Travel By Train Through The Netherlands’ Tulip Fields This Spring

While it is still winter over much of the US, here is one great way to celebrate spring – traveling through the tulip fields of the Netherlands. It may be snowing at your place right now, but spring does officially start on March 19. Meanwhile, this is one train journey not to miss this spring, while celebrating all those gorgeous tulips.

Journey through the tulip fields of the Netherlands

The tulip fields of the Netherlands are rightfully famous for the glorious colors of the flowers, lined up and ready to visit. Now, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the Dutch national railway is offering a treat for its passengers. Besides an efficient way to get from A to B, there is one train journey that shouldn’t be missed. The only thing is, that the experience is relatively short.

The rail company offers the Haarlem to Leiden route, with 92 trains departing daily. Meanwhile, ticket prices start at just €6.90 ($7.43) and the journey lasts 21 minutes. Meanwhile, this is an ordinary train and not a luxurious journey, but who’s looking at the interior of the train with all that amazing color outside the windows?

The NS train passes through the town of Noordwijkerhout, a location where, each spring, thousands of tulips come into full bloom. Moreover, it isn’t only the iconic tulips on display, according to the official website, “You can smell and see daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips everywhere.”

Visit the colorful fields

Besides the train ride, travelers can easily reach the town by taxi or bus. Once there, they can enjoy a leisurely stroll or bike ride through the colorful fields in the area. To make it easier, visitors can also follow the Flower Map to find out where everything is. However, the town urges visitors to respect each flower as if it were in their own garden.

The town understands the feeling of wanting to run into the field among the gorgeous flowers, but they ask visitors to their website to “resist the urge,” writing:

The flowers and bulbs are fragile, and if you have any plant diseases on your shoes, you risk taking them in with you. This would be a pity for nature but also a major loss for the growers. So enjoy the view, but please show respect for the flowers and grower: do not enter the fields without the grower’s express consent.

For those travelers only staying for a short time in the area, the 21-minute train journey to Leiden and back is a great way to experience the fields. However, if possible, try to time your visit between March 21 and May 12, when the official Tulip Festival runs. By doing so, visitors can truly enjoy the scent of all those gorgeous flowers, knowing that spring is here. Read more about train journeys in the world here.