Betuwe Blossom Route

The Betuwe is the land between the Waal and the Lek, river clay of exactly the sort fruit trees want, and it is the main orchard district of the Netherlands - apple, pear, cherry and plum on several thousand hectares. For roughly two weeks somewhere between mid-April and early May the whole area flowers, white and pink across the fields, and the region has marked a bloesemroute, a set of driving and cycling routes through the villages and orchards with viewpoints and farm stalls. Cherry flowers first, then pear and apple, so the peak shifts by species and by week and the exact timing varies each year with the spring - which is the practical problem: the window is short and the tourist boards publish flowering reports. Buren and Zoelen sit in the middle of it and the dyke roads along the rivers give the wider views.

What you actually see

• Several thousand hectares in flower - the main Dutch orchard district in bloom.
• Marked driving and cycling routes - the bloesemroute through the villages.
• Species flowering in sequence - cherry first, then pear and apple.
• Dyke roads for the wide view - the river banks looking across the orchards.

When to go

Mid-April to early May, in the flowering window. A day.

Honest expectations

The window is about two weeks and shifts every year with the weather - check flowering reports before travelling. Orchards are private working farmland; stay on the roads. Weekend traffic on the routes is heavy.

Nearby

Buren is in the middle of it; Tiel is east; Zaltbommel is south.