Spring is highly anticipated for its warm hugs of sunshine and warmth. The Netherlands is known for its crazy weather and paired with climate change, we experienced the most bizarre weather combination this Spring. However, no one is stopping the people to welcome the Cherry Blossoms and Tulip season.
The first week of Spring, we were greeted with summer-high temperatures, which brought joy to everyone. It was 20 degrees Celcius, still a bit cool for summer, but warm enough to break the winter hibernation. Then the second week came, we were surprised with hale, snow, sun, and crazy wind. Temperatures were so erratic that every 5 minutes, the weather changed. We were still in lockdown, yet everyone is itching to get their dose of Vitamin D from the glimpse of the sun.
SAKURA (CHERRY BLOSSOMS)
The first two weeks of Spring is when the Sakura aka Cherry Blossoms shows their beauty by filling the parks with a pinkish blanket of flowers. I have found three locations where we can appreciate its beauty.
Amsterdamse Bos, Amsterdam
Amsterdam was lucky to have 400 Cherry Blossom trees planted in the Amsterdamse Bos, thanks to the Japanese women who donated them. Hanami (aka the blooming season) has been a highlighted event every year, but due to the pandemic, events were canceled. People going in were controlled to make sure they could adhere to the corona rules.
Regenboogbuurt, Almere Buiten
This neighborhood has impressive pathways of Cherry Blossoms which is the perfect Instagrammable spot. There are about three streets that are lined up with Sakura, it is enough for everyone to have their photos taken without interference.
Muziekwijk Station, Almere Stad
This spot is easily accessible to anyone for it is near a train station. They have a park nearby where you can have a picnic, and lay down surrounded by sakura petals falling down (which we did and it was bliss!).
We visited the two Almere locations during the first week of April because it was the nearest. We were able to appreciate the beauty of Cherry Blossoms for the first time, here in the Netherlands. It is a brief experience of the erratic weather that took over the next week. Boy, we are glad we got to see them anyway.
TULIP FIELDS OF THE NETHERLANDS
Tulips have been a signature piece in Dutch culture. The Dutchies love their tulips. Last year, we weren’t able to see the tulip fields (duh, corona pandemic crisis!). This year, measures have eased a bit so we were able to see the fields.
The tulips bloom from the end of March till the first week of May. But the erratic changes in temperature, made the tulips bloom late this year. The tulips were appreciated until the second week of May. Here are the routes we took to check them tulip fields:
Tulpenroute Flevoland
It is the biggest tulip field in the Netherlands. The fields stretch for almost 100km. Almost the whole Flevoland is blanketed with tulips when this season comes. We were lucky for these tulip fields were accessible to us, by car and by bike.
I also stay tuned in Facebook groups and WhatsApp groups in Almere in case people post locations and exact addresses of the tulip fields they found. The community in Almere is very nice for people are sharing their experiences with fellow neighbors.
Lisse- Keukenhof Tulip route
This is the famous tulip route for it is where the Keukenhof Gardens are located. It is also the area where most of the tulip farms can be seen.
We chose not to visit the Keukenhof Gardens this season because of the Corona rules situation. The garden was open in a trial state, where you need to get tested before you can enter. Also, limited people can visit with adherence to a time slot to ensure no more than 50 people are inside at the same time.
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| ANWB Bollenstreekroute |
The route we followed was from the ANWB site which shows the tulip fields around the area of Lisse-Hillegom-Noordwijkhout. There were several farms that were open to the public like the TulipBarn, Tuliperij, and the Tulip Amsterdam Experience.
A nice discovery for us was the Tulpen Island in Zeewolde. It was a nice Tulip-shaped reclaimed island near the Zeewolde harbor where they have a nice quaint tulip field and a place where you can wander off.
2 comments
Wonderful post! I guess we missed visiting this amazing season last year. We got our Netherlands Visa UK and were ready to head over to the Netherlands in October. But, last-minute work calls had forced us to reschedule our Netherlands trip. This time we made sure to clear up all the workload so that we can easily visit the charming country and explore its popular attractions and munch on delicious gastronomical delights.
[…] region publishes the route to see the fields. You just need to follow some signs that say “Tulpenroute“, which means “Tulip Route”. This special route guides you through some of the […]