love tulips more until I visited Keukenhof! The gardens are planted in sections with each farm having their own area to display their bulbs. There are also three or four huge glass houses with even more displays clearly giving the name and farm of each flower and not just tulips, narcissi and amaryllis too. When choosing tulips for the year ahead it can be hard to pick from an online image, the tulips in the greenhouses were all in different stages of bloom from bud to wide open petals which gives a grower a chance to see the whole flowering story. I have SO many names saved on my phone.
As expected the gardens got busy quickly, we arrived about 8.30am and left around lunchtime when the crowds were at the thickest. I always think its good to get to places either as soon as they open or wait until mid-afternoon and stay until closing time to have a little space to enjoy the flowers. The gardens are located in a town called Lisse and really central to all the flower fields. From Kuekenhof gardens we hired bikes and cycled around the flowers farms for the afternoon (I have more photos to come on this!).
There was so much to capture, both my ‘big’ camera and camera roll are full to the brim with ideas. I loved the more natural planting styles combining all the beautiful spring flowers rather than the formal beds or displays with props. The butter and blue garden planted near the windmill was my favourite. Whilst its much easier to grow tulips in blocks in my garden, for spring bouquets the combinations of textures and colours were lovely and I’ll definitely pop a few yellow tulips in the ground this year as they will pair perfectly with muscari and forget-me-nots also in flower at this time.
I was really inspired by a simple mix of tulips and daffodils in happy spring colours. On return from Kuekenhof I started pick your own tulip mornings and I think a combination like this would be a great to bring into the garden for next year.
For these photos I used my Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera with a fixed 50mm lens. This gave plenty of blur on the crowds behind and let me get right into the flowers without disturbing them. Like I said previously it is busy so you have to be quick to get the right shot! We often found a quiet spot which proceeded to get mobbed as soon as the crowds cottoned onto the background. This worked both ways as we spied some ladies having some great photos with a fully flowering field behind them and waited patiently for our photo opportunity. My advice for photographing in Kuekenhof would be to move fast, take more photos than you need and get in low to the ground to capture flowers and not feet.
When we booked it was hard to find collated information so I thought a run through of our trip would be handy.
We flew in early on the Saturday and out Sunday evening which gave us plenty of time. We headed straight to Haarlem from the airport on Saturday to explore and then spent Sunday in and around Kuekenhof. I feel we had plenty of time to enjoy both without feeling rushed. If you look into it there are some great towns around the gardens which are definitely worth exploring.
We stayed at The Moxy Hotel at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which was really simple and just what we needed. The hotel runs shuttles to and from the airport at an additional cost. From the airport we caught the Keukenhof bus which runs every 20mins or so.
We purchased a Tulip Festival Card which covered our entry to Kuekenhof, bus and train fares. It worked out fairly good value and ensured we had a time slot booked to visit the park.
We packed light for our trip but our bags did become heavier as the weekend went on…there were a few irresistible bits in Haarlem to squeeze in! Our biggest surprise was a free locker room at the entrance to Kuekenhof and I think I saw a suitcase check too. We were able to off load our pyjamas and other non essentials which definitely made the day lighter. It also came in handy to switch bags when it was time for the bike tour.
We didn’t prebook bikes at Kuekenhof gardens and easily managed to hire them on the day. I can’t remember how much the bike hire was but there were plenty and the attendants gave us great information on routes etc.
If it looks cold pack an extra layer!
There are plenty of food options within the gardens – both coffee and savoury options. Nothing in these places is ever cheap but it was all delicious.
I really hope you find this post helpful. If you like tulips then you won’t be disappointed by Kuekenhof. I’ve got lots of photos from around the tulip fields so will get them up soon. x
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I do love the Keukenhof but for someone who is Dutch it is weird to see them mentioned in the title as from Amsterdam! Lovely to read your experiences though.