The best time to visit Keukenhof

Keukenhof opens for roughly seven weeks, from the third week of March to the middle of May. Inside that window the garden changes a great deal, and the fields outside it change even more.

Late March: the opening weeks

Crocuses, early narcissi and hyacinths. The tulips are mostly still leaves. The garden is at its emptiest and the indoor pavilions are already in full display, which is where the photographs come from in these weeks. Choose this window if crowds bother you more than completeness.

Early to mid April: the best balance

The main tulip beds come through and the garden looks the way it does in the marketing. Visitor numbers climb but are not yet at their peak. If you can only pick one window without knowing the weather, this is the one with the best odds.

Mid to late April: peak everything

Peak bloom in the garden and peak crowds. Easter and the school holidays fall in or near this period and the roads around Lisse become genuinely difficult in the middle of the day. Arrive at opening or come after three o'clock.

This is also when the commercial fields outside the garden are at their most spectacular, which most visitors miss entirely.

Early May: the last weeks

The garden is still full — late varieties and a great deal of colour — but many of the surrounding fields have already been topped, because growers cut the flowers once the bulb has what it needs. If your priority is the striped fields rather than the garden, early May is a gamble.

The fields follow their own calendar

The fields around Lisse, Hillegom and Noordwijkerhout are commercial bulb production, not a display. Different varieties bloom in different weeks, and a field that is spectacular on Tuesday can be cut by the weekend. There is no schedule published anywhere. The only way to know is for somebody to have driven the roads that week.

Time of day

The garden opens at eight and the coach parties arrive from about ten. The first ninety minutes are calm and the light is better. The last two hours before closing are the second-best window.