The Bollenstreek Bulb Fields

The bulb strip runs on light sandy soil between Haarlem and Leiden, and for a few weeks in spring it becomes the most saturated landscape in the country: rectangular blocks of a single colour laid side by side, changing every hundred metres. It is farmland, not a garden. The flowers are a by-product of growing bulbs, and once the colour has done its job the heads are cut off so the bulb underneath puts on weight, which can empty a field overnight in early May. The way to see it is by bicycle on the lanes between Lisse, Hillegom and Noordwijkerhout, stopping wherever you like. Crocus comes first, then daffodil and hyacinth, with tulips last and briefest.

What you actually see

• Blocks of single-colour tulips - the striped fields that give the region its reputation, at their peak in the second half of April.
• The cycle lanes between the villages - flat marked routes running directly between the fields.
• Hyacinth fields - earlier than the tulips and, in the right wind, noticeable from a distance by smell alone.
• The flower parade - decorated floats moving through the bulb villages on one weekend in April.

When to go

Mid-March for crocus and early daffodil, the first half of April for hyacinth, and roughly mid to late April for tulips, though the peak shifts by a week or two with the weather. Early morning gives the best light and the emptiest lanes. By mid-May the heads are cut and the fields are green stubble.

Honest expectations

The timing is a gamble every year and there is no reliable forecast; arrive a week late and you find topped fields. In peak weeks the narrow lanes are choked with tour buses, cars and cyclists, and parking is a problem. Outside spring the region is unremarkable farmland full of greenhouses and sheds. Walking into a field is trespassing and damages the crop.

Nearby

Keukenhof sits in the middle of the region near Lisse, and the North Sea dunes are a short ride west.