This page was last updated Di 04 April 2023.

Contents: Tours (1)   

Reports by Ben Elderd

All descriptions are in English, unless otherwise noted.

Tours

Biking with Ben and Beth: Tulips, Windmills and Van Gogh
by Ben Elderd, tour started May 2010, submitted 3 September 2011

It's funny how decisions are made. It was a gray, cold February afternoon. We had just picked up the mail and among the plethora of catalogs, one caught our eye. It was a gardening catalog and on the cover were brightly colored tulips in full bloom. Looking at the colors, in contrast to the dreary day, we thought, ''Why don't we go see the real thing?''

So we Googled cycling options in the Netherlands and the photos of the tulips and windmills were prettier than anything in the catalog. More research indicated that the best time to take advantage of the tulips would be mid-March to mid-May, the only time the Keukenhoff Gardens are open. Also, the second Saturday in May is National Windmill day when all of the Netherland's windmills are open to the public.

Tulips, windmills, 7,000 kilometers of cycling routes, Vermeer and Van Gogh, plus cheese, beer and chocolates - we were off to the Netherlands.

Keukenhoff Gardens (47,000 acres containing 8 million tulips)