Experience Keukenhof’s tulips at home

If you were able to pick up a copy of our March “What’s Up,” when COVID-19 was a passing headline and we weren’t forced to shelter in place, you would have noticed a gorgeous tulip field and windmill on the cover and the headline, "Experience Holland." Our Carrie Farrell wrote a fantastic feature on her love and experiences from tulips to wooden shoes. I encourage you to give it a read.

But we fully understand the truly and understandably bitter climate when it comes to travel stories. So, we’re trying to find places for you to experience in your own home to bring a little light to a truly dark and stressful time. And, maybe give you some inspiration on where to go when we all make it through this. Because, one day we will and we’ll get back to trains, planes and automobiles taking us to some of the most beautiful places in Europe.

One of those places is Keukenhof, one of the most visited places in Holland. Like so many other European tourist attractions, it’s currently closed, leaving its millions of colorful tulips without its roughly 800,000 person audience who stroll through the gardens for the eight weeks its open. Instead, the symphony of color is getting a different audience, getting Keukenhof’s beauty in the comfort of their own home.

Visit Keukenhof’s Facebook page is offering virtual tours, hosted by the park’s managing director. The tours are in Dutch but with English subtitles. While it may not be as breathtaking as tiptoeing through the tulips yourself, the videos give you something you won’t get at the park: a personal tour from the man overseeing every flower in the park. Over the coming weeks, Bart Siemerink will walk you through his favorite places and point out all the different kinds of tulips and other flowers and why they specifically were selected for the gardens.

So when the world feels very overwhelming, pour yourself a glass of wine, find the biggest screen in your home and head to Keukenhof’s Facebook page. Treat yourself with a private tour hosted by the world’s leading expert on tulips and take a break from the current state of affairs.