The SpeciaList | Cultural Activities
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By Eva Sandoval31st March 2024
Nienke Panis-Ringersma has made a career out of following the region's famous blooms. Here are her favourite ways to experience the season, from road trips to bulb picking.
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Few images are as indelible as the sight of candy-coloured tulips bursting through the dark winter ground. But in the Netherlands – the world's largest exporter of the magical bloom – venerating tulips is a way of life. In the weeks leading from icy winter to spring, rows of flowers stud the country's landscape in technicolour streaks, most famously in the Bollenstreek "Bulb Region", stretching between the towns of Haarlem and Leiden, arching towards the North Sea. And with tulips come tourists; eager to experience the blooms for themselves.
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Nienke Panis-Ringersma is the owner of the photography and Dutch culture blog Tulips in Holland, which now also shares its tulip photos and weekly flower updates via X, Instagram and most recently TikTok. She is a licensed national tour guide, and her husband says she eats, sleeps and dreams tulips.
We spoke to Nienke Panis-Ringersma, the lens behind the popular Dutch-based tulip photography blog, Tulips in Holland, to find the best tulip bloom experiences in the Netherlands. "People in the Netherlands are very down to earth," says Panis-Ringersma, whose images and tulip facts receive millions of likes per month on Facebook. "They are quite used to the flower fields. You know when it's tourist season, because the roads are clogged with people on a bike who are not used to riding bikes."
Nonetheless, Panis-Ringersma adores her nation's iconic bulb flower – enough to have made it her career. "I think it's the excitement," she says. "It starts around December when we can buy tulips in the florist shops. And around the third weekend of January, we celebrate National Tulip Day. Around 300,000 tulips are placed on the museum square in Amsterdam with a beautiful backdrop of the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum. It's the start of many tulip festivals leading up to the start of spring. It's a magical place and I love the flower, the fragrance. Every tulip is unique. There is a great story to tell."
Here are Nienke Panis-Ringersma's favourite ways to experience tulip season in the Netherlands.
A stop at the iconic Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse is obligatory for any tulip lover visiting the Netherlands (Credit: Serghei Starus / Alamy Stock Photo)
1. Best overall: Keukenhof
"So, you ask for absolutely number one place? Visit Keukenhof," says Panis-Ringersma.
Keukenhof Gardens – celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024 – is undoubtedly the most popular tulip experience in the Netherlands, its lushly landscaped "inspirational" tulip gardens and windmills drawing over a million visitors each year during its eight-week season. "Around 7 million bulbs are planted by hands, not by machine, every year," says Panis-Ringersma, whose budding love for tulips was ignited by childhood visits to Keukenhof, where her grandfather volunteered as a ticket taker. "It's the most beautiful spring garden in the world."
Responsible Flower Viewing
Tourists, take note; in the Netherlands, it's illegal to park near or walk through tulip fields. "Flower fields are commercial fields," says Panis-Ringersma. "You can damage crops by entering with your normal shoes, when you bring in bacteria, especially the hyacinths are very sensitive to that. And you don't want to have people over in the fields taking photos, picking flowers over there. Some tourists think that the fields are for there for them."
Visitors enjoy a wide variety of experiences at Keukenhof including picnics, flower exhibitions and didactic "whisper boat" cruises through the gardens, where contemporary art sculptures dot the grounds. But plan ahead; Keukenhof is open for just two months, usually from the first day of Spring to the first week of May, depending on the weather. "The best time to go is the $1m question," says Panis-Ringersma. "It's different every year… right now we have an extremely warm winter. I think the best time to visit for this year is around the middle of April."
Website: https://keukenhof.nl/en/
Address: Stationsweg 166A 2161 AM Lisse
Contact: info@keukenhof.nl
Instagram: @visitkeukenhof
The Bloemencorso parade of exquisitely decorated flower floats marches through the Bollenstreek, creating a vibrant Springtime atmosphere (Credit: famveld / Alamy Stock Photo)
2. Best cultural experience: Catching the Bloemencorso Flower Parade
To truly get swept up in the excitement of tulip season, be sure to catch the Bloemencorso Flower Parade.
"A flower parade is a very festive flower festival," says Panis-Ringersma. "It's about 20 different floats, marching bands, cars very lavishly decorated with all kinds of flowers, people enjoying themselves, street entertainment… every town is a very festive atmosphere."
Insider Bloemencorso Flower Parade tip
Panis-Ringersma encourages visitors to also catch the events surrounding parade day. "Not many people know that there's the Night Parade on Friday evening," she says. "It's in Noordwijkerhout, a very small town. People gather there to look at the parade floats, have a drink and have something to eat outside on the terrace." During the Night Parade, the floats are illuminated, creating a magical atmosphere.
And on float Construction Days (Wednesday to Friday), spectators can watch volunteers decorate the floats with thousands of flowers. On Sunday afternoon, after the parade, the floats are displayed for one last time in the city of Haarlem.
The Bloemencorso parade takes place each year on the third Saturday of April, marching along the road from Noordwijk to Haarlem, through the Bollenstreek and past Keukenhof. "It's a full day," says Panis-Ringersma. "People line up at least three four lines thick to see. Some people get their seats ready at least three hours before the parade to make sure… it's like a Disney parade. People are sitting down on the streets waiting for the parade to pass by."
Panis-Ringersma's tip: watch from Noordwijk. "Lots of people try to see the parade around Keukenhof because it passes the gardens," she says. "But that's an extremely busy spot. Go to Noordwijk early in the morning. It's a beautiful seaside town."
While waiting for the parade, feast on Dutch Stroopwafel cookies, or have lunch at Panis-Ringersma's casual Dutch dining pick, Hudson Restaurant. "It's a very festive day," says Panis-Ringersma. "Every town is having markets … it's an absolute must-see for people traveling to the Netherlands."
Website: https://bloemencorso-bollenstreek.nl/en/
Phone: +31 (0)252 428 237
Instagram: @bloemencorsobollenstreek
For the best – legal – immersive tulip experiences, visit a tulip farm like the Tulip Barn in Hillegom with its 750,000 tulips (Credit: AFF / Alamy Stock Photo)
3. Best interactive experience: Visiting a tulip farm
For those who aren't satisfied merely admiring the blooms from afar, Panis-Ringersma suggests visiting a tulip farm. "Because everybody really wants to go into the fields, which is not allowed," she says. "So, please go to a tulip farm where it is allowed!"
Panis-Ringersma's three farm recommendations are all found in the heart of the Bollenstreek. "All three are founded by bulb growers," she says. "So, they know absolutely what they are doing. They're all a very hands-on experience."
The family-run Tulip Experience in Noordwijkerhout is Panis-Ringersma's first pick; home to nearly 1 million tulips. "You can go to the field where you can see at least 700 different types of tulips," says Panis-Ringersma. "You can visit the tulip market with all kinds of products made of tulips or with tulips on it. You can pick your own tulips. It's a very fun experience." What sort of tulip products? "Beer with tulips, tulip vodka, tulip Aperol Spritz, soap smelling of tulips, vases, napkins with tulips, wallets with tulips," she says. "If you can name it, everything with tulips."
Alternatively, visit Tulip Barn in Hillegom just 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam, where visitors can immerse themselves in the 750,000 tulips sprawling across the farm's gardens and production field. "They are more focused on making Instagrammable photos," says Panis-Ringersma. "So, for a bit younger target audience."
Heading further south, Panis-Ringersma also likes De Tulperij in Voorhout. "You can go together with the bulb grower," she says. "You're walking into the fields. He will dig up some tulip bulbs and will show you how they are growing and what they are doing each year to make them grow. It's a very interesting environment."
Website: https://tulipexperienceamsterdam.nl
Address: Delfweg 37, 2211 VK Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands
Phone: +31651368784
Instagram: @tulipexperienceamsterdam
The Bloemencorso parade of exquisitely decorated flower floats marches through the Bollenstreek, creating a vibrant Springtime atmosphere (Credit: famveld / Alamy Stock Photo))
4. Best for kids: Tulip picking
For visitors with antsy kids (and a car), Panis-Ringersma loves tulip picking in the Bollenstreek. "Not in the regular fields where you can say as you're walking, 'Oh, I like this one!'" she says. "No, just go to a to a picking farm and pick your own tulips."
Tulip Road Trip Map
When roaming the Bollenstreek, it's helpful to have a plan – like Panis-Ringersma's helpful tulip road trip map; perfect for navigating the area by car or by bike.
"The green map square is Keukenhof," she explains. "All the yellow stars are flower fields. The pink line is a long route among various flower fields; the blue is a route towards the beach. And when you drive by bike or by car, you will absolutely find tulip fields in bloom regardless the time of season during springtime."
There are several picking farms in the Bollenstreek area, but Panis-Ringersma recommends heading to Annemieke's Pluktuin, a tulip nursery in Hillegom run by husband-and-wife team, Annemieke and Pieter. "Pluktuin is literally 'picking garden'," explains Panis-Ringersma. "Tulip picking is an absolutely brilliant experience, especially when you go with children to walk into the field and get the tulip with the bulb and you can take the bulb and the tulip with you back home or to the hotel."
Website: https://www.annemiekespluktuin.nl
Address: Haarlemmerstraat 15A, 2182 HA Hillegom, Netherlands
Phone: +31653839979
Instagram: @pickinggardenholland
Head to the Hortus Bulborum historical bulb garden in Limmen to see rare historic bulbs in living colour (Credit: Nini Kraan / Alamy Stock Photo)
5. Best for tulip aficionados: Hortus Bulborum
For Panis-Ringersma, whose passion for tulip photography led her to become an expert in tulip horticulture, the Hortus Bulborum historical bulb garden in Limmen is a sacred institute of learning.
Did You Know?
"An interesting fact about fact about tulips," says Panis-Ringersma. "It's not native to the Netherlands but people think it is." Tulips are, in fact, native to the Himalayas, where they flourished as a small red mountain flower before being brought to Turkey in the 1400s. "People from Turkey went to the Himalayas and took this magical flower," says Panis-Ringersma. "They thought, 'Oh, it's very interesting. Let's see if we can make it taller or different colours.' At the end of the 16th Century, it came to the Netherlands. People would have thought, 'Okay, it's a very ugly bulb, but there comes a beautiful flower out of it.'"
"It's like a living museum," she says. "Tulips entered the Netherlands around the 16th Century. And people loved them from the very beginning. And right now, there is one place in the Netherlands that keep the bulbs alive from the 16th Century and later on. So, this is a place where you can visit and find the oldest bulbs of the Netherlands still blooming."
The Hortus Bulborum houses over 4,500 varieties of historical spring bulbous plants, from tulips to daffodils to hyacinths, which are rarely cultivated in modern day. The garden's star bulbs include a specimen of Fritillaria Persica, dating to 1557, and the ancient 16th-Century tulip Duc van Tol Red and Yellow.
"So, you can visit and it's a very small garden," says Panis-Ringersma. "They have great apple pie! So absolutely visit and drink some coffee with apple pie over there and have a look at all the different kinds of flowers."
Website: https://hortus-bulborum.nl/en/
Address: Zuidkerkenlaan 23A, 1906 AC Limmen, Netherlands
Phone: +31617291643
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hortusbulborum/
BBC Travel'sThe SpeciaListis a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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