Keukenhof: Tulipmania in Full Bloom

We planned our trip for the last week in April 2023 to catch the tulips in full bloom, booking our tickets a month in advance. Unfortunately, the weather of northern Europe threw us a curveball for the 25th and 26th, our two walk-around days. The daily high each day didn’t rise past 9 C. (48 F.). That compares to 22 C. (77 F.) back in the sunny Algarve; we left Faro in short sleeves to show up in Amsterdam muffled in gloves, caps, sweaters and jackets. 

But we got the flower timing right. Walking around the grounds at Keukenhof, we encountered very few green, un-opened stems. Virtually every plot displayed tulips — you can’t even count the different varieties — in full, glorious bloom: 

The downside to all this beauty is people — busloads of them. Keukenhof attracts 1.5 million people a year, the largest chunk of them arriving during tulip season. We noticed all the buses lined up near the entrance when we arrived shortly before 10 a.m. We came in one ourselves, from Leiden’s central station, and found the crowds growing by the hour. Soon it became nearly impossible to take a photograph without strangers wandering into the background.

By noon, dodging the crowds at “Holland’s Disney World” had worn us out. It was now time for lunch and we had no appetite for queueing at one of the on-site eating places, which were mobbed. Since nothing could be found within walking distance outside the park, we took the bus back to Leiden and our hotel. (Visitors take heed: pack your own lunch to Keukenhof!)

We did use Uber to return to the area later in the afternoon for another experience we had signed up for — the Renzy tour. This was a self-conducted drive (via programmed GPS and audio guide) around the tulip fields and farms near Keukenhof. Renzy offers these tours in Twizies, tiny, 2-person, all-electric vehicles built by Renault. 

The experience of driving a Twizy reminds me of a golf cart but with more oomph. The Twizy can reach 70 kph, although we never exceeded 30 on the twisting country lanes around Lisse. We began the two-hour drive at 7 p.m., when the approaching sunset made for dramatic photographic effects. 

The Renzy tour was a good way to end our tulip experience in Holland. Driving around the farms enabled us to see the tulips in their natural state, before they’re replanted at Keukenhof, and with no crowd congestion.