Keukenhof
Flowers of the Keukenhof Gardens
A spring in the Netherlands wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Keukenhof. Keukenhof literally translates to Kitchen Gardens, because this used to be a vegetable/herb garden that was picked by the kitchen staff before cooking. However, now this place is known as the largest flower garden in the world. Think of a park the size of Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, or Six Flags - but replace the rides with flowers. This place was huge.
The line backed all the way up into Leiden Centraal
We ended up going around late April which is apparently the best time to go because the park was very crowded. After taking the train to Leiden we stood in line for almost 2 hours waiting for the bus to take us to the park. Admission was cheap - only a bit over 10 euros, and we ended up spending a good 4 hours in there. They also did a tribute to the United States, in particular New York (formerly known as New Amsterdam), which was pretty cool.
Yankees Tribute - this is made of 100% flowers
There was a special exhibit indoors for orchids and other temperate flowers
My favorite part of the park was getting to the edge of the park and peering out into the actual tulip fields used for growing. It was incredible viewing the rows and rows of brightly colored tulips that stretched as far as the eyes could see. We even saw a few of the farmers out there checking on their tulips.
Farmers checking on their tulip crops - they need some goats
Amazing! Thanks for sharing, Matt!