Travel: Head to Holland for your spring bulbs

Atmosphere now, colour later is the reason that thousands of British gardening enthusiasts will be heading to the The Netherlands this autumn to attend the Keukenhof Flower Bulb Market.

For just two days – October 7 and 8 – the Brits will join fellow gardeners and dozens of specialist growers who head to the attractive Dutch town of Lisse to view an exceptional range of exclusive and extraordinary bulbs.

The Keukenhof Flower Bulb Market is well-known across the world and it offers those attending exceptionally large volumes of exclusive varieties of spring flowering tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and crocuses.

Information is supplied first-hand about planting and nurturing different kinds of bulbs and specialists – many of them Keukenhof’s 30 resident gardeners – will be on hand to explain how bulbs can be grown most successfully at home. The Bulb Market is not only a showcase for the sale of exceptional bulbs: the educational aspect is also given a lot of attention.

Over the coming months, approximately seven million flower bulbs are planted in Keukenhof’s stunning parkland – which will be open in 2017 between March 23 to May 21 and will attract around one million visitors! – where the garden’s experts will be giving planting demonstrations along with useful tips and advice.

Visitors will be able to see a special mosaic laid out in bulbs getting underway ahead of the next spring season and the theme for 2017 will be Dutch Design.

Travelling to Lisse and the gardens by car couldn’t be easier as Stena Line ferries run between Harwich and the Hook of Holland twice daily while the journey along the A4 motorway bypassing The Hague takes less that an hour.

The Keukenhof Flower Bulb Market is open from 10am to 4.30pm and entry to the park and parking are free.

With Amsterdam just 35 minutes away from Lisse by car, for those flying into Schiphol Airport from the UK, then they could the advantage of a new ‘Hop On Hop Off’ intercity Sightseeing Bus which takes you from Amsterdam to Scheveningen via Leiden and The Hague.

Along the way, you can disembark at famous museums and attractions, such as the Van Gogh Museum, CORPUS, Naturalis, Louwman Museum, Mauritshuis, and Madurodam and then spend the rest of your day on the wide expanse of Scheveningen beach.

Your ticket will entitle you to one or two days of travel and these can be booked online at www.hollandtourbus.com until 24 hours in advance.

If there are free seats, you can also buy them from the bus driver. You can hop on and off as often as you like. Tickets for museums and attractions are not included in the ticket fee although these can be bought at a discount price on tickets.holland.com