Christina

What is the best country to see Tulips in the spring? What is the best month? Is it really that pretty, with meadows full of flowers, or is that just in the movies?

xox

Christina,<BR><BR>I don't know about tulips but the red poppies are in bloom in the fields in France in May and look like a Monet painting. Lovely! Also in Rome.

Nutella

I was in Amsterdam the last week of April, and tulips were beautiful.

uhoh

We were in London April 15-21 and Paris April 22-30. Tulips in the gorgeous gardens and parks in London (and Cambridge) were extraordinary. In Paris, they were blooming beneath the famous &quot;Chestnuts in blossom....&quot; We lucked out with sunny gorgeous Spring weather. The year before we did 3 weeks in May in Italy. The poppies in the fields were really lovely, as were fantastic cascades of flowers from windows. A couple of years before, we visited Paris the last week in May and a daytrip to Giverny was a true floral showplace. The roses were truly exquisite.

Canuk

Ottawa, Canada - it has some of THE nicest tulips in the world!

flowerpower

topping

Lanny

Ottawa, Canada is the tulip capital of the world. You do not have to cross the Atlantic for this experience because for two weeks in May of each year the city has a Tulip Festival and a million tulips in flower in a beautiful capital city noted for its public spaces, parks and public buildings. The flowers are in great banks of beds running 10 kms from the near west end of the city at Dow's Lake along the Rideau Canal to downtown Ottawa at Parliament Hill by the Chateau Laurier. I know of no where else in the world, outside the tulip fields in Holland, which are not really very accessible, whereas the parks and grounds in Ottawa are fully accessible, where you can see the variety and quality of tulips you seem to be looking for.<BR><BR>For a taste of the Ottawa experience, check out these couple of photos:<BR><BR>http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/images/img-tulip2.html<BR><BR>Enjoy!<BR><BR>Lanny<BR>

Chris

Why is Lanny assuming that Christina lives in 'this' side od the Atlantic? She never said so.<BR>Maybe she lives in Poland or Germany or Kenya or Japan, for instance

curiousx

Absolutely visit Ottawa for the Tulip Festival. Bring your own bicyles or rent them because many of the best beds are along bike and pedestrian paths. There are wonderful low-cost open-air world-music concerts in Major's Hill Park behind the Chateau Laurier. <BR><BR>This is certainly worth crossing the Atlantic/Pacific for (or not)!<BR><BR>Beyond the Tulip Festival, Ottawa and neighbouring Gatineau (formerly Hull) have super restaurants, museums, galleries and parks, theatre, festivals etc., to visit at any time of year.<BR><BR>

Christina

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I would have never thought of Cananda but it's a possibility. <BR><BR>PS I live in Florida!

Danna

Keukenhof Garden, in Lisse Netherlands is where it's at for spring flowers. It's an easy train, bus trip from Amsterdam. Commercial flower fields are all along the way, and right outside the garden as well. We visited the last weeks of April, but it's open to May. If you do a web search for Keukenhof you should find some sites with pics... believe me, the reality is even more breathtaking than the photos.

Deana

There is no place more beautiful than Keukenhof Garden, in Lisse Netherlands mentioned by Danna

BillJ

Another vote for glorious Keukenhoff. We visited there two years ago at the end of April. Weather was colder than normal, but the flowers in that park will enchant even the most hardened. One can hardly believe that such flowers exist. The many colors and park setting assault the senses at every turn.<BR>We wandered there several hours. The fields around Keukenhoff are ablaze with every color imaginable.<BR>On the last Saturday of April, there is a flower parade from Lisse to Harlem. It is awesome, and reminiscent of the New Year's Rose Parade in Pasadena. The floats are parked in Harlem after the parade and can be viewed during a &quot;lively&quot; street party the next Sunday.<BR>Anyway, that's my vote. Have fun!

charlene

another vote for Kuekenhoff, we went last year at Easter weekend, it was marvelous, I was in awe. Combined with a trip to Amsterdam. Used to live in Ottawa, and yes the tulips are beautiful there, as they are donated from the Netherlands (gifts of a grateful royalty for looking after their family during the war) but imho, nothing compares to the original.

jen

Christina, if you want to see fields of blooming tulips and other bulb flowers, rent a bike at any of the train stations (or bike shop nearby) between Haarlem and Leiden (Netherlands) and ride through the fields near Lisse &amp; Sassenheim, and of course include the Keukenhof gardens. The fields are spectacular, long straight bands of color, and there are bike paths all over. It's the very best way to enjoy them!

Monica

One more vote for Keukenhof Gardens<BR>The fields were spectacular. <BR><BR>I live near Ottawa but it doesn't come close to Keukenhof.