Amsterdam Holland -- When to Visit

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Why is Holland the best in April and May

Anytime is a good time to visit Holland -- each season has its benefits and disadvantages. The best time to visit is during late April and early May to see the famous Dutch flowers in bloom. The four most popular cut flowers grown by the Dutch are tulips, krokus, hyacinth and narcissus. At the end of April and during early May you can see beautiful bulb fields illumnated with bright colors ranging across the spectrum: fields of red, yellow, white, purple and even blue will fill your vision.

The other reason to go in April and May is that these are the only two months when the Keukenhof is open. The Keukenhof, Holland's premier flower and landscape exhibition, is located in Lisse just a short way away from Amsterdam. You can take a bus-train combination to get there. Even if you have rented a car, using public transport might be the best idea -- you won't be the only person wanting to drive to the Keukenhof.

If you can't make it for April and May, deciding when to visit is a tradeoff between weather and crowds -- the summer has the best weather but also the most tourists. Not that I have anything against tourists, being one of them. The advantage to visiting Holland between October and March is that without all the tourists filling up Amsterdam, I get to see the real Dutch scene.

While the Dutch are the happiest with the good weather, they also spend much time dealing with tourists during the high season, which begins in April, gets busier in May, slows a bit in June, then picks up to full speed for July, August, and most of September. If you should go between November and February you will find short lines. Better yet, air transporation and hotels are significantly less expensive. Of course this is not true for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

This brings me to the subject of all the holidays. For the most part, you must pay attention to the Dutch holidays. Some of these may be familiar due to the large Catholic population in central and south Holland. Easter is one of the busiest times in Amsterdam and Holland; you must make reservations ahead of time to assure getting a hotel room to your liking.

Queen's Day, treated in a different column, is by far the busiest time in Amsterdam. All of the good places to stay will sell out a month in advance. My favorite, the ACRO Hotel near the Rijksmuseum, sells out up to 4 months in advance of Queen's Day. Queen's Day is at the end of April.

Another thing to consider is that the landscape will look like when you visit. Using approximate times, the leaves start falling off the trees in October-November. By December the trees are all bare, and new leaves don't sprout until mid-April. Most trees in Holland lose their leaves.

While this can make the countryside barren, at the same time when walking in Amsterdam you will see much more of the houses and buildings lining the canals. In the summer the trees are beautiful and green, obscuring the view of historic buildings but providing a lovely alternative setting.