The Best Time to See Tulips and Gondolas
- elleno1962
- Jan 30, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 30, 2024
In 2019, long time friend and travel buddy Kristin and I booked a trip to the Netherlands including a side trip to Lisbon, Portugal. We were to leave on March 28th, 2020.
Of course, this trip was canceled. After the world shut down, I spent at least 40 hours deleting hotels, TripAdvisor tours, and flight reservations. All communications went smoothly except with Orbitz and the airlines. I learned firsthand how difficult it can be to reschedule and/or request flight credits.
Traveler’s Tip: It has become my experience to ALWAYS book directly with airlines, especially if traveling internationally. You can expect challenges with third party booking sites if you need to make changes.
Ultimately, Kristin and I received $460 of vouchers to be used on a future KLM flight with the condition we had to travel together. By the time the world opened up again, we changed our minds and chose to fly to Venice instead. Both of our husbands told us they had no interest in ever visiting the "City of Bridges".
Kristin’s and my BIG adventure began on March 29th, 2022; the pandemic is still very much a concern. Neither of us knew when we departed Philadelphia how many perils we were in for. In fact, after getting back home, I wasn’t too sure Kristin would travel with me again.
Why?
Fasten your seat-belt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Adventure #1 - I booked tickets to see the tulips at Keukenhof Gardens just outside of Amsterdam. So many friends told me how incredibly beautiful the gardens are in the spring. What I forgot to take into account is that it’s a crap shoot whether or not the tulips will be in full bloom in March. It can be cold in Amsterdam at the beginning of spring. In fact, the day after our arrival, it snowed. Sure enough, we quickly discovered the tulips were about a week to 10 days from their full bloom splendor.
Traveler’s Tip: If Keukenhof is on your list, plan to visit the gardens more toward the middle of April to have a better chance of seeing the tulips at their best. An inexpensive shuttle runs frequently between Schiphol Airport and the gardens. Follow signs to the right and around the corner of the general bus area for departures. There are easy to use lockers at Schiphol on the ground level where you can store your luggage for the day. Keukenhof is open March 21-May 12 in 2024.
Adventure #2 - The Dutch trains are fantastic —-when they are running. Fortunately, Phil was with us on the afternoon we were returning to Amsterdam the night before our flight to Venice. Unknowingly, we boarded the last train to leave Groningen before ALL trains came to a halt in the entire country on April 3, 2022 due to a computer glitch. As we pulled into the Zwolle Station, we heard an announcement in only Dutch. I knew it was bad when our entire train car groaned. I looked at Phil hoping that whatever the conductor was saying, it wasn’t as bad as it appeared.
Unfortunately, it was.
Sure enough, when we finally got limited information from train personnel, we were told there would be no trains leaving Zwolle for at least four hours (it turned out to be actually 10). Not good. We had plans in Amsterdam that afternoon; tickets were already purchased. Plus, Kristin and I had a plane to catch the next day.
What to do???? I turned to Phil, so thankful my travel hero was with us.
After a couple of failed attempts to secure an Uber, we flagged down a taxi driver in his minivan discharging his passengers. When asked how much it cost for a ride to center city Amsterdam, his fee was hundreds of euros. As Phil negotiated, two other stranded travelers approached us and asked if they too could come along for the ride into Amsterdam. Feeling grateful to have the extra company to bring down the individual price per person, we said, “Absolutely”, not caring that these two men were complete strangers. For $80/pp, the five of us zipped into Amsterdam with time to spare for our timed museum entrance at the Ryjks Art Museum.
But we were in for a big surprise when we got dropped off.
The taxi driver only accepted European bank debit cards or cash. Fortunately being old school travelers, Kristin and I had just enough cash.
Traveler’s Tip: It’s always a great idea to carry at least $100 in currency when traveling in other countries. Many restaurants and small shops in Europe do not accept US bank cards due to their associated fees.
Adventure #3: Venice!! With the world just opening up again, we nailed the best possible time to visit. In April 2022, there were few crowds, the lagoon’s waters looked crystal clear, five star hotels were reasonable, and the Venetians seemed thrilled to see tourists again.
Our Venice highlights were many. From the Marco Polo Airport, Kristin and I arrived at our beautiful hotel, the Sina Pilazzo Sant'Angelo via water taxi; an experience everyone should splurge for at least once.
Over the next two full days, Kristin and I explored as much of Venice as possible. Using Tripadvisor, we booked tours of the Basilica and Doge Palace along with a walking tour through “The Real Hidden Venice”. Venice’s history is fascinating. Some of the lesser known tidbits we learned include:
The Basilica has only flooded four times in the past 900 years; the most recent being in 2019 (climate change?).
The Italian government recently paid huge fines to multiple cruise lines as reparation for not allowing large cruise ships to enter the lagoon as of 2021.
Kristin and I dined on octopus, enjoyed a Vivaldi concert, shopped to our heart’s content, and explored Venice without crowds. We admired Bartolomeo Colleoni’s 1496 equestrian statue; his horse standing on only three legs, a feat never sculpted before. Calleoni’s horse is nicknamed “three balls” because well — his creator gave this masterpiece “3 balls”.
During our gondola ride, our driver explained that because Venice sits on land, the city is “not sinking” but more accurately, is settling into the earth.
Travelers Tip: Be watchful for pickpockets whenever and wherever you travel. They often work in pairs as we learned —---
Adventure #4 - As Kristin and I strolled across one of the city squares, a man dressed in a striped gondola shirt approached Kristin before bursting into song while attempting to pull her close for a hug.
To add to the sudden drama, an attractive woman approached Kristin and her “stranger in stripes”, greeting him as if they were long time friends. Before Kristin or I could react, the couple disappeared together as fast as they had approached. Kristin and I deduced that the couple must have been pickpockets, working as a team to distract and steal.
Wise Kristin was no tourist fool. As soon as the scoundrel approached, she drew her locked purse close. Thwarted, the couple left with no “souvenirs”.
Adventure #5 - Before departing Venice, Phil pinged us saying that because of high winds at Schiphol Airport, we could expect a bumpy landing. Sure enough as we made our final approach into Amsterdam, our plane seemed to shimmy midair sideways, left to right. More concerning, we appeared to be much too high for a safe landing. Sure enough, I suddenly felt acceleration and deeply appreciated lift for what turned out to be Kristin’s and my first “go around”.
I’ve always enjoyed flying, but I wasn’t too sure anymore.
You could hear a pin drop as our pilot made a second approach for a successful, if quite hard, landing. We later learned that multiple flights were canceled after our flight’s arrival due to the high winds. We lucked out again. But would it hold? We still had to test for Covid before boarding our flight for the US the next day.
After a nail biting hour wait, both Kristin and I tested negative for Covid. We spent the evening relaxing and enjoying a well deserved bottle of wine purchased at my favorite Dutch grocery, Albert Heijn.
Our flight home was uneventful. Thank goodness. I think we had experienced just enough excitement for one vaca.
Or maybe not?
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