Experience The Blooming Amsterdam In A Limited Budget

People with a love for traveling keep seeking opportunities to travel in different places. When the spring is around, and you are low on your budget; the best place to go for is Amsterdam. There are plenty of reasons why to go to Amsterdam specifically in spring.

One of the main reasons is to see the Amsterdam city blooming with beautiful tulips. The tulips look very captivating, and you cannot miss this beauty and the charm they provide to the city. The tulips are the sign of emerging of spring, typically in the month of March.

Where Should You Go?

The place not to be missed, when you are visiting Amsterdam in the springs is Keukenhof Gardens.

Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof or ‘kitchen garden’ is known as the Garden of Europe. It is one of the largest flower gardens in the world. The park has more than 800 varieties of tulips, with more than 7 million bulbs in bloom in the spring.

The entry charge in this garden is €16 per adult. This is very reasonable as you can happily spend the whole day in the garden with your loved ones. The park is usually opened from 24 March to 16 May, from 8 am to 7:30 pm.

Various Activities To Do

Boat trips: Experiencing the exquisite beauty of the Keukenhof Gardens can be peacefully done by Boat rides. You can relax and enjoy the quiet of the garden while witnessing the blooming bulbs of tulips. The boat trip lasts for 45 minutes and costs €8 per adult, which is quite cheap.

Cycling: Bicycle is the best way to explore the area yourself. You can fall in love with the garden while riding the cycle. You may make a choice of the distance as per your preference, which can be from 5 km to 35 km.

Guided tours: If you want to know more about the type of flowers and learn all about the garden, guided tour is a must for you. And guess what? It is completely free of charge.

Restaurants: The garden is full of pavilions, stalls, and eateries to fill your stomach without losing much money. You can go for Juliana Pavilion, Beatrix Pavilion, Poffertjes house, Wilhelmina Pavilion, etc. to taste the yummy bites.

Accommodation: You can always find cheap apartments to rent in Amsterdam. Also, there are hotels nearby the park like Vakantiepark Koningshof, Rijnsburg, Camping De Zuidduinen, Katwijk Aan Zee, etc. to reside with your family.

Events to visit in the spring: There are many events taking place in Amsterdam in the season of spring. In this garden, you can enjoy food and flower festival, which is in the month of April. You can visit Keukenhof Flower market and flower parade here.

Shanty Choirs Festival is a party even to enjoy. Romance at Keukenhof is the classical musical event, which is carried out among the tulips. Family weekend is especially for families and children.

Conclusion

So, make sure you visit Keukenhof Gardens in the season of spring to experience the blooming tulips with reasonable price. You can create a lot of memories with your loved ones here.

The Keukenhof Garden Experience at Lisse, Netherlands

I have been dreaming about stepping my foot in this magical garden for a long time. When I have finally visited Keukenhof Garden last March 29, 2015, it rained like crazy! But, I didn't let the rain stop me from taking pictures around the area and savour each moment I had while inside the Keukenhof Garden.

If it wasn't for the strong, gusty winds, the biting cold with torrential rains, I would brave the inclement weather and go around Keukenhof. However, the trees around me seemed like they were going to fall on me each the strong wind blows so I wasn't able to go around the entire garden to check out other areas. I was able to visit the Juliana Tulip Pavilion and checked out Tulpomania because it was near the entrance where there are covered sheds and cozy seats to get comfortable.

This year's theme is about the commemoration of the 125 years since the death of the famous Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh.

There are also other events happening in the garden so it is best to check the website if you plan to visit.

What can you see in Keukenhof Garden?

Flowers! You can see plenty of flowers like hydrangeas, hyacinths, crocuses, carnations, calla lilies, bluebells, narcissi and many more; not to mention the over 800 varieties of tulips planted all over the Keukenhof Garden. Aside from flowers, there are ponds, petting farm and playground.

Aside from what you can see there, the entire family and everyone visiting the garden can enjoy riding bikes outside the garden (biking is NOT allowed inside Keukenhof) and children can have fun in the petting farm and go on a treasure hunt for free!

When is it open?

It is open only once a year during spring time and the date of opening varies year per year depending on the weather. This year, the garden is open from March 20 to May 17, 2015. So, flower-loving visitors all over the world fly to the Netherlands to soak in the lovely splashes of colour from the many beautiful flowering plants in the garden.

Where is it?

Keukenhof Garden is located in Lisse, Netherlands. It is accessible by train, car, and public transportation.

Where to book/buy tickets?

You can directly purchase from their website or through travel agencies around Amsterdam. I booked mine through Viator with a combination tour to Volendam, Marken and Zaanse Schans. The tour is operated by Lindbergh in Damrak, stones' throw away from Amsterdam Central Station.

Here are few of the pictures I have managed to have snapped in Keukenhof despite of the heavy rains. My bucket list is just half-ticked because I haven't seen the full glory of what Keukenhof has to offer. I will definitely visit again next year and I'll make sure my visit will count.

(There were more beyond this shot but didn't venture much because of the gusty winds and very biting cold and wet weather.)

(I was so tempted to take one tulip home as souvenir. They're so pretty and there were so many varieties too.)

(I wanted to dive in this sweetness! They smell so good and looked very fluffy too.  Their colours are much better in person than in this shot.)

The pictures didn't justify the real beauty right in front of my eyes. You actually have to go there to admire the flowers and the surrounding. Some of the flowers were in bloom already and I could imagine how beautiful the whole garden would be when they are all in full bloom (and no rain!). The sight will be spectacular!

Visit Keukenhof Garden when you are in Netherlands during spring. You still have time until 17 May. It is best to visit during mid-April when the flowers are in full bloom and the weather is not as rainy when I visited. There are nearby accommodations too in Lisse if you want to book one. Check out Booking.com.

Dreaming Of A Euro Tour Next Year

I planned 2 years ago and it fizzled. I planned last year but we went to Japan instead. I am planning again for 2015 and hopefully, barring any circumstances and not changing our minds for the last minute, we will go to Europe.

I plan to take my mom and mother-in-law in our annual family vacation and the dates are still tentative until my daughter settles in college and give me her vacation slots. Until then, we can formalize the whole thing.

So, where are we going this time? Well, I have been dreaming of seeing the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands. We haven't been to Netherlands yet so that is a must. Another thing, the oldies haven't been to Europe yet so it will be nice to tour them in Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice and Tuscany. I am also adding 2 nights in Paris just for them to see the Eiffel Tower and other famous places to see there.

I hope that my daughter's vacation from school will be at least 3 weeks so we can spend longer vacation in Italy unlike last 2008 where everything was swift. We didn't have the chance to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa nor visit Venice while the latter was already near Milan.

I am scouting for cheap train fares as well for a group since there are 5 of us travelling. So far, Thalys rail passes is the one I can bank on. I'll just check if I can find something similar but cheaper which will take us from Amsterdam to Gare Du Nord in Paris in less than 4 hours. That will still give us enough time to visit the many places in Paris which we missed to see the first time we were there like the Montparnasse Tower, the Sacre Coeur and the Versailles. Ah, Paris... I can't wait to set my foot in that place again!

Well, all these are tentative and given my family's track record in changing destinations in a snap is making me a bit worried. I have already set my mind and heart to visit all those places I have mentioned above with the oldies and I don't want them to miss the opportunity.

We'll probably visit the other parts of Europe next time like the Christmas Markets in Germany or in Vienna and Prague. There are so many places to see and there's plenty of time. Meanwhile, I am keen to do the Italy-Netherlands-France trio. I can squeeze Belgium too if time permits and if the oldies are not too tired to do train switching and bus-hopping. We'll see.

Euro Tour 2015! I am looking forward to that!

Beautiful Gardens in Europe

Europe is a vast continent rich in arts, history and culture. Aside from being home to famous museums, landmarks and institutions, Europe is also home to numerous famous and very beautiful gardens. People around the world have these beautiful gardens in their bucket list. After seeing their pictures and magnificent garden layout, who wouldn't dream of visiting these places once in their lifetime!

Here are some of the breath-taking gardens around Europe worth visiting:

Keukenhof Garden, Lisse, The Netherlands

(Photos are not mine)

This garden is famous for its tulips and many other beautiful flowering plants strategically planted all over its grounds. It opens only once a year from mid-March until mid-May and closed again for the rest of the year to plant new bulbs and other flowering plants for everyone to enjoy for the next opening.

Monet's Garden, Giverny, France

(Photos are not mine)

This captivating garden is located in Giverny, a small village in Normandy. It is nice to visit this garden in spring. Monet, one of the famous painters of all time, loved to visit this garden and do his paintings there.

Villa d'Este, Tivoli, Italy

(Photos are not mine)

Did you watch Lizzie Mcguire Movie starred by Hilary Duff when she was still one of the Disney darlings? If you did, then this place will be familiar to you. It has plenty of fountains and is in Tivoli, just few miles away from the city center of Rome. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage landmarks.

Luxembourg Garden, Paris, France

(Photos are not mine)

This beautiful garden is in the heart of Paris! I have seen this place but not thoroughly due to lack of time. If I had to come back, I will just to see this magnificent garden in the City of Light. It is a formal garden in the premise of the Luxembourg Palace.