Best Tips for Visiting Tulip Fields in the Netherlands: Where, When & How • Sarah Chetrit's Lust Till Dawn (2024)

Want to see beautiful tulip fields in the Netherlands? Here are four ways to do it!

Over the past five years living in Amsterdam, I’ve visited three different tulip fields in the Netherlands! I’ve also got to chat personally with a couple of tulip farms so I could get the best tips After living in Amsterdam for five years, visiting a handful of tulip fields, and speaking with a couple of tulip farmers in person, I wanted to share my best tips on finding tulip fields in Netherlands the right way.

Visiting the tulip fields in Holland properly is more important than you could ever know! Keep reading to find out how to get your gorgeous tulip photos in the spring time.

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Best Time to Visit Tulip Fields in the Netherlands

Despite the constant stream of beautiful tulip field photos on Instagram, tulip season in the Netherlands is relatively short. A lot of farmers grow tulips to sell the bulbs. Bulb export is predominantly their main business so they’ll cut down the tulips shortly after they bloom.

As a result, tulips are generally up for only two to three weeks!

So of course, buying tickets to come to Amsterdam at the right time is crucial.

The best time to see tulips in the Netherlands is between the third to last week of April to the first week of May depending on whether you’re visiting Keukenhof Gardens or tulip fields that go on forever.

Best Time to See Tulips at Keukenhof Gardens

From experience, the prime time to see tulips at Keukenhof Gardens, a magnificent tulip park, is the last week of April or first week of May.

I went too early two years in a row and missed all the tulips.

Best Time to See Tulip Fields

As for the tulip fields in Holland, you’ll want to aim for the third or fourth of April.

If it’s a colder season and you come earlier than this, they might not be in bloom. If it’s a warmer season and you come later than this, they might’ve all already bloomed and been cut down by the farmers as the farmers cut them down to harvest the bulbs.

Overall, to be safe, I would come the last few days of April for both Keukenhof Gardens and the flowers fields in the Netherlands.

This is also the best time to see tulips in Amsterdam as the city puts huge pots of tulips all over the city. It’s quite beautiful!

Pro Tip: The last few days of April coincides with King’s Day, a national Dutch holiday. Hotel prices tend to go up even more so if you want to be cost savvy and still see the tulips in bloom, then come around April 20th, which is one week before King’s Day

You might like my guide to Amsterdam or the Netherlands if you plan on visiting more than Amsterdam.

Four Ways to Visit Tulip Fields in the Netherlands

There are four awesome ways to visit the tulip fields in the Netherlands, which are perfect for visiting, adventurers, taking photos at as an influencer or grabbing some family photos together.

1. Visit Keukenhof Gardens

The Keukenhof Gardens are a beautiful sight to see and a must visit if you are coming in the spring.

It is massive and there are so many areas to visit, places to eat at and even playgrounds for kids to play in.

To see the tulip fields outside of the Keukenhof Gardens, you can head on one of their Whisper Boats, which gives you a nice tour around the area from the comfort of the boat.

Skip the lines by getting a ticket ahead of time here.

Pro Tip: Bring a picnic blanket to Keukenhof Gardens and hang out all day.

2. Bike Around to See the Fields

An option for adventurers who want to see the tulip fields is to rent a bike and use the website Bloemenradar.com to find out where the best blooming fields are.

This method is fun if you like to bike but is a bit haphazard.

A lot of fields have some type of fence or canal around it so visitors can’t get into them. This is to make sure that people don’t accidentally spread disease to the flowers causing the entire field’s flowers to rot, turn black and ultimately, ruin the livelihood of the farmer’s who plant these tulips.

You can rent a bike:

• in Haarlem,
• at the entrance of Keukenhof,
• Hotel de Nachtegaal (300 meters away from Keukenhof)
• or the train station at Hillegom(4km away from Keukenhof).

If you want a more guided experience with a guarantee to take photos in front of a tulip field, then consider doing a bike tour where your guide will take photos for you! Check out this bike tour.

3. Book a Visit with Fam Flower Farm

Fam Flower Farm is a tulip farm that allows you to book photo sessions with them. Not only will you get permission to take photos in their field, you’ll also get to use their cute props!

Here are benefits to booking a visit directly with a farmer.

1. A lot of tulip fields in Holland have some barrier around them whether it’s a gate or a moat (for a lack of better words) so if you drive or bike around to look for a tulip field, your chances of taking photos inside one may be slim-to-none. Getting in touch with a farmer means that you’ll have 100% chance of getting into a field.
2. Because of barriers around tulip fields, generally you’ll be able to take photos in front of a field but not inside. Working with a farmer will give you access to take photos inside the field to get the insta-worthy photo you really want.
3. You won’t get kicked off the tulip field since you have permission. That way, you’ll be able to spend all the time you need on getting the perfect photo.
4. The most important reason why you need to get permission is because these tulip fields are a farmer’s livelihood! Their work is what keeps food on the table and roofs over their heads. Entering fields without permission can damage the flowers they plan on selling, or worse, ruin the entire field of flowers and bulbs with you unknowingly spreading disease.

Check out Fam Flower Farm’s site here.

4. Book a Visit with Bloom Effects (for Influencers)

Bloom Effects is the clean beauty brand who makes this amazing nectar hydratant I HAVE TO slather all over my face at nighttime as the last step of my skincare.

If you just got into slugging, then this is the product for that. But if that’s not what you’re going for and you have dry skin during winter or even eczema, this will really help you. Check it out here.

If you’re an influencer, Bloom Effects, will allow you to visit their tulip fields in exchange for a tag on Instagram. They have beautiful fields, which I personally checked out one of their events so highly recommend this option because it’s free.

Bloom Effects’ fields are one of the best places to see tulips near Amsterdam because you have full permission to be there.

Head to their Instagram to ask them!

Why Going into a Random Tulip Field in Holland Without Permission Can Harm Farmers

As mentioned above, besides not being able to get the perfect shot because of barriers around the tulips or getting kicked off the tulip fields, there’s something larger at stake than just a good photo.

The largest at stake is that by entering a tulip field without permission, you might unknowingly spread disease throughout the tulips! Yes, you innocently taking photos at one itsy bitsy corner of the tulip fields can actually make the entire tulip field completely black one to two weeks after you leave.

Once the tulip fields go black, then the tulip farmer cannot sell the bulbs or the flowers, and their fruitful efforts of their business will die… literally.

This is why I highly encourage reaching out to a farmer to get permission for photos. You’ll get to take your time taking photos with the peace and mind of being able to be there.

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Tulip Fields in the Netherlands