Flower Fields

The flower fields around Lisse are the showpiece of the Bollenstreek, the bulb region between Haarlem and Leiden that is famous for tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. Every spring, large stretches of the flat landscape turn into bands of red, yellow, pink, white and purple, and the view across the fields to a distant church tower is one of the most widely photographed scenes in the Netherlands. The fields are working farmland, and the flowers are grown mainly for their bulbs, which are exported all over the world.

The history behind them is long. Tulips came to Europe from the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, and the botanist Carolus Clusius planted some of the first in the Netherlands in the botanical garden at Leiden in the 1590s. They quickly became a fashionable luxury, and by the 1630s the speculative craze known as tulip mania had driven prices to extraordinary heights before collapsing in 1637. Over the following centuries, the sandy, well-drained soil of the dunes' edge proved ideal for bulb growing, and Lisse and nearby towns became the centre of the trade. The Black Tulip Museum in Lisse tells part of this story.

Timing is everything. The season depends on the weather, but hyacinths and early daffodils usually bloom first in late March and early April, tulips are at their best from mid-April to early May, and the fields are often cut or topped soon afterwards, since growers remove the flower heads to strengthen the bulbs. Keukenhof, the garden park next to the fields, opens in late spring for a short period each year and shows millions of bulbs in landscaped displays, with indoor pavilions and themed gardens. It is a separate attraction with its own tickets and is very busy on peak days.

The best way to see the fields is by bicycle, along signposted routes that wind between the plots and along the ditches. Walking is also pleasant, though visitors should stay on the paths and not walk into the fields, which are private property and where trampling damages the crop. Roadside stalls sell fresh tulips and bulbs, and some farms offer cutting or picking days. The Tulip Fields and Hyacinth Fields around Lisse are the main areas, and the Bollenstreek Route links them together.

The fields suit photographers, families, couples and anyone who loves flowers. Go early in the morning or on a weekday to avoid crowds, and dress for wind and changeable weather.