Tulip Fields Near Keukenhof

4 American tourists in a field of tulips near Keukenhof

For a more overall account of Dutch tulip fields in general please check out this page. Here, however, we go into quite a bit of detail about the tulip (and hyacinth fields near Keukenhof).

Overview of tulip fields near Keukenhof

There are LOTS of tulip fields near Keukenhof. However there are none in Keukenhof. This is a very important fact as it means your Keukenhof experience will not include a visit to a tulips fields. The gardens do overlook some tulip fields, but these can only be viewed from a distance, and should-er-to-shoulder with other visitors.

None of these other fields are accessible by foot so if you want to see them you really need a car.It is possible to visit the very nearest fields by bike, so let us delve into that topic first.

Tulip fields near Keukenhof / Bikes

You can rent bikes in the Keukenhof parking lot, but you can’t bring them into the gardens. The idea with the bikes is to explore the immediate outside of the gardens. The surroundings are quite pleasant and make for a decent cycle. There tulip and flower fields nearby but they are not signposted! So, you’ll find yourself in a situation where you’ll likely find a flower field, but you won’t be guaranteed! And the tulips (or hyacinths!) field you will find, will have been found by other bike renters too.

This is not the end of the world, of course. It’s just that if you can go even a few kilometers further afield that you’ll find ones with far less visitors.

Tulip fields near Keukenhof / Cars

If you’re travelling by car to Keukenhof, then seeing tulip fields is quite easy. They’re everywhere, you just need to drive down some back roads.

The fields closest to Keukenhof will be the busiest. One other downside to this, is that sometimes you get a tulip farmer who’s okay with one group of visitors being in his field, but who will shoo you all away once the amount of groups start to grow. To avoid this, you just need to slightly further afield – just by a couple of kilometres.

Here’s our quick-tip for finding a nice field of tulips to visit: Once you’re at Keukehof, put any of the following towns into your GPS: Hillegom, Vogelenzang, Noordwijkerhout, De Zilk, Nieuw Vennep. Then, simply start out towards one of those places but take a smaller road. The idea is not necessarily to reach any of these towns, merely that thi is prime tulip and hyacinth field country. And that by taking the backroads you’ll be more likely to find a field you can stop at.

Don’t worry about getting lost. The Netherlands is a small country, and the most any of these towns is from Amsterdam is about 40km! By the way, these are by no means the only areas you can try, simply that they are very close to Keukenhof.

If you drive from Keukenhof to Hillegoma and avoid the N208 (the road in yellow, the main road that connects them), you will find plenty of tulip and hyacinth fields (assuming you’re there at the right time of year!).

You can try a similar trick for the nearby towns of De Zilk, Vogelenzang, and Noordwijkerhout.

Status of Tulip & Hyacinth fields

Every flower field is private property. They’re farms. They’re producing agricultural output – for a few weeks it’s very pretty agricultural output, but nonetheless it is a crop, just like corn, wheat,  or potatoes. This means that when you do find a lovely field of tulips or hyacinths that you have found private property.

The Dutch in general are quite common sense people, and tulip farmers understand that their fields attract visitors. In principle, most tulip farmers don’t mind respectful visitors to their fields. In the Keukenhof area, this is also the case but you do get some farmers who block off their fields. This means you’re not welcome!

If however you find a nice field to visit, here is how you should act:

Flower Field Etiqutte

  • Be respectful
  • Do not pick any tulips
  • Do not walk on any plants
  • Do not walk into the rows between the tulip either
  • Okay, most people walk in a little bit. Generally if you stay within the first one to three metres you’ll be tolerated.
  • Upload your photos instantly to Instagram. Otherwise it didn’t happen!
Two ladies in a field of tulips near Amsterdam
A group of Indians near a multicoloured field of tulips
Two American tourists smiling in a tulips field near Keukenhof