Tiptoeing through the tulips...
 

Good morning!

I have started the slow laborious process of getting some of my photos online from my recent trip. I spent 5 nights in Holland and 4 nights in Paris, this thread is just about the Holland part... the actual trip report will be appended as I go along as well. I just got home Monday night...

Right this second there are only five online below, and I will pick at this photo set in the coming days. Five doesn't seem like much but I promise you this is a riot of color! By the time I am done there will be well more than five photos. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalk...69216168/show/

Might only be five but they are stunning! Brings back some good memories, looking forward to more.

Gorgeous! What camera do you use?

Just stunning!!

Thank you everyone!

I put up a few more this morning.

I use a Canon 7D with a Canon 24-105 F4L lens.

Could you tell if you were there at the peak of the season?

We are considering a trip to see the tulips next spring, followed by 2 weeks in Paris and a week in London for the Chelsea Flower Show. Working backwards from the flower show would make our Holland visit the first week of May....I'm concerned that may be too late.

I know these things are impossible to predict but I'm interested in your opinion re the timing of your visit.

Judy, this spring has been exceptionally warm and dry, so the tulips were earlier than normal. 1st week of May in a 'normal" year would be perfect. No way of knowing what next year will be like of course.

Bear in mind also that April 30th is Queen's Day - the major national holiday in the Netherlands. Amsterdam will be packed that day, but it is something to be seen and enjoyed. May 4th is Remembrance Day in the Netherlands, though this is only of import for the evening - the 2 minutes silence is at 8 pm, but things close earlier for it,and Amsterdam has high security that day for the Queen's appearance at the monument on the Dam. May 5th is Liberation Day. Doesn't affect you very much, but things could be a bit busier than normal that day. It isn't a public holiday but government workers and the like have the day off.

Flygirl, lovely photos, I'm looking forward to your trip report. You certainly chose the right year to visit!

Thank you, hetismij!! We would most likely visit from May 1-5 and were wavering about adding the Netherlands but, having seen flygirl's photos, it is back on the list!

I left for Paris on April 28 - someday I would like to see Queen's Day but this time I was alone and it seemed rather like going to Mardi Gras alone - the only sober person in a town full of drunks. haha

Judy, I chose the last week of April because it seemed the best for hedging my bets. I imagine if I had gone a week earlier, this year, it would have been just fine BUT if the spring was cooler/rainier then a week earlier would have been too soon. I figured it was the best compromise.

I did correspond with a photographer (too late to do anything) and he said northern Holland has even more beautiful tulips - bigger fields and far less tourists. Anna Pawlowna (sp?) and Julianadorp. I WILL return and next time head north.

I also found that I definitely could have used the entire week as I found so many things to do after I arrived (new things, eg Julianadorp etc) but I am still glad I left early this time around.

hetismij, thank you! I bet you have some gorgeous ones yourself! What area do you live in/near?

Thanks, flygirl. Your photos are inspirations for many of our trips.

I'm in Utrecht province.
As well as up around Anna Paulowna there are magnificent fields in the Noord-oost Polder.

Love the trail of Hyacinths, just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Waiting for more of your pictures, Flygirl. I have been a fan of your pictures for a long time.

I'm so glad you like them! I added a few more - up to 18 photos now... check out all the people celebrating spring.

Flygirl...

Great photos...as always! Really makes me want to plan a trip to Holland sooner rather than later! :-)

Looking forward to the trip report.

Beautiful photos Flygirl, makes me wonder why we don't go there, even though it's just a fairly short drive and I love tulips, as you can probably tell :-)
Next year I'll force the kids to go to Keukenhof.

Thank you - funny how I keep hearing that folks want to go see this in person now. It really is amazing.

flygirl, it was in our plans (bucket list item) but we really did not want to be gone over 3 weeks....for our dog. We have booked the apartments in Paris and London and were dragging our feet on adding any more time. Morgan (our dog) has a better life with her sitters than she has at home and probably does not have access to a calendar to see exactly the length of time we leave her.

So, we saw your amazing photos and said, "S**** the Dog"....Holland's back on the agenda!

Can't wait for the trip report.

Judy - the dog will be fine, believe me. We left ours for 4 weeks once and would do it again if the chance arose. Especially for a bucket list item.