Weekly Flower update 2018 – week 16

Weekly Flower update 2018 – week 16

Good morning, we had a very late spring time this year, but it looks like summer time is very early this year. For the next couple of days sunny and warm summer weather is forecasted with temperature highs of 25 C or 77 F! Perfect for the flower parade upcoming weekend…

Current status of the flowers

Every day now you can see fields full of color starting to bloom. The daffodils are in bloom, hyacinths are in bloom and the tulip fields are starting to bloom as well. Most of the crocus fields are gone.
At Keukenhof every day is different, the flowers pop out of the ground every day. The trees are getting more green leaves on their branches. Spring is speeding up now.

Next two weeks
With the long winter, late spring and summer like temperatures in the next week it is an absolute different situation as previous years. We are not yet at the peak blooming of the tulips yet, but with warm summer temperatures blooming of the flowers are growing and blooming in the fields. I expect lots of fields in bloom in the next two weeks and maybe the first heading of the fields during the first week of May. This is right on schedule as in previous years.
Keukenhof is looking wonderful and it is getting better in the next two to three weeks. The borders of Keukenhof are planted in lasagna style and much more blooming is expected. I even think that we will have lots of blooming until the closing day of Keukenhof.

Make sure you have your Skip the line ticket of Keukenhof in advance when traveling by car or your Keukenhof ticket with Public Transportation. You don’t have to wait in line to buy a ticket and have your ticket on your mobile phone (or print it at home just what you prefer). Between 11 AM and 3 PM a lot of people travel to the Keukenhof, especially during weekends. The best time to beat the crowds is early in the morning or later in the afternoon. See How to travel to Keukenhof here.

Flower Parade weekend

Upcoming weekend it is parade weekend. For everyone who is visiting please read the hints and tips collected from previous years. The most important one: Please do yourself a favor and don’t schedule a visit to Keukenhof on parade day. It will be so crowded in the garden and on the road towards it, you will hardly see any flowers. It is perfectly fine to visit on Friday or Monday, but Saturday and even on Sunday it will be crowded. If you can’t visit on other days please make sure you arrive at the Keukenhof early in the morning (before 9:30 AM) Roads can be closed if the crowds are getting too heavy and it isn’t a lot of fun standing for hours in the biggest traffic jam of the year in the area.

You can watch the parade on Saturday the 21st of April anywhere from Noordwijk to Haarlem and the cities in between. Have a look at the route and the timetable here.

The same parade will drive to the lovely town of Noordwijkerhout on Friday evening (20th of April) already. It is a best kept secret for locals, however it is promoted to others as well. If you decide to visit in Noordwijkerhout this is a great schedule:

Afternoon (2-6 PM) (you can visit Keukenhof in the morning)

Visit the town, see the white church beautiful decorated with lots of flowers
See the parade floats parked in to town, walk around them, make lots of photos
See the gorgeous flower mosaics made out of hyacinth flowers
Enjoy the street theater, music band and the other (kids) activities.
And with the summer weather, have a drink at one of the terraces, eat an ice cream, have fun.

And if you are up to it, drop by my Meet & Greet organized at the tourist information of Noordwijkerhout to say hi. Love to hear all your travel stories in the Netherlands. I will be there from 2-6 PM. (address: Dorpsstraat 8, 2211 GC Noordwijkerhout)

Have dinner afterwards and find a spot for the parade at around 8 PM. The flower parade will start at 9:15 PM.

Tickets and Tours

FAQ

Source: Tulips in Holland
Photo credits: Tulips in Holland

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