Today was the reason we were in Amsterdam – a visit to Keukenhof (I’m told it is pronounced Kook-en-hof) – the self proclaimed “most beautiful spring garden in the world”.
In all the years that we have been coming to The Netherlands we have never made a visit there before but as we were planning our trip a friend visited and told us how amazing it was and that sealed it for us.
We’d booked our tickets in advance and it included a bus from the RAI convention centre just out of town. It was straight forward to get to RAI from Amsterdam Centraal on the metro and then the bus journey was just thirty minutes to Keukenhof.
We entered the gardens at 8:30 am and it seemed busy to us even then but it was possible to walk away from the entrance and find quieter paths. We couldn’t do our usual trick of walking as far away from the entrance as possible as the place has two entrances on opposite sides of the garden.
The flowers were stunning and were everywhere you looked in bright colours and attractive groupings. The park is only open for three months of the year and the rest of the time is spent lifting and replanting the bulbs.
Off with their heads
I’d been reading the regular flower reports posted on the Keukenhof website to see what was in flower and through clever planting there is always something on display no matter when you visit. I’d particularly wanted to see the grape hyacinth “river” and while it was no longer at its best it was still amazing.
The place is kept in tip top condition by an army of gardeners dead heading the millions of flowers. There was also not a weed in sight but then the tulips were planted so closely together that nothing else really had a chance.
Strike a Pose
Keukenhof is incredibly photogenic and there was much jostling for position to get the shots that everyone wanted. I’m usually happy to give people time and space to get their shots and wait until they are finished but what I found slightly annoying was the women, and it was only women, taking forever with their poses, putting their legs in odd positions like they were some glamour model and then insisting on multiple images. In the end, I just gave up waiting and wandered into shot!
We’d thought that it was busy when we entered the place but after four hours it was almost impossible to move (Chelsea Flower Show busy) for people and given the heat, it was 25 degrees by now, we felt we’d seen what we wanted and it was time to depart.
The return journey was not so smooth with long queues waiting for a bus that was a long time coming. Once a bendy bus arrived we all piled on the then spent the next thirty minutes queued trying to get out back onto the motorway but the roads were jammed full of cars trying to get in and blocking the way.
I can’t validate if Keukenhof really is the “most beautiful spring garden in the world” but it certainly must be right up there.
Dank u Wel Keukenhof.
