Keukenhof & the Flower Parade

Keukenhof Gardens are reputedly the world's largest permanent flower garden. Around seven million tulip bulbs are planted here each year along with crocuses, daffodils, orchids and other flowers to create beautiful display beds. I’ve sent hundreds of people to these gardens over the years, either as an excursion from Amsterdam, on a river cruise or with a coach tour. Very few take the trip and stay locally.

We decided that we’d have the full experience and travel in April to see the annual Flower Parade as well as just the gardens. The Parade leaves from Noordwijk and travels just over 26 miles via Keukenhof to Haarlem. The parade is themed and has several viewing platforms erected along the route alongside areas set aside for some celebrations & entertainment. It’s the biggest flower parade in the world and approx. 1 million people will line the route to watch it.

As you can imagine, it takes a long time to walk the route as a marching band or a dancer and we met the parade as it came into Haarlem around 9pm. The streets were lined with people cheering them on and it took almost an hour for the whole parade to pass. They were heading for an area of the town with broad streets where they parked up for the night. The next day was clear and bright and everyone was able to admire the floats in the sun and enjoy the street food and music. With everything made from fresh flowers, the scents are amazing, but don’t forget your antihistamine if you’re prone to hay fever!

We flew early to Amsterdam and took the express bus directly to Haarlem. Once we checked our bags into our hotel we walked back to the bus station to head to Keukenhof. As it was the day before the parade it was busy and buying your tickets in advance is essential. On the parade day Keukenhof is still open but there are road closures and transport is severely disrupted.

The Flower Parade first started in 1947 which was before Keukenhof opened and it’s still an amazing free event. Haarlem is set up for visitors with a funfair in the town square and many of the local eateries have outdoor dining with heaters and awnings to take the extra visitors and ward of any showers. The more modern area of the city is used for the display area so everyone has the chance to admire the floats at their own pace and it’s interspersed with market stands, entertainment and street food for a great day out.

Most locals cycle or walk everywhere and a huge part of the old city is still quaint cobbled streets. Much like Amsterdam you can take a canal cruise around part of the city, it has a much smaller red light district, a beautiful church and cathedral with the addition of a windmill you can visit. The beautiful Müller Organ at St Bavo’s was played by G.F. Händel in 1740 and 1750, (who travelled to Haarlem especially for this purpose) and Mozart played it in 1766 when he was just 10 years old. It’s a beautiful church and they have occasional free organ recitals during the winter. From May to October they’re weekly and have a minimal charge.

If we’d had more time we would have visited the beach at Zandvoort & the F1 track too. We had a great time and were so pleased we stayed in Haarlem rather than Amsterdam!