The Ultimate Guide to the Holland Tulip Festival: Peak Tulip Time and Dutch Delights

Welcome to the vibrant and enchanting world of the Holland Tulip Festival! If you’re a flower enthusiast or simply someone seeking a breathtaking experience, this annual extravaganza should be at the top of your travel bucket list. In this guide, we’ll cover all the essential details you need to plan an unforgettable visit to the Holland Tulip Festival, from logistics and accommodations to dining options and more. Let’s dive in!

Best Places to See the Tulips!

Let’s start with what everyone is dying to know first: where are the best places to see the tulips at the Holland Tulip Festival? Just like with all our travels, we tag everything into a Google Map, check them out on our Travel Maps page, or see the one for Holland below.

When it comes to seeing the tulip fields in Holland, there are two gardens or farms that are by far the “top 2” places to see tulips in Holland: Windmills Island Gardens and Veldheer Tulip Farm.

Holland Google Map

Windmill Island Gardens

Windmill Island Gardens is definitely THE place to be during the Holland Tulip Festival. Though it doesn’t have the most tulips (Veldheer Tulip Farm wins there), it’s picturesque, has a little Dutch-inspired village and gift shop, and you can tour inside the famous windmill (America’s ONLY working Dutch windmill) that sits on the grounds.

Logistics

Windmill Island Gardens are open 7 days a week, 9:30am – 6pm with the last admission sold at 5pm. During Tulip Time (May 6-14), the park opens at 9am and stays open until 7pm. Last entrance is at 6pm!

Admission is $12 for adults and $6 for kids. We looked, and there is no where to buy tickets online, so bring a credit card and the entrance process will go quickly. When we arrived at 3pm on a Saturday during Tulip Time, the line ahead of us was probably around 100 people long and it only took 10-15 minutes to get through.

The Gardens have free parking onsite for ~250 vehicles, but during the Holland Tulip Festival the parking lot fills quickly. When the lot fills, they shut down traffic and you either have to take the shuttle, or walk from downtown Holland (a 1 mile walk). Note the shuttle only takes you the last 0.5 mile.

Protip: we recommend walking from downtown Holland and stopping through Window on the Waterfront on the way to/from the Windmill Island Gardens.

Veldheer Tulip Farm

Veldheer Tulip Farm has, by far, the most tulips out of all the locations in Holland. About 4 million tulips, compared to 140,000 tulips at Windmill Island Gardens. Veldheer also has a gift shop full of Dutch items, and De Klomp, a clog factory.

Logistics

During Tulip Time, Veldheer Tulip Farm is open 8am to 7pm, but check their website for more details.

Admission to the stores and factory is free, but entrance into the gardens is $15/adult or $8/child. You can buy tickets at the gate or online.

For parking, they have 4 acres of free parking available on site.

Nelis’ Dutch Village

Lastly, we highly recommend visiting Nelis’ Dutch Village during your visit to Holland, either in general or during the Holland Tulip Festival. The Dutch Village is a cute and fun way to explore Dutch culture, food, architecture, and see tulips. Nelis’ Dutch Village has about 300,000 tulips, which is more than Windmill Island Gardens. Plus, it has shows for clog dancing (and lessons) and demonstrations like how to make clog shoes! And, one of our favorite experiences, free Dutch cheese tasting!

Logistics

Nelis’ Dutch Village is about a 10 minute drive from downtown Holland. Their hours vary (check them out here), but during Tulip Time they are open 9am to 7 pm.

You can save $2 by purchasing tickets online here. Online, the price is $15/adult and children. Children under 3, admission is free.

They’ve got plenty of parking on site as well.

Free Places to See Tulips at the Holland Tulip Festival

In addition to the Windmill Gardens, Veldheer Tulip Farm, and Nelis’ Dutch Village, there are a bunch of areas around Holland that are absolutely free to see the tulips, with plenty of photo opportunities as well. These are all tagged on our Google Map above. For additional info, you can check out the Tulip Time guide here.

Window on the Waterfront

Window on the Waterfront is by far the best free spot to view the tulips. It’s conveniently located on the way to Windmill Gardens, and the tulips are spread out along the trail and the area. There are a little under 91,000 tulips here.

Centennial Park

Centennial Park, right in downtown Holland, is likely the most convenient location to view the tulips. It’s a block or two away from the downtown restaurants, and a very pleasant park to walk around. During Tulip Time, there’s food trucks kiddy corner to the park.

Tulip Lane

Lastly, as you’re driving through Holland, you’ll notice tulips on the side of the road. These are known as Tulip Lanes. Great for a stroll around Holland if you have the time!

Planning Your Visit to the Holland Tulip Festival

Dates and Hours of the Holland Tulip Festival

For 2023, the Holland Tulip Festival, or Tulip Time, is running from May 6 – May 14th. The Tulip gardens, those that are ticket-based, open generally around 9am and close around 6 or 7pm. A lot of the Tulip “areas” are open to the public and can be visited outside of those hours.

Best Time to Attend the Holland Tulip Festival

I hate to say it, but the best time to attend the Holland Tulip Festival is during the week. During the weekends, the area is flooded with tourists. Especially towards mid-afternoon, the lines get very long (though they move quickly). If you’re someone who likes privacy and little to no people in your photos, plan on visiting the festival during non-peak hours and days. If you don’t mind, then go whenever you can make the time!

Protip: if you want to avoid the crowds all together, you can see the Tulips in Holland, MI during a non-festival weekend or week. Try the weekend immediately before/after.

Where to Stay

Holland offers a variety of accommodation options to suit every traveler’s preferences and budget. Whether you’re seeking luxurious hotels, cozy bed and breakfasts, or budget-friendly motels, there’s something for everyone. Consider staying in the heart of downtown Holland for easy access to the festival grounds and the city’s vibrant atmosphere.

If you’re going for a weekend, we highly recommend booking hotels, Airbnbs, bed and breakfasts in advance. Holland is also the location for Hope College. While the festival starts after move-out day, in 2023 move-out day is Friday, May 5th.

Easy Access to Festival and Downtown Experience

For the full Holland Tulip Festival experience, we’d recommend staying downtown Holland. This gives you walking-distance access to all the activities, downtown, and there are some cute accommodations in the area. Here are a few to look at:

• Courtyard Holland Downtown: literally downtown Holland, walking distance to everything, cute balconies overlooking the street.
• Centennial Inn: for the full Holland experience, this family-owned Inn is perfect for logistics and experience.
• Tulyp, Tapestry Collection by Hilton: just rebranded to Tulyp, aptly named and also convenient location!

Other Lodging Options

If downtown Holland is booked or too expensive, there are a few hotels in the outskirts with good reviews, such as the Holiday Inn Express Holland or Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Holland.

We also highly recommend checking out the cute beach town of Saugatuck if you’re having difficulty finding reasonable accommodations in Holland. We actually got dinner out in Saugatuck after our day in Holland, because the restaurants all had crazy wait lines and booked reservations. If you’re willing to drive 15 minutes, you can easily get a cheaper and quieter accommodation in a nearby city.

Places to Eat by the Holland Tulip Festival

In addition to the food provided by food trucks during the festival, the city of Holland hosts numerous charming restaurants, cafes, and eateries that offer a diverse range of cuisines. Here are our top recommendations for food:

Lunch Recommendations

For lunch we highly, highly recommend eating at a local cafe or bakery. A lot of them serve pie’s or baked goods made with local fruits – yum! Here are our top recommendations:

• Crane’s in the City is a local pie and sandwich cafe that has a long line during Tulip Time that moves quickly. We HIGHLY recommend the Christo Sandwhich and a pie. The donuts are just average.
• Bowerman’s on 8th is another local favorite, essentially the cafe that is tied to Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market. A great place to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and shop at the market for fresh, local blueberry products.
• The City Delicatessen is another great local spot for sandwiches.

Dinner Recommendations

For dinner, Holland isn’t really known for a certain type of cuisine. They have a mix of asian, latin, and traditional “american” food. Most people end up at a local brewery. Here are our top recommendations:

• Poquito: for Spanish, latin and tapas type food.
• Butch’s Dry Dock: for your classic American or steak-house vibe.
• New Holland Brewing or Big Lake Brewing for your craft beer and bar food.

Where to Find Dutch Food

Deboer Bakery is the only legitimately Dutch restaurant we were able to find in Holland, with authentic Dutch items on the menu. They have a dedicated Tulip Time menu and are located to the North of the city of Holland. They have a bakery and full sit-down brunch menu. Note they are only open Tuesdays – Saturdays so plan accordingly.

For Dutch cheese, you can visit Nelis’ Dutch Village just 10 minutes north from downtown Holland. We highly recommend spending an hour here, it’s the perfect spot to see Dutch dancing, clog making, and tulips.

Tips for Eating During the Holland Tulip Festival

We had a difficult time getting reservations and/or somewhere to sit and eat during the festival, even during non-peak eating times. Here are some tips to help you out in advance:

• Get reservations in advance if you can! Especially during the weekend, restaurants have crazy lines.
• Know that lines for cafe’s (like Crane’s in the City) move fairly quickly, so don’t be discouraged.
• Try getting dinner in a nearby town that doesn’t have crazy lines – like Saugatuck! We highly recommend Coast 236 in Saugatuck if you want to get away for a meal.
• Try to eat Dutch food if you can! We’re all about cultural immersion, and food is one of the best ways to experience another country’s culture. The best spot for this is Deboer Bakery, which is open Tuesdays – Saturdays.
• There are food trucks with your traditional cotton candy, pizza, lemonade, popcorn, etc if you want a carnival type snack.

Parking Options

Despite the town of Holland having a crazy number of visitors the first weekend of the Holland Tulip Festival, we were able to find street parking fairly easily (within 10 minutes) around the town. Pay attention for signs that say limited parking hours, there were plenty of those around Centennial park when we visited.

The top/large tulip fields themselves (like Windmill Island) also have designated parking, though limited. The city will close off parking areas when they fill up or near closing hours. For Windmill Island Gardens, there is also a shuttle that runs people to/from the last 0.5 mile of the walk to the fields.

Holland Tulip Festival Events

Besides peak tulip bloom, the other big reason to visit Holland during the Holland Tulip Festival is the events that come along with it. For a full list of events, we recommend checking out the Tulip Time website.

For your convenience, here are the events we highly recommend.

Dutch Dancing Show & Lessons

You’ve travelled all the way to Holland, filled with tons of Dutch culture and activities, you at least have to check out Dutch clog dancing! There are dance performances scheduled throughout the entire week of the festival. The easiest one we found was to watch the show at Nelis’ Dutch Village. They give you lessons immediately after, and you can explore the rest of the village before and after. More performance times here.

Clog Making

Our next favorite activity was to watch a clog making tutorial/demo. These are available daily at the Nelis’ Dutch Village. There is also a Clog factory at Veldheer Tulip Farm.

A Class or Tour

To make the most use of your time and experience in Holland, might as well sign up for a class or tour. The Holland Tulip Festival offers floral arranging classes, brewery tours, historical walking tours, photography tours, and more. Find more here.

Commonly Asked Questions

Q1. Are pets allowed at the festival?

A: While pets are generally not allowed at the festival, service animals are permitted.

Q2. Can I purchase tulip bulbs at the festival?

A: Yes, you can find a wide selection of tulip bulbs available for purchase at the festival. It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring a piece of the festival home with you.

Q3. Are there activities for children at the festival?

A: Absolutely! The festival offers various family-friendly activities, including rides, games, and interactive exhibits, ensuring a memorable experience for visitors of all ages.

Q4. Can I take professional photographs at the festival?

A: Professional photographers are welcome at the festival. However, if you plan to use the photographs for commercial purposes, be sure to contact the festival organizers for any necessary permissions or guidelines.

Q5. Are there any accessible facilities for individuals with disabilities?

A: The Holland Tulip Festival strives to be inclusive and provides accessible facilities for individuals with disabilities. Accessible parking, restrooms, and viewing areas are available to ensure everyone can enjoy the festival comfortably.

Q6. Can I bring my own food and drinks to the festival?

A: While outside food and beverages are generally not allowed, the festival offers a wide range of food vendors and stands where you can enjoy a delicious variety of snacks, meals, and refreshing drinks.

Q7. Is the festival suitable for solo travelers?

A: Absolutely! The Holland Tulip Festival welcomes solo travelers and provides a vibrant and friendly atmosphere. It’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the beauty of the tulips, meet fellow flower enthusiasts, and explore the charming city of Holland.

Conclusion: The Holland Tulip Festival is a captivating celebration of nature’s beauty and a must-visit destination for flower lovers. With its stunning tulip displays, exciting events, and warm hospitality, this festival promises an unforgettable experience for visitors of all ages. Plan your visit by considering logistics, choosing the right accommodations, savoring delectable cuisines, and exploring the best times to witness the tulips in full bloom. Embrace the enchantment of the Holland Tulip Festival and create cherished memories that will last a lifetime.

Remember to visit the official Holland Tulip Festival website, www.hollandtulipfestival.com, for the most up-to-date information on dates, events, and any additional details you may require for your visit. Happy travels and enjoy the blooming paradise of the Holland Tulip Festival!