Dutch Spring Bulbs

Day 1: Arrival in Amsterdam

Touchdown! And just like that, as sure as the Dutch grow 6.5 billion tulips every year, you’re in Amsterdam. Grab your bags and look for the “Hilton” sign. There’s no need to wait around for a transfer or hop in a taxi, because your hotel is linked directly to the arrivals terminal. Stroll over, check in, refresh, and then prepare to meet the rest of your garden-loving Carex crew, along with your host for the whole trip, over a get-to-know-everyone welcome dinner.

Accommodation: Hilton Schiphol Airport Amsterdam, or similar
Included: Dinner

Day 2: The bulb nurseries of Voorhout

Your tulip-lead gardening odyssey gets growing in earnest today, and you’ll begin at the beginning – with the bulb. Visit Nurserie Meeuwissen in Voorhout, which is very much the heart of the Netherlands’ flower-growing region. What started as a single-variety daffodil nursery in the mid-20th century now grows over 300 varieties. You’ll learn how they do it; how they prep and plant the bulbs, maintain the beds, and cultivate rare miniatures.

A dazzling mosaic of reds, pinks, magentas, and yellows then drags you across to the Tulip Store Showgarden. Think of it as the place Dutch flower growing goes to show off. There’s over 500 species of uniquely bred and perfectly maintained bulb planting to wander through, and photo ops aplenty.

Your guide knows a peaceful lunch spot hidden somewhere in the middle of the endless Voorhout flower fields, but don’t take too long, because you’ve got an appointment with the local artisans behind the incredible floats of Holland’s annual flower parade. Is that really a unicorn covered in shimmering white tulips? You bet it is.

Accommodation: Hilton Schiphol Airport Amsterdam, or similar
Included: Breakfast

Day 3: Keukenhof

Lovers of all things bulbs will be buzzing with excitement this morning. The day comprises two things that are like the bucket-list of bulb horticulture. First up: Keukenhof. Only open for a brief two-month period between March and May each year, it’s been called the most gorgeous springtime garden on the globe. Without giving away spoilers, you’ll walk between beds that are laden with – at last count – seven million individual bulbs!

Next: the Bloemencorso Bollenstreek. It’s only the country’s leading flower parade. But you knew that already, right? After all, you were helping the flower artisans lace the floats with tulips and hyacinths yesterday afternoon. We’ll make sure you get a great viewing location to watch as the streams of daffodil-clad trains and dragons roll by. Oh – and there’s that tulip unicorn you helped make.

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Karel V, or similar
Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 4: Regional gardens and private gardens

You shift focus from commercial bulb operations to private gardens today, so prepare to see some of the real horticultural masterworks of the region. You’ll drop into three separate locations in all, each uniquely different.

There’s the 8,000-square-meter private farm garden at Braam Boschhoeve, where you’ll wander paths lined with manicured stilt hedges, through beautifully kept vegetable plots, and beside beds of poppies and roses. Then there’s Tulpensoortentuin bij Espel, which throws you back into the world of tulips with its hundreds of bulb varieties, some of which are rare wild types that can only be seen in remote locations in Turkey or Iraq.

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Karel V, or similar
Included: Breakfast & Lunch

Day 5: Utrecht’s private and university gardens

The Netherlands isn’t a big country, but sometimes you do have to drive to get to the very best gardens. That’s why today begins with an hour-long journey from Utrecht out to Hoevelaken, where a private garden that only opens its doors by appointment awaits. You’ll be led around a creative space that sits atop a drained 14th-century swamp, moving between high-grass bog gardens, lush patches of fern, and rockeries that sprout pretty irises. Take notes – this is no commercial garden, which means there’s loads in the way of inspiration to take back home.

Back in Utrecht later in the day, you’ll enter the wonderful botanical gardens of the local university, the largest academic garden in the country. Follow marked routes on the map to explore the misty tropical greenhouses, the insect gardens, the bamboo forest – the list goes on.

After that, Utrecht is your proverbial oyster. Dinner tonight is an experience in itself, taking you through this pretty city of glistening canals and medieval bell towers.  

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Karel V, or similar
Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 6: Kröller-Müller Museum & more

What if we told you that there was a cultural complex hidden in the rolling hills of the De Hoge Veluwe National Park, complete with masterworks by Van Gogh and Picasso, and stunning sculpture gardens to boot? What if we told you that was where you’re headed today? It’ll be just under an hour’s drive to get there, during which time you can watch as the Dutch landscapes change – it’s urban sprawl one moment, then twisted Japanese larches and ancient oaks standing on sandy bluffs the next.

That’s the setting for the enthralling Kröller-Müller Museum. First, go see the vibrant and kinetic, yet often inexplicably sad, works of Vincent Van Gogh – notice how the artist uses flowers to convey movement, transience, life, death, and emotional strength. Then, go outside, where you’ll be greeted by over 200 sculptures, including the strange wonderworld of the Jardin d’émail, a garden within a garden that you’re invited to walk over, to touch, to get lost in.

Later, we’ll swap all that striking stuff for something more traditional at the Paleis Het Loo – it hardly gets more traditional than a palace built for William III of Orange and his wife back in the 1600s. Notice something strange here? Each side of this supposedly ultra-symmetrical garden is quite different. One was the king’s; the other the queen’s. The world’s only his-and-hers garden, perhaps?

Accommodation: Grand Hotel Karel V, or similar
Included: Breakfast

Day 7: Leiden

This might be your final full day, but there’s not a hint of slowing down just yet – you’ve got all of Leiden to explore. Buzzing, beautiful Leiden, the country’s oldest university city, where canals weave below tree-lined promenades, and cobbled squares roll out under Flemish townhouses. You’ll dive right in with help from a guide, who can take you to the secret hofjes (interior courtyards where people have gathered since the medieval ages) and point out the house where a certain Rembrandt (heard of him?) once lived.

There’s a garden, too, of course, and it’s a special one. Remember when we said that this was the oldest university town in the Netherlands? Well, that university is responsible for creating the Botanical Garden Leiden waaaaaay back in the year 1590. The intention then was to study medicinal plants. These days, it’s a symphony of gorgeous gardens and rare species, so get ready to wander below a flowering ginkgo biloba and between aromatic Chinese herbs. That bucket list will be one line shorter this evening – you’ve just visited the oldest botanic garden in all of Western Europe!

Then things are bound to get a bit emotional. It’s time for one final meal together. Have you ever been wine-and-dined in a glass house before? Tonight’s garden to plate dinner will have you drooling for more as you laugh, cry and swap stories with your fellow garden adventurers. 

Accommodation: Hilton Schiphol Airport Amsterdam, or similar
Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day 8: Departure day

That’s it folks: seven days of hopping tulip gardens and show gardens and art galleries in ground zero for all things bulb-based horticulture. You’ll come out smelling of roses, having uncovered the deep history and rich culture that backs up Dutch flower cultivation, but mainly because you’ve gained a whole group of other garden-mad, travel-mad friends to share adventures with going forward. Bid farewell this morning, and then ask yourself as you walk across the bridge from the hotel to the departure lounge (yes, it’s that close): “Where’s next?”

Included: Breakfast