Tulip Time in the Netherlands

Lea Anne and I thoroughly enjoyed the Tulip Time River Cruise this past April 2023 with Avalon Waterways. We flew into Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport where we met our ship, the Avalon Panorama. Once onboard, we settled in to enjoy the next 2 weeks of back-to-back cruising.

Keukenhof Gardens, which is only open 8 weeks of every year from mid-March to mid-May, was most definitely a top highlight of the entire cruise. So much so, that we decided to visit twice!

Also known as The Garden of Europe, Keukenhof is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in the municipality of Lisse, in the Netherlands. The Park covers an area of 79 acres, and presents a glorious display of the 7 million flower bulbs that are planted in the gardens annually.

Keukenhof is widely known for its tulips, but it also features numerous other varieties of flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, lilies, roses, carnations and irises. Each autumn, 40 gardeners plant the 7 million bulbs, donated to the park by over 100 growers. Planting starts early October and is usually completed by 5 December. The flowerbeds are synchronised to the different bulb flowerings to ensure blooms throughout the duration of park's 8-week opening. To ensure continuous blooms, three bulbs are planted in each location. The shallowest bulb will bloom first for three weeks, followed by the subsequent layers.

We HIGHLY recommend you plan your Amsterdam river cruise during the 8-week-window that Keukenhof is open to the world. You'll not see anything like it!

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