Every year, tourism booms in the Netherlands (particularly around Amsterdam) between the end of March and the beginning of May for one important reason – flowers (especially tulips)! One of spring’s biggest drawcards for visitors to the country is the opportunity to see Keukenhof, the largest flower garden in Europe, along with fields of colourful tulips nearby.

If you are planning to visit Amsterdam to see tulips, cherry blossoms and other spring blooms, this itinerary is for you! I’ve created this weekend itinerary for anyone who has a short amount of time to visit Amsterdam and wants to see as many beautiful flowers as possible during that period. While the gardens of Keukenhof and fields of tulips aren’t located in Amsterdam proper, they’re close enough to visit as a day trip, which is why this guide is all about seeing floral attractions from the capital city, so that you can stay in the same place each night and also see lots of flowers within Amsterdam itself.

NOTE: This guide has been written to assume that you will be visiting at peak flowering season in the Netherlands, which is usually around mid-March to early April for cherry blossoms and late March until early May for tulips. The weather affects the flowering seasons so it’s not guaranteed that you will be able to do all these things in one weekend unless you time it perfectly and get very lucky but I have alternative ideas at the end as well!

Friday Night

Stay: At NH Collection Amsterdam Flower Market or Hotel Estheréa. NH Collection Amsterdam Flower Market is located right next door to Amsterdam’s floating flower market and features gorgeous floral wallpaper in the bar along with plenty of fresh flower displays throughout. Hotel Estheréa (pictured above) is another stunning hotel filled with floral decor, located in a canal house on the Singel canal and close to the city centre.

Eat: Have dinner at Shiso on Rembrandtplein. The decor here means you can eat delicious sushi (and other Asian fusion dishes) surrounded by cherry blossoms, which is the perfect way to begin a weekend filled with blooms!

Drink: Head out for drinks at Secret Garden, an absolutely stunning restaurant/bar with floral decor and fancy cocktails to start your weekend off right.

Saturday Morning

Eat: Have breakfast at Gartine or Pluk. Gartine is a tiny organic café near Spui with greenery and florals inside, along with a delicious breakfast menu. It’s also only about a five-minute walk from either hotel. Alternatively, you might like to visit Pluk, one of my favourite places to eat in Amsterdam, which is also very pretty and does yummy breakfasts as well as sweet treats.

Do: Head to the Tulip Museum in the Jordaan to learn more about these iconic flowers and then stop off at Polaberry for delicious chocolate-covered strawberries and a photo in front of the flower wall. Next, head to the floating flower market on Singel Canal if you haven’t already walked past it. See how many pretty tulip displays you can see around the city!

Saturday Afternoon

Eat: Have lunch at De Plantage, next door to Amsterdam’s zoo. This beautiful restaurant resembles a conservatory and serves Mediterranean food (with a lot of vegetarian options). You’ll also just be a quick stroll from your next stop after your meal.

Do: Visit Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam’s beautiful botanical gardens (and one of the oldest in the world), then head to the Kersenbloesempark in Amsterdamse Bos to see cherry blossom trees in bloom! You could also seek out cherry blossoms in Vondelpark if you don’t fancy getting a tram or Uber/Lyft all the way to Amstelveen, or check out my alternatives at the end of this post if cherry blossom season is over.

Saturday Night

Eat: Head to De Kas for a very fancy, fresh and local dinner in former greenhouses OR Secret Garden which I mentioned for drinks for last night. It’s quite expensive but worth it if you want to splurge on a fancy meal on your last night.

Do: Catch a comedy show (in English) at Boom Chicago, see a movie at the beautiful Pathé Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski or perhaps experience the quintessential Amsterdam canal cruise at night. You might also like to just have an early night since you’ll need to get up early and be very busy all day tomorrow!

Sunday Morning

Eat: Grab something quick at your accommodation or on the go.

Do: Head to Keukenhof to see one of the most incredible gardens in Europe with thousands of flowers. You can either book a package with transport included or catch one of the Express Bus shuttles from Europaplein to get there. Read more about visiting Keukenhof here!

Sunday Afternoon

Eat: At one of the restaurants or cafés inside Keukenhof. While they can be pricey, there are quite a few different spots to choose from. Alternatively, you could bring your own picnic to eat.

Do: Hire a bike from outside Keukenhof to explore the surrounding flower fields and/or visit one of the special tulip experience farms nearby such as De Tulperij, the Tulip Barn, FAM Flower Farm, Tulip Experience Amsterdam or Tulip Store Show Garden. When you hire a bike you’ll receive a map showing you where to go.

Alternative Flower-Themed Activities for Your Trip

If you’re visiting Amsterdam outside of peak tulip season that doesn’t mean you have to totally miss out on floral delights in and around the city! Many of these alternative activities don’t depend on the blooming season, and some you just might prefer to do instead of something I’ve suggested in the itinerary, so feel free to swap anything out that you feel like.

• Keukenhof Castle: Not far from Keukenhof Gardens is Keukenhof Castle (pictured above) which is more a fancy manor house than a proper castle but it is surrounded by more stunning gardens! We visited in summer when the dahlias were in bloom and still got to see gorgeous flowers, as you can see. It’s free to visit the grounds, which are also home to a modern art museum (LAM, which does cost money to visit), a cafe and a children’s petting farm. You can see some more photos of Keukenhof Castle in this post.
• Museum The Black Tulip: In the town of Lisse, which is where Keukenhof is located, there’s another museum dedicated to the history of the tulip, as well as artworks featuring tulips. I haven’t been here myself yet but it’s on my list!
• This Is Holland: This is Holland is a really cool 5D flight simulator attraction that takes you on a virtual tour around the Netherlands. I took some friends here when they were visiting Amsterdam and we all really enjoyed it. If you’re visiting outside of tulip season this is a fun way to still see some of the fields of tulips as well as other places in the Netherlands.
• Vondelpark: Amsterdam is home to quite a few lovely parks, one of the most iconic of which is Vondelpark. Located near Museumplein, this is a great spot for a stroll in nice weather, particularly in spring when everything is in bloom (don’t miss out on the rose garden). There are a couple of cafés within the park but you could also have a picnic here too.
• Flower Bike Man: While exploring Amsterdam you might encounter some random very colourful and often floral-decorated bikes, which are the work of Warren Gregory, AKA Flower Bike Man. He has actually also partnered with Flagship Bike Tours Amsterdam so that you can even do a bike tour of Amsterdam on an amazing floral bike OR you can do a canal tour on a special flowerboat!
• Hoorn Steam Train: Another unique way to see tulips in spring is by riding on the museum steam train between the towns of Hoorn and Medemblik. You can catch a regular train to Hoorn from Amsterdam and then ride on this special historic steam train through another area that’s usually filled with tulip fields. Read more about my trip on the steam train here.
• Dahlia fields: If you’re in the Netherlands in summer that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on beautiful flowers. While the tulip season is long gone, summer is dahlia season, and many of the same areas that were blanketed in tulips in spring are now blanketed in dahlias! We did a self-driven electric vehicle tour to see the dahlia fields and loved it, I might even like dahlias more than tulips now? Either way, it’s a fun experience, which you can read about in detail here.
• Open Garden Days: Each June there are also a variety of private gardens in Amsterdam opened to the public for one weekend (Friday to Sunday) so that you can ogle some of the most beautiful canal house gardens in the city. I’m planning to try and visit this year, so watch this space for a recap of my experience or check out the official site here.