Keukenhof Gardens 2023, The Bloemencorso Flower Parade & Private Tulip Gardens

Tour Summary – What’s Included

• Visit 11 gardens including the Keukenhof and the little known Bloemencorso Flower Parade.
• Small Group escorted tour to visit the best spring gardens in the Netherlands.
• Accommodation at the excellent 4* Citycourt Hotel Utrecht.
• Luxury Transportation by private coach.
• Entrance fees for all gardens
• Accompanied by experienced local tour guide with botanical knowledge.
• Complimentary welcome drinks on arrival.  6 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches, 1 Farewell Dinner.

Tour Description

We start this tour of Tulip Gardens: The Keukenhof Gardens, Bloemencorso and Private Gardens in the Netherlands in the fascinating University city of Utrecht which will be our base for the next 6 days.  We’ll visit the world famous Keukenhof gardens where more than 7 million bulbs will be in flower during our visit!  Luckily, we’re in the Netherlands at the same time as the Bloemencorso Flower Parade.  For a couple of days, floats of all shapes and sizes are festooned with Spring flowers and paraded with great pride around the local bulb growing area.  Your tour guide will explain everything about Tulip mania, point out ancient varieties of tulip in flower and lead you through one of the most spectacular tulip trails in the country.  You’ll see hundreds of acres of tulips of all different colors and types in bloom.

We visit the Royal Palace Het Loo and see its superb Baroque garden and discover the nature and landscape of one the Netherlands best National Parks during our visit to the world famous Kroller-Muller museum and sculpture garden.  In short, what better place is there to visit in Spring than the Netherlands?

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 – 19 April 2023 – Check-In – 4* Airport Hotel Schiphol – Complimentary Drinks

Check-In to the Airport Hotel Schiphol near Amsterdam in time to meet your tour guide and fellow garden visitors over complimentary drinks between 1800-1900.  Your tour guide will give you an overview of your tour and hand out a tour information booklet.  Make you own arrangements for Dinner.

Day 2 – 20 April 2023 – The Flower Fields of Lisse & Hillegom, a Nursery, Making of the Bloemencorso Flower Parade – Breakfast & Lunch included

After breakfast and checkout, we tour through the stunning bulb fields of Lisse & Heillegom by luxury coach.  Here, you will see vast tracks of land devoted to the cultivation of flowering bulbs most of which will be in bloom.  An unforgettable sight!  En-route, there will plenty of opportunity to stop and take photos before we reach our next destination, a local Nursery.  After a set lunch (included) we’ll have a sneak preview of some of the parade floats that we will see during the incredible Bloemencorso Flower parade.  Hundreds of volunteers will be busily attaching spring flowers to their floats before the parade begins.   Dating back to 1947, the Bloemencorso Flower parade is closely linked to the spring flower exhibition at the Keukenhof which we visit on Saturday.

Towards the end of the afternoon we travel to Utrecht where we will stay for the next 5 nights at the 4* Citycourt Hotel.  Located in the heart of the old city center in an old courthouse, the hotel has been carefully renovated to include all the modern comforts expected by the international traveler.  We’ve chosen this hotel not only for its comfort but also its location.  There are a number of excellent dining options nearby and many of the iconic Utrecht landmarks are easily reached by foot.

Accommodation:  4* Citycourt Hotel, Utrecht

Day 3 – 21 April 2023 –  The Tulip Trail, Lipkje Schat – Breakfast & Lunch included

After breakfast we travel by coach to the Flevopolder and pick up the Tulip Trail.  Before its land was reclaimed, this area was known as the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea).  Now, more than four meters below sea level, the soil in this area is exceptionally suited to the cultivation of tulips.  You’ll be amazed at the many hundreds of acres of fields of tulips in bloom: too many different colors and varieties to count!   While traveling the tulip trail we’ll stop off at two exceptional private gardens.  Our first stop will be Lipkje Schat; a good example of a ‘poldertuin’, with straight paths and hedges.  Here you’ll see a number of  different gardens: a garden with a square pond surrounded by evergreen plantings, a blue garden, a pink and lilac garden, a secret garden as well as a blue garden. You’ll be amazed at the sight of thousands of flower bulbs planted here in combination with perennials. What’s more, the views over the Polder landscape from this property are amazing and give us an authentic impression of rural country life in the Netherlands.  Next we visit Pegasushof.  Defined by clean lines with yew and box hedges, and a modern terrace overlooking one of the ponds the garden has been inspired by both English and Dutch gardens. We’ll have coffee here before traveling back to Utrecht.  Make your own arrangements for dinner, either at the hotel or nearby at one of the restaurants recommended by the Hotel’s concierge.

Accommodation:  4* Citycourt Hotel, Utrecht

Day 4 – 22 April 2023  Keukenhof, Bloemencorso Flower Parade – Breakfast & Lunch included

After breakfast we leave our hotel and travel by luxury coach to the world famous Keukenhof for a special guided visit by a professional Dutch gardener who will explain to us the various techniques they use to make sure that the garden is always in exemplary order throughout the relatively short Spring flowering period.   We will learn about how many years bulbs can be grown in the same place and the importance of land rotation.  We will also learn how to plant bulbs in combination for maximum impact throughout the season.

After lunch, we travel a short distance and take up our seats ready to watch the Bloemencorso Flower Parade.  We’ll see floats of all shapes and sizes pass in front of us.  Don’t forget your camera and enjoy the spectacle!  After the parade has passed, we return to Utrecht.  Make your own arrangements for dinner, either at the hotel or nearby at one of the restaurants recommended by the Hotel’s concierge.

Accommodation:  4* Citycourt Hotel, Utrecht

Day 5 – 23 April 2023 –  Op de Haar, Het Loo Palace, Kröller Muller Museum & Sculpture Garden – Breakfast & Lunch included

Today we visit three very different gardens.  First, we visit Op de Haar, a plantsman’s garden in the middle of an ancient wooded swamp.  With 4500 different plants, trees and shrubs the 2 ha garden is renowned for its woodland and shade tolerant plants. We’ll have coffee and cake here before we travel on to Het Loo Palace.

Built between 1684 and 1686 for King William III and Mary II of England the Het Loo palace is a fine example of Dutch Baroque architecture and is now a state museum.   The palace garden was designed by Le Nôtre’s nephew, Claude Desgotz.  In keeping with Baroque style, it’s perfectly symmetrical, has an axial design with radiating gravel walks, and includes parterres with fountains, basins and statues.

From Het Loo Palace we make our way by coach to the Kröller Muller Museum & Sculpture Garden located in the splendid Hogh Veluwe National Park. The museum was opened in 1938 and has the second-largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh in the world.  Adjacent to the museum is one of the largest sculpture gardens in Europe.  Set in more than 75 acres (30 ha) it has a fine collection of modern and contemporary sculptures. The museum, its design and sculpture garden perfectly reflect its founder’s conception of a symbiosis between art, architecture and nature.  It’s a very special place.

Make your own arrangements for dinner, either at the hotel or nearby at one of the restaurants recommended by the Hotel’s concierge.

Accommodation:  4* Citycourt Hotel, Utrecht

Day 6 – 24 April 2023 – Hortus Bulborum, Utrecht Botanical Garden – Breakfast, Lunch & Farewell Dinner included

After breakfast we travel by coach to visit the Hortus Bulborum.  Dating from 1924, the Hortus Bulborum is a living bulb museum with a collection of more than 4,000 historical bulbs.   Most of the bulbs that we’ll see in flower are tulips, narcissus and hyacinths, but there is also a small number of Fritillaria and crocus.   Your tour guide will tell you all about the Tulip mania period of Dutch history (1635-1637) and point out some of the most famous tulips in the collection: the ’Duc van Tol Red and Yellow ‘(1595), ‘Zomerschoon’ (1620), the exotic parrot tulip ‘Perfecta” (1750) as well as many other fascinating examples.

After a set lunch, we return to Utrecht to visit the splendid Botanical Garden there. Located at the heart of Utrecht Science Park, the gardens date back to 1639 and are one of the oldest botanic gardens in the Netherlands. They were laid out on and around Fort Hoofddijk, which dates from the 19th century. This extraordinary stretch of green space, covering nine hectares, is part of Utrecht University and there is much of interest here for us to see before we return to our hotel and rest before we all meet up again for a farewell dinner at a good local Indonesian restaurant.

Accommodation:  4* Citycourt Hotel, Utrecht

Day 7 – 25 April 2023 – Boskoop, Leiden Botanical Garden, City Tour Leiden – Breakfast & Lunch included

After breakfast and check-out, we travel to Boskoop, an area world-famous for its 750 nurseries specializing mostly in woody plants and perennials.  As you will see, the nurseries are situated on long stretches of land divided by narrow canals.  In fact, up until World War II almost all transport in the area was by narrow boat.    Invoking this time, we will take our own boat and tour along the nurseries and learn more about the history of this fascinating area.  If time permits, we will stop off at a couple of the most important nurseries.

After lunch at a typical café, we will have a walking tour of Leiden, a city with a rich cultural heritage, not only in sciences, but also in the arts. One of the world’s most famous painters, Rembrandt was born and educated in Leiden.  As you will see much of the 16th- and 17th-century city center is still intact and unlike Amsterdam is a very pleasant place to explore at leisure!  Finally, we’ll visit Leiden Botanical Garden. Dating from 1590, the botanical garden was originally established for the benefit of the Universities medical students and very soon amassed an extensive plant collection many of which were bought back to the Netherlands by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Many plants from the 18th century have survived.  There is a Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) from 1716, Date plum (Diospyros lotus) from 1739, Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) from 1785 and Golden Chain (Laburnum anagyroides) from 1725.   Tropical plants can be found in the greenhouses and one of the largest collections of Asian orchids in the world can be found here.   Leiden Botanical Garden is an oasis in the middle of an ancient university town. After our visit, we’ll travel the short distance back to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in time for your onward journey.