Keukenhof Gardens, in Lisse, Netherlands is known as “the most beautiful spring garden in the world”, with about 7 million flowers planted every spring!!! I went there at the very beginning of May (on May 2), and it was a great experience! As a wheelchair user, it was very accessible.
As of the publishing of this post (June 3, 2024), Keukenhof is closed for the year. They will reopen again in 2025 from March 20-May 11. Information below is current as of 2024.
Getting To & From Keukenhof
I purchased a ticket to Keukenhof that included a roundtrip bus ticket on the Keukenhof Express. This was an easy way to get to the gardens and was accessible! The bus goes directly from the pickup site to the gardens. There was a ramp in the middle of the bus that the driver was able to operate and allowed me to pull easily into the designated wheelchair space on board. I did the roundtrip from Amsterdam RAI (a convention center), which took about 35 minutes. There are other routes that the Keukenhof Express runs as well- each pickup location provides a direct route to Keukenhof Gardens. My ticket came with a time to board the bus. Once you arrive at Keukenhof, you can stay for as long as you like during their open hours. Once you’re ready to leave, you can go to the spot where the bus drops you off (near the entrance) and hop on the next bus that is headed back to your original pick up location.
Other pickup locations for the Keukenhof Express include Schiphol Airport, Leiden Central Station, and Haarlem Central Station.
Parking is also available on site.
Keukenhof Accessibility
Navigating around Keukenhof was easy in my wheelchair- everywhere that visitors are allowed to go has paved paths which made it very simple for me to get around. Keukenhof also has multiple accessible bathrooms, including one before the main entrance. I have no complaints about the accessibility of Keukenhof!
When To Visit
I purchased my tickets for the earliest time slot of the day, so that I would be there as early as possible. I would definitely recommend this to others– it got really crowded by 9:30am, while there were still other visitors when I arrived around 8, it was much more enjoyable from 8-9:30 than it was after 9:30. I stayed for about 2.5 hours total.
It’s hard to know when the “best” time to visit Keukenhof Gardens is since the blooming of the flowers is dependent on nature, which changes year to year. While I had a great experience during my visit on May 2, some of the tulips were wilting or had been cut down already. Perhaps more of the tulips would’ve been in bloom towards the end of April rather than the beginning of May. However, there are plenty of types of flowers at Keukenhof, which all bloom at slightly different times, and I still got to see plenty of beautiful tulips! I doubt it’s possible to truly know when the peak time would be, especially if you don’t live near Lisse and have to plan your trip in advance!
