Day trip from Amsterdam to Keukenhof gardens

If you dream of wandering through fields filled with thousands of colorful flowers then a day trip from Amsterdam to Keukenhof gardens is perfect for you.

If you are considering a day trip from Amsterdam to Keukenhof gardens, please visit our tour page.

Holland Windmills’ springtime private tour also brings you to the area outside Keukenhof. The massive tulip fields are a sight to behold.

Our private tour is catered to your wishes. We can, for example, also include a visit to the enormous flower auction in Aalsmeer in the morning.

Or we can have a look at a windmill or two. Every private tour is custom made and designed to the wishes of our guests.  

Highlight of a day trip from Amsterdam to Keukenhof gardens

The highlight of our tour is the visit to the Keukenhof.

There’s something about Keukenhof. The natural beauty of this spot has attracted visitors since the 15th century. 

Throughout the centuries kings, queens and lords build their pleasure gardens here. The soil here is excellent for growing flowers and exotic plants. Nowhere else in Holland you will find the perfect conditions they need.

From the 16th century, the area around Keukenhof was used for growing tulips. 

Vision of a flower show

The idea of a big springtime flower show came from the mayor of Lisse.

According to legend, he drove past the terrain on New Year’s Day of 1949 in a silent and sombre mood. 

When he saw the terrain, he stopped the car, stepped out and was immediately enchanted. This, he insisted, was the perfect place to do a big flower bulb show.

Local flowers growers calculated that the show would cost 60.000 guilders, a fortune in post-war Holland. It took all his charm to convince his council and the provincial government of his crazy idea.

But in the end his enthusiasm won them over and he got his funding.

The story goes that the mayor afterwards often visited the area, to point out his vision of winding roads, pathways, trees, tulip beds and masses of people enjoying the flowers.

That’s exactly like Keukenhof looks like today!

Keukenhof fever

His passion soon became very contagious. Within a few months, local bulb growers were vying for a plot to show their produce. The terrain had to be expanded even before it had opened the gates.

In the end, the first edition of Keukenhof in 1950 received over 200.000 visitors, double what was expected.

In the following years this number rose to 600.000, and then to 800.000. Nowadays 1,4 million people enjoy the garden every spring.