weekly flower update 2019 week 17

For the upcoming week I expect to see more and more flowers in bloom. The muscari rivers in the Keukenhof are almost at their peak blooming. And also the tulips that haven’t been in bloom yet will start blooming. We will return to more normal temperatures for springtime so hopefully this will keep the flowers blooming a bit longer. Now is the perfect time to bike around the fields or visit the other tulip festivals in The Netherlands. We are currently at the peak of blooming.

For the FAQ of this week:
1. When will the tulip fields be headed?  As mentioned before I expect to see the first fields being heading from this upcoming week. the weather has been very warm and the tulips are blooming wonderful at the moment. Not all the farmers will start at the same time (early tulips will be headed earlier than regular or late blooming tulips). I expect that most flower fields are headed before the 6th of May.

2. Will there be flowers left in May? Based on previous years I expect there is always something to see in bloom at Keukenhof.
Normally my personal favourite week is the first/ second week of May, because of all the flowers in bloom and the fresh leaves on the trees. We will still have to experience how the weather will develop in the upcoming weeks. Now it is too early to predict how the blooming will develop especially with these warm temperatures ahead of us. It has been the warmest springtime since the beginning of 1900 so it is difficult to predict how the blooming of the flowers will react to this warm weather.Luckily cooler weather with rain is on its way.

Keep an eye to our social media (buttons below) to see actual photos and videos of Keukenhof and the flower fields.

27 April – Kings Day, our National Holiday to celebrate the birthday of our King (Have you selected your orange shirt yet?)

Be aware – in old guide books or online the 30th of April is mentioned as Queen’s day in the Netherlands. Since 2014 we don’t celebrate Queen’s day but we celebrate King’s day on the 27th of April. Every year some tourists end up completely dressed up in orange outfit in Amsterdam on the 30th of April, wondering where the big party is held. They not only hear that they missed the party by 3 days and but also end up on the 8 o’clock Dutch news (as tourist who don’t check the right dates, you don’t want to end up there).

Some tips for King’s Day:
– Check the dates for musea, tourist attractions, shops, etc. It is a National Holiday so some places might be closed. Keukenhof will be open on King’s Day. Sightseeing boats won’t run on King’s day, if you wonder why, google “Kings day Amsterdam water” and see the images. And you will see it is impossible to boat around town on King’s day.
– Amsterdam will be extremely busy especially if the weather is nice. Public transportation (trams and busses) won’t run in the city centre due to the crowds. Trains will generally run, unless the crowds in Amsterdam are too heavy. (last couple of years it run).
– Visit the cities of Haarlem, Utrecht, Leiden, Den Haag, Delft for a more friendlier and less busy King’s day. Make sure you bring cash money with you (pref. 1 and 2 Euro coins, max 5 euro bills) for buying stuff, food and drinks at the markets.
– Have fun, it is a lovely party.

In the past few weeks we have added several new tickets this year. Have a look to our tickets & tours:

Flying Above tulip fields by helicopter (in the town of Creil in the Noordoost Polder – reachable by (rental) car only)

If you are looking for other tours like canal boats or bike tours in Rotterdam have a look at our full tour list on our website.