Where to see the iconic tulips in and around Amsterdam | I amsterdam (2024)

In Amsterdam

Tulip Museum

Image from Ines Maudire

Located in the Jordaan, theAmsterdam Tulip Museum pays tribute to the delicate flower that ignited great passion and envy over the centuries. The museum details the Netherlands' fascinating horticultural history, including a phenomenon known as "Tulipomania". During the 17th century, a craze for tulip bulbs took hold of the country and people even sold their houses to invest in bulbs at special stock exchanges. Although they’re a little more sensible these days, the Dutch still love their tulips!

National Tulip Day

Image from Pauline Arkesteijn

In the spring, the Netherlands’ famous flower fields become a blanket of tulips — but the season starts much earlier than that. The Dutch tulip season in Amsterdam kicks into gear in the heart of January onNational Tulip Daywhen Dutch growers present 200,000 tulips in a temporary garden on Dam Square. These beautiful blooms are not just for viewing, either — all visitors can pick a tulip from the garden to bring home free of charge.Head to Dam Square to pick your own tulip from a specially constructed ‘picking garden’.

Tulip Festival

Image from Pauline Arkesteijn

And when spring has indeed sprung, the Amsterdam Tulp (Tulip) Festival arrives for the entire month of April to give visitors a glimpse of the blooms in their natural habitat. Marvel at the city's parks, streets and sidewalks come are brightened with colourful tulips adorning various locations in Amsterdam. The goal of the festival is to eventually have one tulip for every Amsterdammer — amounting to 800,000 tulips in the city alone. All that visitors need do to experience the festival is go tulip-spotting around the streets and attractions of Amsterdam: participating locations regularly include the Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, Rembrandtplein and EYE Filmmuseum.

Open Garden Days

Image from Monique Vermeulen; Amsterdam Museum

For one weekend each year, a selection of canal houses and museums open their doors to the public and reveal the beautiful gardens hidden behind Amsterdam's brick facades. For three days in mid-June duringOpen Garden Days, you can visit 30 of Amsterdam's secret gardens - often with special events such as classical music performances included in the programme.

Gardens and parks

Image from Hortus Botanicus / Barbara van Amelsfoort

If you'd rather stay in the city, stop and admire the flowers in one of the manyparks and gardens in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam,Vondelpark is a favourite of residents and visitors alike, whilst Erasmuspark, Amstelparkand Nelson Mandelaparkhave their own dedicated rose and magnolia gardens. Hortus Botanicus is a magical escape in the middle of town with over 4,000 plant species growing in their gardens and greenhouses. Or check out the secluded but still stunning Botanical Gardens Vrije Universiteit (Zuidas). At the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest), you can wander past budding trees and botanical gardens in the city's most sprawling public park.

Bloemenmarkt

Image from Koen Smilde

If you are passionate about petals, one of your first stops should be the Bloemenmarkt, otherwise known as the floating flower market. Rain or shine, summer or winter, the flower market is one of Amsterdam's most colourful and fragrant places. All the stalls are located on floating barges along the canal, a relic from the days when flowers were shipped from the fields to the city by boat. Fresh flowers are still brought in daily, but these days by lorry. Whatever your favourite flower, you are bound to find it here. If you are looking for tulips, research in advance to improve the odds that the bulbs you buy will blossom. Seasonality is essential; if you want bulbs that bloom in the spring, purchase bulbs in the fall, and if you want bulbs that flower in the summer, buy your bulbs in early spring. Ask the seller for the details as they may not volunteer the information. Look for bulbs that are big and firm while avoiding bulbs that look mushy, mouldy or damaged.

Please note: If you want to take any flowers, plants or seeds home, make sure there is a customs-cleared stamp (on the packet) for when you cross country borders.

Further afield

Flower Strip

Image from Amsterdam Marketing

Take a trip through the Netherlands to view the Flower Strip or Bollenstreek, a spectacular 20-kilometre display of blossoming crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and the famous tulips. Fields stretching from Haarlem to Leiden come alive with colour beginning in late March, reaching a vibrant peak in mid-April. The trip can be taken by car, but perhaps the best — and most Dutch — way to visit the Flower Strip is on the bike route. Another unique way to see the region is hiring a 100% electric two-seater vehicle from Renzy. The firm's excursions take you around the colourful tulip and flower fields, featuring a GPS and an audio guide to tell you all about the destinations you're driving through.

Find out more about visiting the iconic flower stripthough our dedicate guides.

Keukenhof Gardens

Image from Koen Smilde

Keukenhofis the country's most magnificent flower show, brimming with tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other spring bulbs for just a few months each year. The world-famous park boasts 32 hectares bursting with flowers and 15 kilometres of walking and biking paths. The park includes several pavilions with unique displays and various weekly special activities. Don’t forget your camera - with over 7 million flowers, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful spring setting! Buy your tickets here.

Royal FloraHolland

Image from Cris Toala Olivares

Early birds should make a memorable trip to the flower auction held atFloraHolland in Aalsmeer. Each day, 19 million flowers and two million plants are sold in an area of almost one million square metres. The auction is open to the public from 7:00 to 11:00, Monday to Friday. The earlier you arrive, the more fun you’ll have to watch the action unfold. Buyers haggle for the best prices, and the blooms are dispatched all over the globe within hours of being sold. The flowers are sold in a “Dutch auction” – as the clock ticks down, the price of the flowers gets lower!

Annemieke’s Pluktuin

Image from Annemieke's Pluktuin

If simply seeing and buying tulips isn’t enough, visit a picking garden to create your own handpicked bouquet. At Annemieke’s Pluktuin (Picking Garden)in Hillegom, just a short ride from Amsterdam, visitors can pop into the greenhouse to pick fresh tulips from mid-February to mid-May. Outside Lisse is De Bollenburcht, where visitors can explore a restored 1930s bulb shed and, in April and May, pick tulips from the garden’s 100 different varieties.

Museum de Zwarte Tulp

Image from Museum de Zwarte Tulp

Since the tulip came into prominence in the Netherlands in the 16th century, Dutch artists and collectors have sought to capture the tulip’s beauty and fame in art. At Museum de Zwarte Tulp (Museum of the Black Tulip) in Lisse, visitors can view tulip artwork, botanical illustrations and flower bulb glasses and learn about the history of tulipomania and the current science of flower bulb cultivation.