marlene_

DH and I are retired seniors flying into Amsterdam from the US with a 6am arrival time. Our plan was to take a bus or train to our Haarlem hotel and hopefully they will store our luggage as it will be too early to check in.

To help us acclimate to the time change, we thought we should go to Keukenhof on the day of our arrival (a Tuesday). I am reading that Keukenhof is going to limit the number of people allowed entrance into the garden. So my questions are:
1. Should we just visit the garden on our own or buy a skip the line tour?
2. Is it really necessary to purchase our admission tickets ahead of time?
3. How specific is the admission time for the tickets? God forbid our flight is delayed or getting through
customs takes a chunk of time.

Thanks for your input!

geetika

We flew through Schiphol for a day this April to visit Keukenhof. They had timed entries and suggested purchasing tickets in advance, so we booked a 12.30-1pm slot. Our flight landed around 9ish, we put our bags in the left luggage and took the bus straight to the gardens, we arrived at noon, but they let us in.

I don’t believe you need a tour, not sure if they even had a skip the line entrance this year. From what I recall everyone had timed entries, so they staggered the number of people going in. But of course you can stay for as long as you want, till closing time. We spent about 3+ hours, certain parts were crowded, but the blooms are incredible and we had a wonderful time.

hetismij2

Most so called skip the line tours run from Amsterdam and are extremely expensive. I'm not sure if they really skip the line either, and with timed entries the queue is short.
Timed entry is the norm now for most museums as well as Keukenhof, in an effort to spread the crowds, and keep queues short.
Tickets go on sale mid November.
You are braver than me trying to see Keukenhof straight after a transatlantic overnighter.
Note buses in the Netherlands do not accept cash or creditcards. Buy OV chipcards at Schiphol and load some money on them.

menachem

The #300 bus to Haarlem does accept creditcards though. You can pay contactless, and the driver has a terminal if you use PIN. Connexxion buses accept Mastercard, Visa and Amex
https://www.connexxion.nl/en/tickets...d-credit-cards

marlene_

Thanks, all for the suggestions. I am now rethinking the timing of our tour of the gardens immediately after our cross Atlantic flight. We have four nights in Amsterdam. Going to Keukenhof is top on our list to visit and we want to fully enjoy the gardens.