I had long wanted to go to see the tulips in Holland and this all proved to be something Ray was also keen on when it became apparent that we could do this by bicycle.
We made two trips, one in early April 2018 and a second trip slightly later in April 2019. We had thought we might repeat the trip in April 2020, but had not booked to go because Ray had a knee replacement in February and we decided to wait and see if it was practical. Then, of course, COVID intervened!!
The weather of both of our trips was lovely - clear blue skies and quite balmy. We travelled to Harwich where we picked up the overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland. It was a comfortable and easy trip and the weather was calm on both occasions.
The journey from the Hook of Holland to the bulb area is about one and a half hours and we stayed in a hotel in Noordwijk aan Zee which is on the coast. Noordwijk is clearly a summer beach resort but also has a second season created by the flower displays. When you arrive in the area, you are very quickly aware of its focus on flowers and there was a wonderful display to meet us outside the hotel.
The first visit was only about a month after Holland had emerged from a cold winter and it was surprising that so much growth had occurred during that time.
Whilst we saw fields of daffodils and tulips, it was on this first visit that we experienced the heady scent of hyacinths. You could see the whites, pinks and pale blue fields from some distance, but you could also smell them. It was intoxicating.
On both occasions we took the opportunity to visit Keukenhof. Keukenhof means Kitchen garden" and is also known as the Garden of Europe. It is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in the Dutch town of Lisse. Keukenhof is open for about 6 weeks of each year and attracts over a million visitors. We were lucky in that we found the back entrance and also arrived early and so parking was easy and we did not have to queue for tickets.
The bulb planting is simply awesome. It is a good two-three hours to get around the whole site, but it is a great opportunity to see some simply wonderful displays of tulips, alliums, fritillaria, muscari and much much more.
The planting is broken up by ponds and alleys and green areas but there is a lot of intense colour; some beds are wonderfully "in your face", but it all works.
In between the visit to Keukenhof and visiting around the bulb fields, on each occasion, we cycled around the area, visiting Leiden, Katwijk and Noorwijkerhout.
There is also a very pleasant cycle ride along the sand dunes of Noordwijk.
Rather than returning from the Hook of Holland, we decided to travel back via the tunnel stopping off in Zeeland and Brugge.
To tempt your appetite for a visit, we will publish another post tomorrow with more photos of Keukenhof and some of Zeeland and Brugge
Ray & Rosemary
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