Seeing the tulips in Amsterdam: when, where and how

When do tulips bloom?

The bulb flower season usually runs from mid-March to early May, and tulips come last. In the bulb region, daffodils colour the fields from mid-March to mid-April, hyacinths from late March to late April, and then tulips take over from mid-April to early May. The peak is most often around mid-April and in the second half of the month.

These dates shift from year to year depending on the weather. The fields are also there to produce bulbs: growers cut off the flowers shortly after they open so the plant feeds the bulb, which means a field that is ablaze with colour on a Monday can be green by the following weekend. Before you set off, check the bloom map (Flower Map) on the official Bollenstreek website, updated every week from early March to early May, and Keukenhof's bloom report.

If you can only pick one week, aim for the second or third week of April: Keukenhof is in full bloom, the fields stand a good chance of being in colour and the Tulp Festival is in full swing in town. Our guide to the best time to visit Amsterdam compares this season with the rest of the year, including weather and hotel prices.

Keukenhof, the great tulip park

Keukenhof, in Lisse, is the must-see of the season. In 2027 it opens from Thursday 18 March to Sunday 9 May, every day from 8am to 7pm (last entry at 6.15pm). Around 7 million bulbs are planted there in several layers, so that the blooms follow one another throughout the opening period. 2027 tickets go on sale on the official website from 15 October 2026.

Each ticket is valid for a fixed date and arrival time, and its price varies by day. The official website lists an adult ticket from €21 online versus €27 at the gate, and a child ticket for ages 4 to 17 at €11 online versus €15 at the gate; entry is free up to age 3 (prices checked in October 2026). Beware of resale websites: the park's own website is the only official ticket outlet.

During the 2026 season, seasonal buses linked the park with Amsterdam, from Europaplein metro station, as well as with Haarlem and Leiden. The 2027 routes and combination tickets have not yet been published: our page on the park details how to get there. Arrive at opening time, on a weekday rather than at the weekend.

The flower fields of the bulb region

The Bollenstreek, or bulb region, stretches along the dunes between Haarlem and Leiden, around the villages of Hillegom, Lisse, Voorhout and Noordwijkerhout. In spring its fields form long stripes of yellow, pink, red and purple, visible for free from the roads and cycle paths. Fields surround Keukenhof, so you can combine the park and the fields on the same day.

One rule to respect: stay at the edge

The fields are production plots owned by the growers. The official Bollenstreek website is clear: entering them is forbidden. Walking between the rows breaks flowers and bulbs, can spread disease, and costs the grower their crop. Take photos from the edge, pick nothing and do not park across the narrow roads. For photos among the flowers, choose one of the flower attractions marked on the Flower Map, which are set up for that purpose.

By bike, the best way

Cycling remains the best way to explore the region: cycle paths run along the fields and you can stop wherever you like. The Bollenstreek Flower Route, a signposted 25 km cycle route, passes many fields before reaching the dunes and the beach. The region's bike rental shops are marked on the Flower Map. By train, Hillegom and Voorhout stations, on the line between Haarlem and Leiden, are the closest starting points to the fields.

The flower parade on 17 April 2027

On Saturday 17 April 2027, the Bloemencorso Bollenstreek, a parade of floats covered in flowers, travels through the region from Noordwijk to Haarlem, passing through Lisse and Hillegom. Watching from the roadside is free; paid grandstands, to be booked in advance, are set up in several villages. It is the busiest day of the year in the region: if you are going to Keukenhof, choose another day or set off very early.

Tulips in Amsterdam: the Tulp Festival

You do not need to leave the city to see tulips. Every April, the Tulp Festival, founded by garden designer Saskia Albrecht with the motto "a tulip for every Amsterdammer", places hundreds of thousands of tulips in public space: tubs and planters in the streets, on bridges and squares, flowerbeds in parks and in front of well-known buildings. The 12th edition ran from 1 to 30 April 2026; the I amsterdam tourist office announces the 13th edition from 1 to 30 April 2027. Everything on display in the street is free.

In 2026 the route started from the Damrak and Dam Square, passed through the Munt, Koningsplein, Raadhuisstraat and Westermarkt, and fanned out into the neighbourhoods, from Nieuw-West to Noord. In the Vondelpark, organic tulips floated on rafts on the pond. Each spring the festival website publishes the list of locations and varieties planted, with a map showing what is in bloom: it is the best starting point for a walk or a bike ride.

To extend your outing in the green, the Hortus Botanicus, a botanical garden founded in 1638 in the Plantage district, is open every day.

National Tulip Day in January

The season officially begins in the middle of winter. For National Tulip Day (Nationale Tulpendag), tulip growers united in the association Tulpen Promotie Nederland set up a temporary garden of 200,000 tulips grown under glass. Long laid out on Dam Square, it is now held on Museumplein. In 2027 it opens on Saturday 16 January from 1pm; entry is free and each visitor may pick up to 10 tulips, slipped into a bag provided on site.

The event is very popular: according to I amsterdam, the wait to get in is often around an hour. Arrive before opening time and dress warmly.

The tulip museum and the flower market

To understand how a flower from Central Asia became a symbol of the Netherlands, step into the tulip museum, at Prinsengracht 116, opposite the Anne Frank House. This small museum tells the story of the tulip's arrival in the Dutch Republic and of the tulip mania of the 1630s. A visit takes less than an hour and adult admission costs €7 (price checked in October 2026).

The flower market, on the Singel, mainly sells bags of bulbs, seeds and souvenirs. Together with the tulip museum shop, it is the most convenient place to buy bulbs in the city centre.

Leiden, cradle of the Dutch tulip

The story of the tulip in the Netherlands begins in Leiden. The botanist Carolus Clusius arrived there in 1593 to run the university's botanical garden, founded in 1590, and grew tulips brought from the Ottoman Empire: these plantings laid the foundations of bulb growing in the country. The Clusiustuin, a garden reconstructed from the plans and plant lists of 1594, gives an idea today of what the garden looked like around 1600.

With direct trains from Amsterdam Centraal and a seasonal bus to Keukenhof in 2026, Leiden lets you combine the park in the morning and the city in the afternoon.

Further afield: the fields of the Noordoostpolder

If you have a car, the Noordoostpolder, in the province of Flevoland, about a hundred kilometres north-east of Amsterdam, holds its own Tulpenfestival every spring. Free signposted car and cycle routes run past large areas of tulips, on a route that changes every year depending on where the fields are. The organisers confirm the festival will return in 2027; dates are published as the bloom approaches.

Taking tulip bulbs home

Tulip bulbs are planted in autumn to bloom the following spring: if you are in Amsterdam in October or November, it is the right time to bring some home and plant them as soon as you get back. Read the variety, colour and flowering period on the bag.

The rules depend on your destination:

• Within the European Union: bulbs bought for your personal use travel without formalities.
• United Kingdom: since Brexit, plants for planting, bulbs included, coming from the European Union must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate; above 2 kg, an inspection on arrival is compulsory.
• United States: a traveller may bring in up to 12 plants, bare-rooted and free of soil, accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the country of departure, and must declare them at customs.
• Other countries: check with your country's authorities before buying, as a certificate is often required.

For these destinations, ask the seller for bulbs accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate valid for your country and keep them in their original packaging until inspection. Without a certificate, bulbs may be seized on arrival.

The 2027 season at a glance

Prices checked in October 2026. Bloom dates in the fields are never guaranteed: check the Flower Map and Keukenhof's bloom report a few days before your trip.

Further reading

To plan your day in the bulb region, our guide to day trips from Amsterdam covers Haarlem and the other towns that are easy to reach by train, and our guide to getting around Amsterdam details metro and train tickets. If your stay falls at the end of April, King's Day on 27 April turns the city into one big orange party, and our Amsterdam in 3 days itinerary helps you fit a tulip day into your plans.