We have been to the Keukenhof Gardens twice; once on a tour that provided transportation and once we took public transit. Unfortunately I don't remember the details of the routing. Seems like we took one bus to a stop and then took a second bus to the gardens themselves.

However, I do have a recommendation on your arrival time; the tour groups arrive basically at the time the gardens open and it will be extremely crowded. Unimpeded photo ops are virtually impossible. The first time, as I said, we were on a guided tour and while the flowers are absolutely spectacular, it takes a bit of patience to get a clear shot.

However, if you wait until the afternoon, the tour groups leave and it is much better. You will have better light, and you will have the garden virtually to yourself.

The garden is a delight and I am sure you will enjoy it, regardless of when you arrive.

Here is a website that could possibly help you with your journey from Jordaan - http://9292.nl/en/. If you click on "more options", it will allow you to check off whether you'd like to take the tram, bus, train, etc.

I will miss you by a week, as I will be there on the 20th. I'm staying near Schiphol, however, and will be taking the #58 bus. I've done this previously, and it worked out just fine. I did get there first thing in the morning and was glad I did, as there was a lot to see, so I was glad to have the time to wander around at my leisure.

If you've never been to the Keukenhof before, you are in for a treat; it is beautiful! Hope you enjoy it and happy travels!

The bus is a great way to travel back and forth (easy, direct, comfortable) and going early is a good idea if for no other reason than the place very well may be MOBBED...but it is, IMO, so worth it.

Hi, indy-dad,

we're going too, but at the end of april [hope there's still something to see then] and staying Delft - so I'm no help to you at all.

just wanted to say Hi, really!

I hope to go to Keukenhof in May. According to Rick Steves, if you're in Amsterdam, you take a train to Leiden (one hour and 35 minutes), then take the #54 bus (Keukenhoff Express) straight to the garden.

PC, Can we rent bikes once we get to the Keukenhof?

Thanks,
TracyD

I also will be there mid April. Will be taking the Red Sternet bus #197 from Leidseplein to the airport and transfering to Keukenhoff bus #58 to the gardens. Bus 58 leaves from platform B1, B3 at the airport bus station.
Combination tickets are available @ tourist information desk at central station and at Leidsplein.
This info was taken from the garden web site

You can definitely rent bikes from a place just in front the gardens (or at least you could last year). You can also buy little maps with various cycling routes, should you be so inclined.

You can't take the bikes into the gardens, themselves though.

Just be aware that the line to get a bus going back can be pretty long, especially if it's been a beautiful day. But it is definitely worth it.

While you're there, check to see if the short-tempered white peacock is still around. He likes to stand behind the gardeners and shout at them while they're working.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like there are a couple of ways to get there (Leiden or Schipol). I'll have a look.

I know it's not the dates you've planned indy_dad but looks like a lot of people will be heading to Keukenhof, and wanted to mention the Flower Parade on 21st April which I and some others may be going for. I wrote a bit more about it here: http://loco2.co.uk/blog/2012/01/5-magical-gardens-to-let-your-imagination-roam-free/

It's free to watch and you can leave the gardens and re-enter on your ticket, should be good!

Leiden IMO would be easier to navigate and find the buses that go all the time from Leiden station to the Keukenhof - right out front - Schiphol is more perplexing and Leiden is also a neat town - take a short stroll from the station coming back to see the canals and give you kids a treat at the local FEBO snack stand known for the great snacks like french fries served in a cone. Avoid weekends if possible at the gardens IME!

for either Schiphol or Leiden take trains from Centraal station. buy a Daag Retour ticket - day return if still available.

When my wife and I did this, the hotel booked a tour bus for us and a mini bus picked us up and took us to a central point where we joined a group of similar people. It was an ideal way, especially since the snow was coming down at the time. The sun did eventually shine.

It looks like one of the more straightforward options from the Jordaan area is to take the 197 bus to Schipol and the 58 bus from there. From the Keukenhof website:

From Amsterdam centre
From the Leidseplein/Museumplein you can take the red Sternet bus 197 to Schiphol Airport (busses run 5-6 times per hour). At the Airport you can change to the Keukenhof bus 58.
You can buy your combitickets at the Tourist Information desk at the Trainstation and at Leidseplein.

So, when is says you can buy your tickets at "Leidseplein" what does that mean? I thought that was an area. Where is in the area will I find the tickets?

Maybe I'll get them from the TI when we arrive at Centraal . . .

I had read that late afternoon was the best time to arrive at the gardens and when I went it was a Friday afternoon about 4. There were still a lot of people but the line at the gate was not long. The light was fabulous for taking pictures. I stayed several hours and then my sister was itchy to leave.

The next day was the day of the parade. I parked in the lot and walked about twenty minutes up to the town of Lisse for the parade. It was fabulous! The floats were made with millions of flower petals. I remember standing there and smelling the hyacinths. The streets are narrow so you are quite close to the floats. The floats do the complete route up to Haarlem, but at the edge of each town the local kids join the parade with their bikes all decorated with flowers.

After the parade I went back to the gardens and enjoyed a short walk around to see a few things that I had missed the day before.

It is well worth the effort! I understand about the kids and being constrained by their school holidays.

However you go, consider taking the bus back to Haarlem rather than Amsterdam, see a bit of the place, perhaps dinner on the delightful Square and then take the train back to Amsterdam. The bus to Haarlem from the gardens (#54??)takes about 45 minutes. Walk to and from station in Haarlem is about 10 minutes each way. Train Haarlem-Amsterdam is 15 minutes - 4 trains/hour.

We'll be there early May and I bought our tickets on line from the Keukenhof site and printed them at home.

indy_dad, we have taken the train to Leiden twice, the first time we took the bus from the train station to Keukenhof gardens, very easy to do. The next time we rented bicycles at the train station in Leiden, I think we also got a route map and set out, what a wonderful ride. It puts you up close to the actual tulip fields along the way.
Enjoy your trip.
Susan

We will be staying in Haarlem. I can't wait!

<<We will be staying in Haarlem. I can't wait!>>

You will love it! May I ask the hotel?

Take train from Haarlem to Hillegom - a station with a platform overlooking vast miles of flower fields and then tiptoe the few miles thru the flower fields on side road to the Keukenhof itself - I felt this was a much more in-depth encounter with the flower fields than taking a bus or train thru it or of course bikes would be great as well.

And yes I do love Haarlem - always my base now for Amsterdam and Holland in general.

We are staying at the B&B Wherels.

We stayed at a hotel on the square several years ago. Unfortunately, there was a carnival on the square then, too.

Pal, how far a walk from Hillegom to the gardens?

It looks wonderful Saraho - have a great time.

is there a drive that we could do through the tulip fields after we've been to keukenhof?

I'd love to hire bikes but this is a trip primarily for my mum who is pretty fit for 80+ [i hope she doesn't mind my telling everyone here age!] and I don't see her cycling.

Saraho - If i recall right the walk could not be more than a few miles - in Haarlem go to the tourist office in the shopping street zone and ask for a detailed map - you can just look at one if not wanting to buy - this is what I did at first and the staffer told me about this walk and outlined it. But it is not that far - annhigh the roads I walked on were open to traffic - small paved roads - when leaving the gardens area just go to the north and do not cross the rail line and you will go right next to miles and miles of undulating flower fields and a bevy of glasshouses. - Follow signs to Hillegom - there are also fields I believe to the south and west of Keukenhof to explore - again get a good map that shows all the roads and has a tulip symbol to indicate flower fields. Grab a few bulbs from stands for your wet Cornish garden! Or is ti Devonish garden?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=hillegom+netherlands&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47c5e9e9ec7d5f4d:0x737d5acbbdd21cfa,Hillegom,+The+Netherlands&gl=us&ei=bRJ2T7OuCNDptgfupNndDg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ8gEwAQ

Here is a blow up map of the Hillegom-Keukenhof-Lisse area

thanks Pal

Actually I don't think they actually sell the bulbs there and then - you just order them to plant in the autumn, from what i remember from last time.

and it's a cornish garden, of course. in fact the fields I drove past on my way home this evening are full of daffodils, as we have our own bulb industry here. Not tulips though, I don't know why.

any cornish hens in your garden? Our daffodils are already fading here in northern Michigan- typically ours come out way after England and France IME - but two weeks of 70-80 degree weather brought things out early - magnolia trees bloomed then a frost and they all turned brown - blooming at least one month early. Ah climate change!

Thank you all for the marvelous information on visiting Keukenhof. We have our combo tickets and plan on going on Friday April 20th. This is our first visit to Amsterdam and could not believe we will be there during the height of the tulip season. I am now thinking of going to Haarlem on the return from the gardens.....thank you for that advise.

The train from Haarlem to Leiden goes smack thru the heart of the flower fields as does the bus from the gardens to Haarlem - Haarlem is just a few minutes by rail back to Amsterdam. Get off the bus on the southern end of Haarlem's city centre and walz thru the lively pedestrian shopping zone to the Haarlem train station, IMO one of the grandest of grand old train sheds in all of Europe. One major site in Haarlem is the Frans Hals Museum in an old convent.

That Haarlem train station is a site in itself and has been used as a set in movies. I agree about the Frans Hals Museum as well - there is a wonderful collection there, not just of Hals. The interior is striking and it is just the right size- not too big, not too small.

There are shops built into the the side of the Cathedral and one of them has gelato that will challenge the best in Italy. Those shops are not recent additions - I saw a painting of the Cathedral in the National Gallery painted several hundred years ago and the shops were there then.

I am intruiged with all the good comments about Haarlem. I arrive Amsterdam Sunday May 20 at 19:30 and rather than take a hotel around the Schipol Airport I am now thinking I should take the short train ride and find accommodation in Haarlem for 2 nights. Are there any suggestions for either a B&B or hotel for 2 adults in Haarlem? Our subsequent 3 nights are confirmed in Amsterdam so making our first destination Haarlem would give us great access to touring the flower fields at the begininng of our stay.

OK, OP here -- if I may take back my post

We managed to find a break in the rain/clouds and picked a good day for visiting Keukenhof today.

We pre-paid for the combo tickets, took the tram to Central Station and the train to Schipol. From there we took the 58 bus right to Keukenhof. For those taking this route, the shuttle from Schipol to Keukenhof was not with the main buses. If you follow the bus signs, turn right once you come outside and follow the signs which leads you to another right turn.

Despite the nice weather (but mid-week date) there wasn't a big queue coming or returning.

It was a really pleasant day out though for some reason we were expecting row and rows of tulips fields rather than the manicured gardens that we saw.

The combo tickets were a nice convenience since we didn't have to hunt down the place to purchase the bus tickets and we could waltz right in when we got there as well.

dustie - in Haarlem try Stempel's hotel. It is a small hotel, perfectly located with elegant public spaces yet modern up to date rooms with beds that are extaordinary in their comfort. The price is right too. Breakfast is a bit pricey but well worth it - you won't need lunch.

indy_dad - Keukenhof is a garden. There are tulip fields are nearby.
You were lucky with the weather today. It's a shame for you that we are actually having a typical April, rather than the warm ones we've had the last couple of years. Personally I'm hoping it means we'll get a good summer. After the last few years we deserve one .

It was partial luck, but I did look at the weather forecast to choose today over our other options. Back to the museums tomorrow with more rain on the way (apparently).

Yes, I now understand better about the gardens vs. fields. That was my preconceived idea though.

Should be sunny in the morning with showers later in the day according to www.buienradar.nl

Have a great day, no matter what the weather.

hi indy-dad, glad you enjoyed keukenhof. i hope that you didn't have the same experience that we did being phoned up while we were there by our son's school asking where he was! [I was sure that I'd told them he'd be missing on the first day back!]

luckily it didn't spoil our enjoyment.

we now have our tickets booked through the internet which we will be using the week after next. hopefully we will be lucky with the weather too!

Am in Amsterdam now, thinking of going to Keukenhof tomorrow, but we are only here for 48 hours so hard to decide.... I think it's worth it but have to convince my DH. Anyone know how long the whole getting there process takes (bus to airport and then bus to gardens)? Thanks!

We took the train from Amsterdam Central to Schipol and then the 58 bus to Keukenhof. I'd say it was about 75 minutes since we just missed the bus.

Another option: Here is a photolog of my Keukenhof visit a few years ago.
http://www.enjoy-europe.com/keukenhof2008NA.htm
I suggest going in the afternoon to give the tulips time to open, assuming it is a sunny day.

we just got back from our week in Holland which included a day at the Keukenhof gardens. Luckily we had a largely dry day with sun in the afternoon which made all the difference. The flowers were lovely and like last time, I came away with a few new ideas of how to use bulbs at home.

by the time we'd got round all of it [albeit we weren't going very fast as we had my 80 year old mum with us] we'd been there about 5 hours, so make sure you allow plenty of time for it.

Is there a combo ticket from Amsterdam taking the train to Leiden and then the bus to keukenhof gardens and on the way back take the bus to Harlem get off bus and tour Harlem and then train to Amsterdam

to last Q no TMK but it is easy to buy those tickets separately or use the Smart Card for Dutch public transportation would be the cheapest I think.

Pal,
Wouldn't the Anonymous OV-chipkaart be the card to buy for public transport? See http://tinyurl.com/bg4huzb.

The main problem with the anonymous card, for tourists is that to travel by train you need €20 on the card for every journey you make, as that is the fixed boarding rate. The price of the journey is then deducted from that when you check out. This can result in you having quite a lot of money left on the card.
You can reclaim up to €30 (less €2.50 admin fee) in cash at a counter after filling in a form to cancel your card. Any more than that and you need a Dutch bank account for it to be repaid to. So you need to manage your card carefully. Of course if you are likely to return, or know someone else who could use it, then it is less of a problem.