We have a short touring season based around the blooming of tulips and hyacinths. There is inherently some uncertainty around the planning of our tours, especially at the very start and end of the season.
Very broadly, hyacinth fields bloom at the end of March and start of April. The majority of tulip fields start to bloom in mid April, and are kept in bloom for two or three weeks. However, there are some early varieties and some late-blooming varieties. In most years, we can find a tulip field in bloom as late as May 13 or even 15. To be clear, by this point the vast majority of tulip fields will have been cut. But we make it our business to find the very earliest and very last fields.
Our tours are scheduled based on over 10 years of experience, and so far, nature’s been reliably on our side! But tulips are, of course, a living thing – and in the rare case of an unusually early or late season, the fields at the very start or end of our calendar might not be disappointing.
If that happens, your tour will still go ahead. Our routes, especially the Off The Beaten Track Tour, work beautifully as countryside experiences on their own: think windmills, canals, Dutch villages, and peaceful backroads. It’s still a proper Dutch day out!
We want to be transparent: in such cases, no refunds will be given, as we’re still providing the full day tour you booked – just with a little less floral flair than hoped. Nature likes to keep us guessing.
Run: late March to mid May
We have a longer season for private tours than small-group tours. This is because we have more freedom on them to depart from our official itinerary and schedule as we find the very earliest and latest fields. Also, we only have to take into account the preferences of a single group.
Late March
Hyacinths usually start to bloom in the last week of March, though there could be a year with a very late bloom, in which case it might be early April before they’re in bloom. The closer your tour is to April, the more likely it is that you will see a flower field in bloom. Bearin mind, that it is a gradual process – fields attain full bloom over a series of days. Some people will find a lone, early field in partial bloom interesting and others will be disappointed.
There is however a high-tech tulips greenhouse we can visit. Each year they grow 23 million tulips indoors. It’s not a tulips field experience, but it is very fascinating.
Our Off The Beaten Track route is very scenic and full of culturally interesting sights. We actually run it all year round, by request, as a Countryside Tour.
As there are a lot of flower farms in the Netherlands, sometimes we get lucky with an anomaly. For example, in 2025 we came across a field of tulips in bloom on March 25. This is incredibly early. The farmer had covered his field in plastic over winter which expedited the tulip bloom.
We can’t guarantee another such find in the future, but we do actively drive the flower field areas in the very beginning and end of the season so that we can find such outliers.
Early April
For tours in early April, you will visit a field of hyacinths. The earliest tulip fields generally start appearing about April 7 or 8. This is simply a guideline, not a guarantee. When the first of the early tulip fields start appearing, tours will visit both a hyacinth and tulip field.
Mid April – early May
Again, an inexact date, but April 12 is a good marker for when a nice proportion of early fields start taking on nice colour, and from that point on more and more fields start to bloom. Fields are kept in bloom for two or three weeks. Once May begins, usually the first fields have been cut and more and more are cut as each day ticks by. Still though, you can usually reach the end of this week with a decent amount of fields still in bloom.
Second Week of May
As the second week of May ticks by, more and more fields disappear. We actively scout the countryside, going outside of our normal routes to find the last remaining fields. In nine out of ten years, we’ve been able to find a field to visit as late as May 13, and in few years it was May 15 or 16.
Our Main Tulip Farm vs Other Farms
For our Off The Beaten Track Tulips tour we have an arrangement with one particular farm and can spend as long as we like in their field of tulips, and guests can (respectfully) go as deep as they like into the rows of tulips. They have five varieties, totaling two million tulips. Two varieties bloom earlier than the rest. This is usually at some point in the second week of April, generally towards the end of it.
And from that point we usually get about four weeks in which they have at least some, if not all of their tulips in bloom.
During this period this farm is the main tulip field experience. However, your tour will usually stop at one or two other nearby tulip farms. We don’t have any agreement with these other farmers, but they generally don’t mind a visit when everyone is respectful in their fields.
At the very beginning and end of the season, our main farm will not have any tulips in bloom but some of these other farms will. At these, points, your tour will visit these fields but not the main farm. This also includes fields of hyacinths in the beginning of the season.
Tours start: April 3
Early in the season, tulip fields are not yet in bloom. Instead, you’ll visit a vibrant hyacinth field, combined with a scenic route through Dutch backroads.
From approx. April 7–8
Assuming a typical season, early tulip fields begin blooming around this time. Tours in the second week of April usually include:
A visit to a hyacinth field
Plus at least one early-blooming tulip field
Special Tulip Farm Access
We have an exclusive arrangement with a local tulip farm, which becomes our main tulip stop once their early varieties are in bloom – typically during the second week of April.
This farm grows five tulip varieties, usually offering color through the first week of May.
Tours also visit one or two additional tulip fields for variety and photo opportunities.
Important Note
Tulip bloom periods can vary. By early May, our main farm may have cut all its tulips. If that happens, your tour will visit alternative nearby tulip fields instead. Our groups have a little less license in these fields than on the main farm.
This tour begins on April 10. For the early tours, it’s likely that the field where the picnic takes place will not really be in bloom yet. We’re offering the tour then because we believe that for most, but not all, potential guests it will still be a lovely experience:
You’ll still have a picnic, visit other hyacinth and tulip fields, and enjoy a countryside tour. However, if it’s the specific prospect of having a picnic in a field of blooming tulips which appeals, then you may be disappointed. We don’t want that to happen, so please don’t book one of these early picnic tours.
When will the field of tulips be in sufficient bloom?
Again, it’s an inexact science. It usually starts having nice colour towards the end of the second week of April. We can’t guarantee that however – and it could as easily be earlier than later in the month. And it doesn’t happen in a single day. Most people find a field of tulips being even partially in bloom to be special, but we know there will be one very fussy person out there who disagrees!
The final picnic tour is on May 3 and in nine out of ten years the farm has had tulips in bloom then. If 2026 is an unlucky year for the bloom, then there will still be a picnic, and you will still visit other nearby tulip fields. We just won’t be able to picnic in them.
Begins April 3.
Keukenhof itself opens March 19, but the gardens will be a long way off their peak at this point. Additionally, it is probable that there will be very few, possible no, flower fields in bloom at this stage. We think offering tours to Keukenhof in March will likely disappoint a significant number of guests so we don’t do it.
By April 3, the gardens will be much more vibrant and their will be hyacinth fields in bloom. There may even be early tulip fields in bloom