Keukenhof opens at 8:00 am and it takes over an hour to get there from Amsterdam. I wanted to get there as early as we could to avoid crowds but I wasn't quite willing to go early enough to arrive at 8. I actually set the alarm for 5:45 but when it went off this morning I said no way and went back to sleep for another 45 minutes. We let the kids sleep until a bit past 7. I was up at 7:00 making a picnic lunch, it wasn't anything fancy but the sandwiches weren't going to make themselves! We had a simple breakfast and we were out the door by 8:00 am.
We used public transport to get to Keukenhof, we took a metro to the train station, a train to the airport, and then a bus to Keukenhof. There is a special direct bus that runs from the airport to Keukenhof, it leaves the airport every 10 minutes during open hours.
We arrived at Keukenhof around 9:30. We'd bought our tickets online the night before so I had the e-passes on my phone. Keukenhof is one of the few places we visited where you can't use the museum card. Admission is 16 Euros a person and totally worth it!!
I'd read some reports about the crowds at Keukenhof especially in the indoor displays, they advised going to the Willem-Alexander building as early as possible. When we entered the building we could see why it was so popular, there were tulips everywhere! It was just beautiful. I had no clue that there were that many different varieties of tulips!
We headed to another building to check out the displays and the kids were quickly distracted by a playground. We gave them two minutes to run over and promised we'd come back later. The second building was smaller but had some fun exhibits.
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| A park, of course they couldn't resist! |
We walked around the grounds and admired the beautiful outdoor displays, I was happy that some of the early blooming tulips were blooming in the outdoor displays. At this point our kids were not on their best behavior (I don't want anyone to think our vacations are perfect), they were fighting about who got to be first on the path. Dan and I rolled our eyes about the fact that they still argue about the same things they did when they were 6 and 4. You'd think by 14 and 12 they'd be over it but apparently they aren't! We threatened to take away phones and their behavior improved pretty quickly!
We walked around the grounds until around 11 and then headed to the picnic area to have our lunch. The picnic area had cute tables and straw bales to sit on. We enjoyed our picnic lunch. The weather was sunny and 70, it honestly couldn't have been more perfect.
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| Picnic Table |
After lunch we walked over to the windmill and walked up to look out over the flower fields. We were too early in the season to see tulips in the fields but we saw daffodils!
We found this fun display called the "proposal" garden. It was adorable!
Connor had a stroopwaffel and Ali had some ice cream. Ali made me laugh when she told me she liked the days we had picnic lunches because I buy her more snacks on those days. I'm sure it is true!
After their snacks the kids went to play on the playground. I went to check out one more indoor exhibit. The kids had blast! There was also a petting zoo. I don't know how long the kids played, Dan and I hung out on a bench chatting and enjoying the weather.
When the kids were done we wandered around a bit more to take some pictures. It is so hard to get good shots of the kids together! I swear if one looks good then the other one closes their eyes.
We left the gardens around 1:00. We had such a great morning! I honestly felt like we were walking around a postcard, everything was so beautiful!
Instead of taking the bus back to Amsterdam, we caught a bus to Leiden. There was a windmill museum that I wanted to visit. The bus ride to Leiden was pretty short and we were dropped off at Leiden Central Station. It was a 5 minute walk to the windmill museum. We were the only ones at the windmill and it is a self guided tour.
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| Bike Parking at Leiden Station |
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| Windmill Museum |
The windmill has 7 stories and you are able to visit them all. It also has the only remaining millers house in the Netherlands. At the beginning of the tour there is a short video about the history of windmills, it was actually quite interesting.
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| Millers home on the bottom levels of the Windmill |
The stairs (more like ladders) are really steep. This wouldn't be a good place for anyone with mobility issues!
After surviving the climb down from 7 stories, we decided to head back to Amsterdam. We made a quick stop on our way because Ali wanted a smoothie. We took a train back to Amsterdam and then the metro to our apartment. We got back a bit before 4:00.
I knew we wouldn't want to cook tonight so earlier in the day I made a reservation for dinner. After resting for an hour at the apartment we headed to dinner. We took a tram and then walked to the restaurant in the De Pijp neighborhood. The Thrill Grill serves mostly burgers and fries. Ali ordered a hot dog and was not a happy camper when it came out covered in pickled vegetables, mayo, and other toppings. Everyone else liked their meals and we grabbed ice cream around the corner when we were done. We were back at the apartment shortly after 7. Everyone was tired from the long day.
Today was a great day! If anyone is visiting Amsterdam during the months when Keukenhof is open then it is definitely a "do not miss" attraction!
Tomorrow: Alkmaar Cheese market and ???
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