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Tulips without the crowds: Why Lisse beats Keukenhof
Summary
Keukenhof garden in Holland is the ultimate destination during the tulip season. To avoid the crowds, visit Lisse with its endless fields of tulipsSeveral years ago, during a visit to Musee d’Orsay in Paris, I chanced upon Claude Monet’s work Champs de tulipes en Hollande (tulip fields in Holland), a stunning impressionist oil painting with a windmill foregrounded by rows of tulips in vibrant colours. It was a bit messy, a bit whimsical, a bit wild and entirely captivating. Last April, outside the town of Lisse in western Holland, I walked into this painting of Monet’s. And to think that it was all down to serendipity.
On what was predicted to be a bright and warm Saturday morning, grey clouds hung low and a mild drizzle fell in intermittent waves as a friend and I headed towards to the famous Keukenhof garden in west Holland for a day amidst tulips. An hour later, the weather wasn’t any better and we were caught in gridlocked traffic. And it just kept getting worse.
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Located at the edge of Lisse (about an hour south-west of Amsterdam), a town in Duin-en Bollenstreek (bulb region), Keukenhof is a manicured park with trees and waterways spread over 32 hectares with a theme-park feel. It has an estimated seven million flower bulbs and is the ultimate destination during the tulip season (late March to mid May) in Holland. And from the looks of it, masses of people had the same idea as us. Crowds thronged outside the garden and lines to buy tickets and for entry stretched out interminably. Not only had we not bought tickets online but had managed to pick the day of the Bollenstreek Flower Parade, when thousands of people from all over Holland and outside, arrive to be part of the spectacle.
We headed back to the car and tried to bolster our spirits with plans to see other things in the area. To avoid the crowds and traffic, we took back roads and small lanes and headed south. And struck gold.
Streets with flowery names, quite literally, such as Gladiolenstraat, Hyacinthenstraat and of course Tulpenstraat, gave way to wide open spaces that were covered with carpets and carpets of tulips. From the edge of the road, the flowers stretched to the horizon. In some patches, the flowers were all in one colour—orange, red, eggshell white. In others, there were tightly packed rows of differing colours, sitting next to each other in glorious profusion. Since all the action was in and around Keukenhof, these streets were almost empty.
Stumbling out of the car and seeing the endless masses up close the very first time was overwhelming. Strangely enough, despite the sheer numbers, there was hardly any smell except for occasional whiffs of a mild floral fragrance; later research revealed that most tulips have almost no smell, and are known mostly for their vibrant colour. To add to the mix, there were occasional patches of irises, daffodils and hyacinths, the latter of which exuded a beautiful fragrance.
Having discovered this treasure, we went looking for more, and weren’t disappointed. In fact, tulips were everywhere. As we criss-crossed the area, pavements were filled with garden shops selling flowers and bulbs, window sills and balconies were spilling over with multi-hued tulips, and flowers were growing in roundabouts, medians and by the roadside. It epitomised why the flower, along with Gouda cheese, windmills and clogs, was an integral part of Dutch identity. And yet, the flower wasn’t originally native to Holland.
An import from the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century, tulips thrived in the Netherlands’ growing conditions and quickly became an object of demand, widely depicted in paintings by the Masters. So much so that it gave rise to the “tulip mania" and even crashed the markets in the early 17th century.
Happily for us, there was no dearth of flowers as we drove around. There was no pattern or map to follow; it was based on instinct and looking for wide open spaces and following back roads, quite literally.
On either side of Heereweg outside of central Lisse, through Achterweg zuid, Akervoorderlan, Torenlaan, and many other places with tongue-twisting names, endless stretches of flowers mesmerised the senses. The sun had decided to cooperate and under bright rays, the flowers glistened and shone, against the backdrop of rich, luminous green of the pointy leaves.
By early afternoon, we were back in Lisse, for a quick lunch and to see the parade. The atmosphere was thick with anticipation and lively music spilled out from loudspeakers.
The sound from marching bands soon filled the air and floats bedecked with flower-studded structures filled the street: whimsical creatures, blue tigers, brown birds, colourful mermaids and angels.
Bollenstreek Flower Parade, locally known as Bloemencorso Bollenstreek, is the flower parade of the bulb district and has been held annually since 1947 during a weekend in April (dates are decided by board), and is recognised as Dutch Intangible Cultural Heritage. The parade travels for approximately 42km, from Noordwijk to Haarlem, and usually passes through Lisse in the late afternoon.
As the last of the floats passed by, we headed out of Lisse, encountering even more flowers and occasionally stopping for a closer look.
It was at one such stop that Monet’s painting came alive. There was no windmill but a lone house, with white walls and dark roof, stood at the far of a field. In front of it were thick rows of bright red tulips at the near edge, as well as pink, buttery yellow and white ones further afield. All of them were interspersed with green patches.
It was a bit wild, a bit whimsical, almost similar to the painting. The whole thing felt surreal, more so because it was pure happenstance. The fact that we missed Keukenhof didn’t even cause a blip; rather, the wide open tulip fields felt more satisfying. And it was all free.
Anita Rao Kashi is an independent journalist based in Bengaluru.
