Lovers of photos in naturally beautiful, colorful and harmonious environments have a must in the tulip fields that extend across the Netherlands. The vast fields with neat lines of different colors, coming from the different varieties of flower, are one of the main attractions of the country, which each year attract a large number of visitors who practice flower tourism.
The passion of the Dutch for flowers and, specifically, for tulips, already begins in the depths of winter, when spring flowering seems very far away. Every year, on the third Saturday of January, National Tulip Day is celebrated. In Amsterdam, in the central Museumplein square (previously it was in Damrak), around 200,000 tulips, raised in greenhouses, are exhibited. Everyone who passes by can take a free bouquet, to celebrate the official beginning of the season for this flower.
Apart from this preamble, when the tulips reach their splendor it will be between the months of March and May, depending on the weather (and global warming). It is then when the crop fields look like paintings worthy of hanging in a museum, and when tourist routes are organized to admire the spectacle.
It is also when the famous Keukenhof park, in the town of Lisse, opens its doors. It is an example of landscape architecture that begins to be planned in autumn, so that the flowering of each species arrives at the right time and in the right place to form sculptural groups. Almost seven million tulips and lilies of different varieties, as well as daffodils and hyacinths, gather there.
They are the same varieties of flowers that fill the fields, where most of the tulips that can be enjoyed on the planet come from. It must be taken into account that the Netherlands is the world leader in tulip cultivation.
The province of Noord Holland (where the name Holland comes from, which has officially been replaced by Netherlands) is one of those that offers the most courses in a pleasant and picturesque environment. In addition to Keukenhof, the entire area between the cities of Haarlem and Leiden is full of bulb flower plantations. The fields are often located in polders, so if you climb any of the surrounding dikes you get a multi-coloured panoramic view.
Every spring the so-called “bloemencorso” is celebrated in this area. They are parades with floats decorated with flowers, and that awaken passions and rivalries between towns, in the style of carnival.
The other large area that concentrates flower fields is the province of Flevoland. There is the great Noordoostpolder polder, which is home to the so-called Tulip Route. It is a route of more than 100 kilometers that covers some 2,000 hectares of flower crops. It is usually done by car or also by bicycle. It is considered one of the most beautiful car routes in the world.
Most tulip fields are in the east and south of the region, but mostly in the Noordoost polder. In addition to enjoying the flowers, the area also offers activities related to this crop, such as tulip photography workshops.
The objectives of these activities are to make visitors aware of the economic and social importance of this sector. Although you can walk along the outer edges of the fields, you must remember that they are private plantations and, therefore, the environment must be respected. It is not allowed to enter the fields or pick flowers.
One of the reasons for this prohibition is that the flowers can be damaged by stepping on the plantations. But also, and very important, that with human contact diseases can be transmitted to plants. To help those who have a “bad” contact with flowers, there are some gardens organized to allow you to enter among the flowers and cut some to take away.
