We were part of the Keukenhof visitors in 2019. We didn't find the other tourists annoying, probably because we were there on a Thursday, a rainy Thursday, in early May. Far different that Amsterdam or Zaanse Schans on a summer Friday or weekend, which we have also experienced. Sadly, the fields in that region were already topped when we flew in on May 1st. The purpose of both of our trips was to participate in a Boat Bike Tour, an amazing way to see the countryside and get a feel for the culture.
I've planted a tulip garden here in Rhode Island; the tulips join the daffodils and forsythia in welcoming spring!
I've done a Boat Bike Tour! But not at tulip time, unfortunately. It was a great combination of being active and being spoiled! I reviewed it here: https://rachelsruminations.com/boat-bike-tours-review-hansa-highlights/ This year the tulip season was a couple of weeks later because the weather has been quite cold this spring; it went halfway through May. The best is if you're very lucky and you fly in or out of Schiphol when the tulips are blooming and the sky is clear: it's a magical sight! Thanks for commenting!
I was soooo disappointed (how many O's can I put in so?) that the view was not a patchwork of color when we landed at Schiphol! We spent the 3 pre tour days in Hoofddorp, planning to ride out past some fields on our folding bikes as well as to Keukenhof. We did ride in the local area, but took the bus to Keukenhof because of the rain.
We rode the Hanseatic tour (earlier tour was Southern Holland) and the Thursday short ride was mostly in Cleveland; I think we rode past topped tulip fields there because it looked like a few flowers were still there.
We've riden several self contained / camping tours in the US, Canada and Europe but with Mary now in her late 80's, the spoiled part made the cycling part possible. It didn't hurt that The Netherlands is flat!
I did read your Hansa tour post; we loved the forests, small towns and medieval cities. Our tour started on Remembrance Day and the riding starting in Wageningen was on Liberation Day. The significance was not lost on us.
I did wonder what you meant by Cleveland! What I also liked about the Boat Bike Tour was on the second day when I felt pretty saddle-sore, I could just stay on the boat and have a relaxed day watching the scenery slide by. And I stayed on the boat another day when it was raining quite hard. Really pleasant.
We rode the boat day 3 Kampen to Hardervijk. We were aboard the Rotterdam, a larger ship because De Nassau was still in the shipyard) so we docked in Lelystad that night. We wandered around that afternoon - right into a US style factory outlet center that I referred to as 'Wrentham Factory Outlet', after a Massachusetts center an hour from us here that looked a lot like it.
It was a chilly and wet week, so we were glad to not get caught in the afternoon downpour! We've biked in the rain a lot, maybe enough, in the past.
We were part of the Keukenhof visitors in 2019. We didn't find the other tourists annoying, probably because we were there on a Thursday, a rainy Thursday, in early May. Far different that Amsterdam or Zaanse Schans on a summer Friday or weekend, which we have also experienced. Sadly, the fields in that region were already topped when we flew in on May 1st. The purpose of both of our trips was to participate in a Boat Bike Tour, an amazing way to see the countryside and get a feel for the culture.
I've planted a tulip garden here in Rhode Island; the tulips join the daffodils and forsythia in welcoming spring!
I've done a Boat Bike Tour! But not at tulip time, unfortunately. It was a great combination of being active and being spoiled! I reviewed it here: https://rachelsruminations.com/boat-bike-tours-review-hansa-highlights/ This year the tulip season was a couple of weeks later because the weather has been quite cold this spring; it went halfway through May. The best is if you're very lucky and you fly in or out of Schiphol when the tulips are blooming and the sky is clear: it's a magical sight! Thanks for commenting!
I was soooo disappointed (how many O's can I put in so?) that the view was not a patchwork of color when we landed at Schiphol! We spent the 3 pre tour days in Hoofddorp, planning to ride out past some fields on our folding bikes as well as to Keukenhof. We did ride in the local area, but took the bus to Keukenhof because of the rain.
We rode the Hanseatic tour (earlier tour was Southern Holland) and the Thursday short ride was mostly in Cleveland; I think we rode past topped tulip fields there because it looked like a few flowers were still there.
We've riden several self contained / camping tours in the US, Canada and Europe but with Mary now in her late 80's, the spoiled part made the cycling part possible. It didn't hurt that The Netherlands is flat!
I did read your Hansa tour post; we loved the forests, small towns and medieval cities. Our tour started on Remembrance Day and the riding starting in Wageningen was on Liberation Day. The significance was not lost on us.
Nice!
Haha, not Cleveland, the Thursday short ride was mostly in Flevoland. My phone thought it knew better than I.
I did wonder what you meant by Cleveland! What I also liked about the Boat Bike Tour was on the second day when I felt pretty saddle-sore, I could just stay on the boat and have a relaxed day watching the scenery slide by. And I stayed on the boat another day when it was raining quite hard. Really pleasant.
We rode the boat day 3 Kampen to Hardervijk. We were aboard the Rotterdam, a larger ship because De Nassau was still in the shipyard) so we docked in Lelystad that night. We wandered around that afternoon - right into a US style factory outlet center that I referred to as 'Wrentham Factory Outlet', after a Massachusetts center an hour from us here that looked a lot like it.
It was a chilly and wet week, so we were glad to not get caught in the afternoon downpour! We've biked in the rain a lot, maybe enough, in the past.