A day trip to Tulip Garden , Amsterdam

P.S the price mentioned above just include the price of combination ticket and the overnight stay at the hotel . I am not mentioning the cost of international flight

Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to visit and witness the beauty of the blooming Tulips at Amsterdam . I have been once to Amsterdam in September but that not the season for Tulip so I could not see the flowers .

So last summers when we were planning a holiday to Europe , I ensured that I at least get one day to visit the famous Keukenhof Garden at Amsterdam popularly known as Tulip Garden .

So we took a flight to Basel ( IN Switzerland) which had a stop at Amsterdam . And the next connecting flight to Basel was next day morning . So with no additional travel cost we booked our travel to Amsterdam .

Now the next was the visit to Gardens . Gardens lie in the village of Lisse which is around 1 hour travel distance from Amsterdam. There are lot of bus operators who give the combined package of to and fro transportation from airport to garden and also the entrance ticket to the garden . We booked one such trip online from India before leaving for our trip . Since we just had a limited day at hand we did not want to waste any time planning or standing in the queues for the tickets

Schiphol , Amsterdam airport is one of the best and well organised airports . We landed at 10am and easily spotted the parking where Tour buses were parked. We got on to the bus to reach the Garden by 11 am. The crowd and the general ambience outside were crazy. People from all countries , all ages were flocking at the gates waiting for their turn to enter the garden . We left he luggage at the luggage counter which was immediately outside the entrance gate .

Garden was every bit worth what I have heard and seen in images all my life . An array of beautiful multi coloured Tulip dominated the scene . For initial one hour we just went berserk , only clicking pics and trying to soak in as much beauty as possible. Since visit to this garden is one of the most coveted things to do in Europe in summers , there are very organised and professional about the entire thing . At the entrance they handed us a free map which gave us the detailed path to cover the garden , the landmarks , restaurants and every other detail which one would need there. Even guided trip round the garden is also available at extra price which are offered in quite a few popular language

We started going by the Map . We halted frequently to click the pics and just awe at the natural beauty of the place . Keukenhof also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in Lisse, South Holland, Netherlands. According to the official website for the Keukenhof Park, approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares. Gardens and four pavilions show a fantastic collection of: tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, orchids, roses, carnations, irises, lilies and many other flowers. You will be overwhelmed by a spectacle of colours and perfumes. As many as 500 growers present their prize blooms for leading flower arrangers to use in their unique shows. Not all the flowers at Keukenhof are outside: the pavilions are also packed with flowering bulbs, cut flowers and pot plants.

There was a central area in the park with lot of restaurants and souvenir shops . The entire space looked like a fanfare where people are just enjoying themselves and having the best time of the life. We were very lucky as that day was a bright sunny day.

We were done by 5 pm . Our feet were aching however we were beaming with joy and satisfaction . We took the bus back to the airport as we had made arrangement for night stay at Hotel Ramada near airport .

It was indeed a outstanding trip and a big tick in my bucket list

P.S Please check out the pics clicked by us . They actually don’t do justice to the beauty of the place .