Well it finally happened, after three years of trying we finally made it to the tulip fields in the Netherlands. We had originally planned to go, back in the spring of 2020 but then covid reared it's ugly head and put a stop to that idea.
At the time I thought "Oh well, there's always next year," but then the same thing happened in the spring of 2021 and I started to worry that it was never going to happen.
But as it turns out spring of 2022 pulled through for us and we actually made it there. Whoop Whoop!
The tulip fields are scattered around the small town of Lisse and the large garden attraction called the Keukenhof. You can park your car at Keukenhof for 6 euro and take the bike routes around the fields from there.
I would say that if you want to see the fields and take pictures up close then you pretty much have to bike. I wouldn't recommend driving because it looked like a nightmare during our visit on a sunday. The roads where most of the fields are located are quite narrow and there are bikers and pedestrians literally everywhere. The few cars that we saw were stuck going at a snails pace behind dozens and dozens of people. There's really no place to pull over either so it would be difficult to get out of a car to take photos. If you must drive then I would say you would need to go early in the morning on a week day to make it easy on yourself. That or just stick to the Keukenhof garden. Bikes can be rented from many locations in the area including the Keukenhof itself.
The bike route maps that you find online aren't the greatest but the city (or region) does an awesome job posting signs along the route that lead you to the fields. The entire circuit is done on dedicated bike lanes so it's very easy to follow and very safe.
There are several circuits of varying lengths, so I would say that there is a route for any endurance level or any skill set. There are three main routes and each are marked by their own color - red, green or purple, with red being the longest route of the three. It's 25km in length.
We actually started our bike ride from our hotel in Leidan though which was an hours ride away from Lisse. In total we biked around 60km.
We were pretty tired by the end of the day and also in a bit of pain - actually more than a little pain. It didn't help that I biked with an extra 15-20lbs on my back.
I'm still smiling in the photo above so this photo must have been taken early on in the day. I wasn't smiling by the end. Actually my butt still hurts from the bike seat.
It takes skill to take a selfie while riding.
The easiest place to begin a bike ride would be at the Keukenhof parking lot or maybe the small town of Lisse. From either of those locations you can ride into the bike lane and begin following the colored signs.
The first field that we came to was a hyacinth field and it was just as impressive as the tulips but for a different reason.
Hyacinths are colorful and all but it was their fragrance that made them really special.
The air was so fragrant all around the field, it smelled like walking into a room that someone had just had a shower in - very clean and fresh and aromatic.
You actually see quite a few different types of flowers along the route. Tulips, hyacinth and daffodils mostly and all of them in a wide array of different colors.
My favorite spot was this tulip field with a few rows of multi-colored flowers.
Most fields are a solid color so the multi-colored one was pretty unique.
As you can see it was only a few rows before it turned into a solid red, but it was enough to get a cool effect if you took your photos at the right angle.
Taking really good photos wasn't all that easy though and I'm not all that pleased with the ones I took. There was a ton of space away from people, which was great, but there wasn't any shade around the fields to help out the camera. It was a bit of a battle with the sunshine really.
I think my camera especially hated these orange tulips. "Are they red? Are they orange? I can't tell."
A lot of the photos I took were facing the sun or the sun was behind me and washing out the flowers. Still, I really couldn't complain about the weather. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride - very warm and sunny.
I read online that you're not supposed to walk in the fields when you visit them and one field had a sign posted that actually made that request.
It was pretty easy to not walk in so most of the photos we took were from the edge of the fields.
As we got deeper into the area we noticed that the signs had disappeared and that basically everyone was walking between the rows to get pictures. It seemed wrong to us at first but we eventually succumbed to the temptation and before we knew it we were doing a photo shoot between the rows just like everyone else.
From what I saw everyone was being very respectful to not trample the flowers or step off the row so that was good to see.
There are a few cafes, bars and restaurants along the route if you want to stop off for a drink or a quick bite to eat.
We saw this one restaurant at the edge of a small lake that was marked by rows and rows of wooden posts that were topped with a bucket of flowers.
The restaurant itself was decorated with large and elaborate flower arrangements and bouquets as well.
It was a really pretty spot so we stopped for a coffee and a small snack of bread and dipping sauces.
Online I read that the best time of year to see the tulips in bloom is between the middle of April to the first week in May so now is the time to see them if its on your list of things to do. You don't want to wait too long in May because eventually the farmers will cut the flowers in order to strengthen the bulbs.
But I can say that biking the tulips fields is a worth while thing to do if you're looking for a nice spring activity.