Part 1: Your Complete Guide to Spring Tulip Time River Cruises in The Netherlands & Belgium

We explore what makes tulip season river cruises so special, including why Amsterdam is the ideal embarkation point, what to expect during spring in The Netherlands & Belgium, and where to see the famous fields in bloom. We also answer the question: Can you see lots of tulips in Amsterdam? Spoiler alert: The answer will surprise you!

We also share helpful travel logistics, pre- and post-cruise options, and insider tips for navigating the city during this vibrant season.

Here are some additional helpful links & info we mention in Parts 1 & 2: 

• Willet-Holthuysen Museum 
• Annemieke's Pluktuin
• Tulip Experience
• Extensive information about visiting Keukenhof

Don't miss our incredible Netherlands articles on our websites SometimesHome.com and SometimesSailing.com direct link to the category is here, including all about Dutch foods to try and the best train and bus trips from Amsterdam. 

🌷 Interested in a tulips river cruise for 2026? Our preferred travel agents are hosting a Tulip Time Cruise starting April 3, 2026. Contact Mikkel to learn more: mikkel@sometimessailing.com 

Remember to shop our Amazon list for your Netherlands packing items when you continue planning this bucket list vacation filled with vibrant flowers and blossoms!

Chapters

• 0:34 Overview of Parts 1 & 2 of Spring Tulip Time River Cruises
• 3:15 Let's Talk Tulip Season in The Netherlands and Belgium!
• 5:48 Exploring Amsterdam: A Gateway to Tulip Cruises
• 8:45 When to Arrive in Amsterdam for Your River Cruise
• 11:40 When is the Best Time to River Cruise in The Netherlands to See Tulips?
• 13:43 Tulip Farms & Petal Insights
• 14:15 Are There a Lot of Tulips in Central Amsterdam?
• 15:14 "Bollenstreek" Flower Fields & Vital Flower Picking Info
• 20:47 Part 2 Preview

Transcript

 Mikkel (00:35)
I wanted to pop in before our episode starts to let you know that after Dan and I recorded this episode it was so jam-packed with valuable insights for you it was around an hour so we decided to cut it down a little bit and make it even more maximized for value for you and split it into two episodes. So this is part one but the good news is you can dive into part two right after this because both were released on the same day and are live for your enjoyment and for your trip planning. 

And I'm going to say that this is a bucket list trip. If you have ever dreamed of seeing the tulips in springtime in the Netherlands, don't delay your adventure. So what are we talking about in part one and part two?

In this episode, part one, we are diving into the Tulip time cruises, one of the most vibrant experiences in Europe. And we're gonna share why Amsterdam is the ideal starting point, where is it in relation to the airport or where even to fly into to get there. The best time to see the peak blooms exactly when during spring.

And where to actually see them beyond the city. And Spoiler alert: they're not actually in the city center, so you're gonna wanna listen to that. And we're also gonna give you tips for navigating Amsterdam and the surrounding cities and making the most of your time on and off the river cruise ship. In part two, we are gonna cover must-see topics like Keukenhof - and I will say we deep dive into this because holy cow.

Did Keukenhof blow us away? We were not expecting that. So we're gonna tell you all about our firsthand experience and we have been there multiple times. And talk about the charming ports from Bruges to Ghent and even places like Delft that was a personal favorite and how you can plan ahead for this popular cruise season. 

We're also gonna touch on the Flower Parade and tell you what it is and when it is, and if you should even plan to go and how you would plan to go and what's typically included in this kind of cruise and starting prices and also what to be aware of when you are looking for a cruise that fits your lifestyle. We're also going to talk about some packing tips and planning for the unexpected and tell you why that is. And we're also going to let you know the kinds of souvenirs that you can bring home. So...

Let's get into it. Here is part one and don't forget to go into part two right after this which is live right now.

Dan (03:14)
Welcome back. It's episode seven and we are talking tulips.

Mikkel (03:19)
This is one of my favorite topics, tulip season in Europe and river cruises. Nearly every river cruise line has an itinerary that goes to the Netherlands and Belgium during spring season because it's so popular to see the world famous tulips. So in our seventh episode, lucky number seven, we are discussing all things spring and beautiful blossoms,

But I want to start with a five-star review. We are so grateful for the reviews we have gotten and this five star review is from JessReviewsAllTheThings

Jess says, "Fun and informative. I've never been on a cruise in my life and have always questioned if it's a style of travel I would enjoy. But this show has introduced me to options I never would have known about that sound much more appealing to me than big mainstream cruises. Their excitement is palpable and it makes me excited to explore small ship cruising in my future travels." Thank you again for your review, Jess. We are so grateful for it. 

And if you are listening and haven't reviewed the podcast, but you've been enjoying it, we encourage you to post a review and we will read it on the air. And as always, we are appreciative of your feedback as well. Let's talk about the vibrancy of spring.

As we are recording this, it is April and we have tulips on our minds. Now we live in Florida, we moved to Florida last year and tulips are not a thing here really unless you're at some garden that specializes in growing them because tulips need a freezing over the winter in order to grow and kind of renew them afresh for the year ahead. So we...

would be extra grateful to be going on a tulips cruise in the future as we have in the past because we miss those kind of blossoms that we saw in North Carolina or, you know, Dan and I both grew up in New York and it was such a nice thing to see those signs of spring come up first with daffodils and then with tulips. So these river cruises are so popular that on the river cruise websites, you'll often see its own category for tulip cruises.

much like you will for Christmas Markets cruises, even though both take place in Europe, you'll see its own category. So you can click on it and be taken to these popular cruise itineraries. Now, most of them start and end in Amsterdam.

Dan (05:52)
Amsterdam's a great city and if you've never been to Europe, it's an easy city to feel comfortable and get acclimated to and there's plenty of tourists there, that's for sure.

Mikkel (06:03)
It's also a really easy city, to your point, to get to. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is a huge airport and a major hub for European travel. I also want to piggyback on you saying that it's like a great city to go to if you maybe have never been to Europe or you're going back and maybe you're a little concerned about the language barrier. I don't think we've ever encountered a person in the Netherlands that doesn't speak English.

Dan (06:29)
of speak English and very warm and welcoming. Easy city for walking

Mikkel (06:33)
Yeah, that's true.

Dan (06:37)
They have public transportation and it's great, but it's also pretty easy to navigate and just walk around. And you're going to want to walk around. But watch out for the bikes.

Mikkel (06:46)
That's right. As you were saying, it's easy to walk. I was going to say it's even easier for people to bike, which is why you've never seen anything like the amount of bikes that park in Amsterdam. You really got to look left and right before you even cross a pathway because those bikes could be zipping by. It doesn't matter when you visit the Netherlands. It is such a part of their culture bicycling that you're for sure going to encounter them wherever you go, which is a really wonderful thing and it helps everybody that's Dutch stay fit and active and it really is inspirational.

Dan (07:18)
You will definitely want to watch where you walk. Do not walk in a bike lane, but the bicycles will let you know immediately if you're in the bike lane...

Mikkel (07:27)
Yeah.

Dan (07:29)
They're nice people until they get on a bike. And then if you're in the bike lane, they will let you know.

Mikkel (07:34)
Yeah, the little "ring ring ring"... move! That was my bicycle chime charm. What are they called? Bicycle...

Dan (07:36)
Yeah.

Mikkel (07:43)
bell? bicycle bell impersonation, I guess you could say. So Amsterdam is a wonderful, wonderful city. And a little later on, we're going to get into whether or not you should extend your trip pre and post cruise and the options there. But

Dan (07:44)
you

Mikkel (08:02)
I just want to touch on it, I can say that the canal tours are great there. There's historical walking tours. The local food scene is really interesting. The beer scene is really interesting. And there's certainly plenty to do there if you want to extend your trip. 

Now, you want to make sure that these tours are different than what is offered for your river cruise, but I can't imagine that you would ever not find more to do there. We've been to Amsterdam and the Netherlands several times. I would say that we have explored it by land and by cruise way more than the average traveler, and it is just a delight. And day trips from there are really easy too. So let's come back to that a little later. But we did touch on how the practical logistics of visiting Amsterdam is really easy. 

So it's a great cruise itinerary to fly from, let's say, North America over to Amsterdam. It's very possible you can find a direct flight if you live in a major city and if not, then you're probably only two flights away from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. And you had mentioned the public transportation. So if you are flying there and going on the cruise right away, then transportation is provided by the cruise line transfers, they call them airport transfers to get to the cruise ship.

We always recommend coming in early, even if that means forfeiting the transportation because you don't want to risk missing that cruise embarkation. But something to know about these cruises in Amsterdam that go around during tulip season, I'm sorry, start in Amsterdam is that they usually overnight there. Very often, not always, but you can check to see if it starts in Amsterdam, let's say on day one.

Then day two it's also in Amsterdam. So you might do a day trip to Zaanse Schans which is really famous for the

I'm sure I'm saying that incorrectly. Dutch is not an easy language. But you can see if it overnights, is my point. So, if for some reason you can't come in until the day of or you don't want to because you want to use those cruise transfers to get to the ship, then you kind of have less fear of missing the ships should something happen. And because these itineraries are generally, you know, 99 % of the time in April, I mean, your parents are in Buffalo, and it snows in April. So you just never know. 

It could be a weather delay that is preventing you from getting there on time. So something to keep in mind if this is important to you is if you don't want to come in early, those itineraries might overnight the first night so you have less stress about getting there on time because if you get there the next day and not that we want you to miss your cruise you know first day or any part of it but if you get there the next day it's very likely you can very easily meet up with the itinerary but know that getting to Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport is so easy you just hop on the train and it takes you right to the city center to Amsterdam Centraal station, which is pretty much walkable from all of the major hotels there. 

And if not, you can just hop in a taxi or, you know, a ride share and very easily get there. The bus system is also really easy. Do you have anything to add to that from our own experience?

Dan (11:31)
I don't remember any hiccups with traveling around Amsterdam, so I think you've covered it. It's easy.

Mikkel (11:37)
Yeah, no news is good news on that front, right?

Dan (11:40)
you are looking for cruises that focus on tulips, most times we're going to be talking about mid-March through May. Now, just like if you're going to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. or Japan or something like that,

whether the weather cooperates, really.

Mikkel (11:58)
"Whether the weather."

I like that. True.

Dan (12:03)
Technically the tulip season is mid-March through May. Early season, in March, you're going to see some flowers. So some daffodils, crocus, and hyacinth. They'll be out, but 99 % of the cruising happens in April. So that's the peak season.

That's prime tulip viewing time right there. So you're gonna see all the tulips and it's gonna be weather permitting of when the peak week is. So it's just like if you're going see the cherry blossoms, you may not find that peak weekend or peak week, but you'll still see some.

Mikkel (12:39)
Yeah, the luck of Mother Nature, let's say.

Dan (12:42)
Exactly. Now also when you're looking for cruising, as of right now there is very few, if any, that are in May. So the tulips are done. They're done for the year. They're retired. So you're not going to see the cruises in May. So April is truly your time to see tulips. You're going in April.

Mikkel (12:52)
Yeah, they're retired.

Yeah, and just to make this information pertinent to any time you listen to this, because we're recording this in April when it might be a little late to book a cruise for this year, though not impossible, because we have seen availability. Some are sold out, some aren't across all the major river cruise lines. But it's unlikely, as Dan said, that you'll see cruises in March and May, but not impossible. But we do want to make you aware that the reason to not focus on a river cruise in March or in May is because March is a little early and May is a little late. So April is really the time that you're going to focus on.

Dan (13:43)
And as far as the actual tulip farms, they cut off the tops of the flowers. It's not like you see a couple that are still in the field and maybe, you know, with some bald spots in the fields. Nope, they, they cut them off.

Mikkel (13:58)
That's the cutting off sound. "Zhooom."

Dan (14:03)
There is no half season. It's done.

Mikkel (14:08)
Yeah, if there are six petals, you're not going to find three, you're going to find six or none on each tulip flower.

I want to talk about - you just made me think of this - the expectation of landing in Amsterdam and getting to the city center and thinking you're going to see all these tulips. And to set some expectations, you're kind of not going to see that. The tulips are focused in areas outside of Amsterdam. It is possible when you're on a train ride from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam city center that you will see tulip fields, just like we saw sunflowers in Spain in the countryside in spring. That's an amazing experience. We saw canola flowers in France when we were there in late spring, early summer. 

You will see some tulip flower fields but don't expect to land in Amsterdam Centraal and be like, "Where are the tulips besides the souvenir shops?" So what Dan's referring to with the tulip fields, what you envision with the lines of bright colors almost striping the landscape, that's really amazing. We were shocked to see some of those stems were bald.

And we were there the third week of April last year. We had gone on a river cruise to the Netherlands and Belgium shortly after we got engaged, actually days after we got engaged. It was kind of a celebration cruise with Emerald Cruises years ago. And we had a great experience seeing the flower fields and everything on
bus rides that were outside the city center. 

But when we went back and we were there for more time in the tulip areas, which for us was Lisse, which is actually where Keukenhof is. People think Keukenhof, the famous gardens, are in Amsterdam. They're actually not. They are outside of the city center. So in that area and then also in Beemster, which is part of Holland. Holland is an area of the Netherlands. It's not all of the Netherlands.

We were shocked that they were cutting the flower heads off and we were like, "Oh my gosh, why are they doing this? What are they doing? They're murdering them!" And we learned that - this was fascinating to us - they cut the tulip heads off because the tulip bulb growers, this is their crop and they are selling the bulb. So the petals are beautiful and that's great for tourism, but their cash crop is really the bulb. And when they cut off those flower heads,

Dan (16:24)
Thank

Mikkel (16:48)
all the energy is going back into the bulb. And they need to do this at a very strategic time, because in farming, as the weather affects the crop, the tulip bulbs, they need to make sure that they are conserving that energy so they have the best product and that product is the bulb. 

So if you go too late, and it's really hard to know when this is because of what Dan said with the weather, they were experiencing a cold snap, it was hailing and freezing temperatures when we were there the third week of April. Meanwhile, when we were there years before, just around the same time, it was nice and warm and sunny and much warmer than when we were there last year. So you just never know. 

And we'll talk about that a little further down in the episode when we talk about what to pack. But don't be surprised if you go too late. like maybe the last week of April could even be too late.

So you really want to focus on kind of like the belly of April. So the second and third week is our recommendation.

Dan (17:50)
One last thing to think about is that these are crops. So you're going to find the bulk of tulips on farms. So when you do come into Amsterdam or any other city center, just like you wouldn't find corn growing in New York City, you're not going to find the tulips growing. Sure, there's planters and some gardens and things like that, but it's not that mass amount that you're you're envisioning that you want for Instagram.

Mikkel (17:58)
Right.

Yeah, or to send back home, you know, for your family and friends to be envious, but you will find those in general. But you always come in with the greatest analogies and you're so right about that with the corn, you know. But for all our listeners, we promise you great value and education and insights into things that other people won't know. So here are two amazing places to find tulips within the city center of Amsterdam.

One of those places is the Willet House Museum. Willet Holthuysen I can't pronounce it in Dutch, but it's amazing and has a stunning courtyard. You would not know this from the street. We're going to put it in the show description. It has a beautiful courtyard. We really enjoyed visiting there last year. And then another place is the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam.

So those are two great places to check those out. Now, as Dan was also saying, the tulip fields are in the countryside because of the farming. So you're going to see a bunch of those and the cruise line might offer tours. So if this is interesting to you, you want to look for a tour that goes to anything labeled Bollenstreek.

And those are the striped tulip farm fields and a biking tour....like, I know AmaWaterways does this as an

going to be just phenomenal. No matter the weather, you're going to be able to see those vibrant colors and take pictures. Now, just something to note is you cannot pick the flowers. This is a big no-no.

That would be like somebody invading your space and taking your corn if that was your cash crop as Dan said.

But Dutch people know that people want to come here and take flowers and kind of, you know, revel in the magic of the season. So you want to look for certain gardens if you are extending your trip before and after that allow you to pick your own flowers. And two of these places that we'll also put in the show notes are
Annemieke’s Pluktuin or the Tulip Experience. And this is very close to Lisse where the Keukenhof gardens are. Now you're not going be able to do this unless you extend your trip before and after so just another tip and reason to extend your trip.

Speaking of Keukenhof I was shocked by how much there is to do there. What were your first impressions the first time we went to Keukenhof?

Mikkel (20:47)
I'm gonna cut myself off right here and say you're gonna have to tune in to part two of this episode to hear Dan's impressions of Keukenhof and what I thought as well. 

For now, that wraps up part one of our episode on springtime tulips and river cruises in the Netherlands and Belgium, and around Europe.

Don't forget to tune into part two, which is available right now when we're covering the world famous Keukenhof Gardens. You do not want to miss the information that we provide you. It is so valuable and so insightful. 

And we tell you about our firsthand experience and the kinds of flowers that you're going to see there and when you're going to see those kinds of flowers. And we talk about those charming, quaint ports that you're going to go to that only a small ship can get to in this way. We touch on the flower parade, what it is, when it is, how you can see it, and why it's cool or maybe it's not.

Tune in to find out. And also, key tips for packing and kind of what to expect in terms of souvenirs and can you bring tulip bulbs

Can you even buy tulip bulbs? Do they sell them there?

Or do they only sell live flowers? So we're gonna tell you all about that. And also another souvenir that's pretty cool to bring home.

So listen to part two of this right now. And if you haven't already, we would love a five-star review if you are loving small ship cruise talk. And if you found it valuable, share it with a friend, a colleague, or a family member, especially if you're trying to convince them that a small ship cruise is the way to go.

We love this form of cruising. We're so glad to have you tune in today. We are so grateful for you and we look forward to sharing more insights in the next episode.