This is the ideal time to see tulips blooming in the country that has nurtured them for centuries. CONOR POWERfound it a calming experience
COMING FROM a green, lumpy, damp land such as ours, and observing that a lot of Dutch people choose to leave their country and live here instead, I imagined that the Netherlands was a dull, featureless country whose inhabitants were cranky from lack of space.
So when I headed off for 10 days there it was with low expectations. I consoled myself with the hope that the cycling would be good and that I might get a chance to visit the home ground of soccer legends Ajax.
Our first impressions as we drove from Schiphol Airport to the town of Hillegom were taken up with the Netherlands’ flatness. There we were, five members of the same Irish family, staring out at land stretching level in all directions. The only variations seemed to be man-made, such as with bridges over canals. The regularly shaped fields, cultivated right out to their edges, are criss-crossed by a seemingly infinite number of canals and dykes, so there’s a sparkle of water everywhere you look. You get the impression of riding the fine line between being above water level and below it. It was magnificent.
The Dutch cycle a lot. The soundtrack of their rush hour has an added layer of swishing wheels and tinkling bells. The country has a network of cycle lanes – roads, really – often separated from motorised traffic by concrete markers, which make getting anywhere by bike a pleasure.
The Netherlands has a thoroughly relaxed feel, and its people are distinctly friendly. My theory is that this is because everything is well organised and runs on time. In Ireland many of us are permanently wound up about the condition of the roads and the unreliability of public transport, and we sometimes take it out on others. The Dutch appear unaccustomed to insurmountable problems; their ability and cheerful eagerness to give directions or generally assist in fluent English never ceased to amaze me. Maybe that’s what regular exercise and occasional visits to the coffee shop do to you.
Hillegom, 25km from the centre of Amsterdam, is a great base for exploring the country. Despite its proximity to the city, it is in a sedate and surprisingly rural part of the world.
Most of the area is given over to the flower-bulb industry. A few kilometres down the road from Hillegom is the town of Lisse, home of Keukenhof, which bills itself as the world’s largest flowering garden. The name means Kitchen Garden, and this one consists of more than 30 hectares planted with seven million bulbs a year.
We took the very Dutch option of renting bikes to get there and explore this blossoming nirvana. The attraction brings in the best part of a million visitors every year. Although the garden opens in mid-March, it’s a good idea to wait until it’s into at least its third week to see the maximum number of flowers. (It stays open this year until May 21st.) If the spring has been particularly cold, then, aside from those in the vast pavilions, not too many bulbs will be open in the first days of the show.
It’s a superb day out. The walk around the grounds and the huge variety of indoor displays will keep everyone smiling. Our children lasted much of the day as well, as there is a lot to keep younger ones amused, between clog-making factories, giant chess sets, playgrounds and snack shops. And if you’re interested in flowers, it’s paradise on Earth.
We drove to Leiden on one of our other days. The oldest university town in the Netherlands, it is a very pretty old city, criss-crossed by cobbled streets, canals and bridges, like a quieter, smaller version of Amsterdam, very pleasant to wander around, without the bustle of the capital. It has enough visitor centres and museums to keep a family of any size occupied for the day. We visited two of them: the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) and Naturalis, the National Museum of Natural History. Our timing was good, as we arrived at the museum door on the first Sunday of the month, when entry is free to all Dutch state-run museums.
A trip to Amsterdam was not to be missed. Getting around the city is arguably best done by walking or cycling – here, too, the ubiquitous cycle lanes make it a relaxed option – but if you’re day trippers en famille, as we were, then the tram is probably your best option, coupled with a quick canal-boat tour. You can buy day passes for public transport at the GVB office just outside Amsterdam Centraal train station, or at any number of similar outlets or tourist offices throughout the city. You’ll see masses of bicycles in this pretty city, which has a curiously relaxed and offbeat air for such a large capital.
We made straight for Anne Frank’s house, taking our guidebook’s advice about arriving early to avoid the queues. If you’re not there before 9.30am, be prepared for an hour-long shuffle before you can enter. Although much of the facade of the original building has changed utterly since the 1940s, the secret annex where the Frank family holed up for almost two years has been preserved just as it was during the second World War.
It’s one of the most worthwhile and heart-rending trips you’ll ever make, full of the tragic detail of ordinary family life – lines on the wallpaper marking the children’s growth, a map of Europe charting the progress of the Allied forces, which didn’t get to Amsterdam until it was too late for Anne Frank and many millions of others.
We also visited the Van Gogh Museum, which contains a fine selection of his work – and offers a children’s version of its audio guide, which held the attention of our 11- and eight-year-old, although it was a step too far for our six-year-old.
In The Hague, which looks far more regal than Amsterdam, Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery is worth a look, particularly to see Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp.
Haarlem, which has a laid-back, alternative vibe, is the sort of place to browse on a Saturday afternoon, wandering through markets and stopping for ice cream or a small beer.
By the time we were leaving, the weather had turned springlike. Most of the fields had blossomed into stunning displays of multicoloured stripes, the scents from tulips, hyacinths and daffodils filling our nostrils as we swished by on our bicycles. The cycling had been good all right: nowhere else had I ever been able to cycle for so long and so safely on such smooth surfaces.
I never did get around to visiting the Ajax stadium. But it doesn’t matter, because I’ll certainly be back.
[ www.holland.com ]
Go there
Aer Lingus ( www.aerlingus.com) flies to Amsterdam from Dublin and Cork. Ryanair ( www.ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to Eindhoven.
Where to stay and go
Where to stay
Fusion Suites. Roemer Visscherstraat 40, Amsterdam, 00-31-20-6184642, www.fusionsuites.com. On one of the few Amsterdam streets that retains all its 19th-century frontages, and right beside Vondelpark, the hotel has well-appointed suites that come in at €245 per night.
Hotel de Duif. Westerdreef 49, Lisse, 00-31-252-410076, www.hoteldeduif.nl. Three-star hotel near Keukenhof.
Lisse Golden Tulip. Heereweg 10, Lisse, 00-31-252- 433030, www.goldentulip lisse.nl. Another well-located three-star hotel.
Aquarius Hotel. Zeekant 110, Scheveningen, The Hague, 00-31-70-3543543, www.aquarius-hotel.nl. Good three-star establishment on the seafront in one of the Netherlands’ busiest and brightest coastal resorts.
Hotel Sebel. Prins Hendrikplein 20, The Hague, 00-31-70-3459200, www.hotelsebel.nl. Quality hotel in the city centre, close to all public transport.
Where to go
Keukenhof. Stationsweg 166a, Lisse, 00-31-252-465555, www.keukenhof.com.
Dutch National Museum of Antiquities. Rapenburg 28, Leiden, 00-31-71-5163163, www.rmo.nl.
Naturalis. Darwinweg 2, Leiden 00-31-71-5687600, www.naturalis.nl.
Anne Frank House. Prinsengracht 267,
Amsterdam, 00-31-20-5567100, www.annefrank.org.
Van Gogh Museum. Museumplein, Amsterdam, 00-31-20-5705200, www.vangoghmuseum.nl.
Mauritshuis. Korte Vijverberg 8, The Hague, 00-31-70-3023456, www.mauritshuis.nl.
Burger’s Zoo. Antoon van Hooffplein 1, Arnhem, 00-31-26-4424534, www.burgerszoo.nl. One of the largest zoos in the country, this has eight themed parks, including a tropical rainforest and a huge seawater aquarium.
Zaaanse Schans. Schansend 7, Zaandam, 00-31-75-6162862, www.zaanseschans.nl. About 20km north of Amsterdam, this recreated traditional village gives you a chance to visit working windmills, help make clogs and generally see how life was here in the 18th century.
Speeltuin Linnaeushof. Rijksstraatweg 4, Bennebroek, 00-31-23-5847624, www.linnaeushof.nl. Proudly proclaiming itself Europe’s largest playground, this is one of the best places I’ve seen to bring children for a day’s fun.