Next to windmills and wooden clogs, there may be no image more stereotypically Dutch than a field of colorful tulips, rows of which stretch to the horizon. In fact, during the Dutch Golden Age (17th century), the flowers became such a cultural phenomenon that they sparked a shopping frenzy known as “tulip fever,” where people could buy a single rare bulb for the price of an entire mansion.
While the Netherlands is a great place to stroll among tulips in spring, it’s far from the only place in the world to see these vibrant blooms. In fact, they didn’t even originate here. That honor goes to Central Asia and Turkey, where millions of the flowers are planted around Istanbul each spring. Here are six more destinations — from a town on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, to a Dutch-obsessed city in the US Midwest — that are worth adding to your tulip-viewing itinerary this season (which typically runs from mid-April to late May).
1. Ottawa, Canada
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Princess Juliana and her family took refuge in Canada's capital , and in 1945 the Dutch royal family sent more than 100,000 bulbs to Canada in gratitude for the refuge granted to the future queen. Seventy years ago, the city hosted its first Canadian Tulip Festival , which this year runs from May 12 to 22. By that time, nearly a million tulips will be in bloom in Ottawa and neighboring Gatineau , Quebec. More than 100 varieties of tulips are blooming in 120 beds, including in Commissioners Park, along the Rideau Canal , and in front of the National War Memorial .
In 2023, the free festival will continue after dark, with a host of evening events perfect for escaping the crowds. The tulip beds will be illuminated so you can admire them long after the sun goes down, and the psychedelic Blacklight Boardwalk display will let visitors see the flowers in ultraviolet light, the way pollinators like bees and butterflies see them. The city’s top hotel, the 111-year-old Fairmont Château Laurier , is located smack in the middle of the city, meaning the tulip beds are often visible from your window.
2. Holland, Michigan
The aptly named town of Holland , founded in the 1840s by Dutch Calvinist separatists, looks like a little slice of the Netherlands in the Midwest, with canals and a 262-year-old windmill imported from the old country. The population remained nearly 90 percent Dutch until the mid-20th century, and to celebrate, the town purchased 100,000 tulip bulbs in the 1920s. Holland has hosted a Tulip Time festival since 1929 , which runs from May 6 to 14 this year.
In addition to enjoying the flowers at their peak, you can also enjoy traditional Dutch dancing, historical walking tours, quilt exhibitions and concerts by famous artists such as Sarah Evans. While in town, be sure to visit the Veldheer Tulip Garden , where you can stroll among millions of tulips and watch artisans paint blue and white Delftware or wooden shoes. Because the farm grows so many varieties of tulips, they bloom from mid-April until almost the end of May, meaning you can avoid the crowds by skipping the festival and visiting on quieter weekdays in early spring. To make you feel right at home, Teerman Lofts offers six apartments in the heart of the historic city centre.
3. Sylvan, Australia
If you really love tulips, the only way to get double the fun is to head to the Southern Hemisphere, where spring runs from September to November. Among the best places to see tulips is Sylvan , Australia, where the annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival has been held since 1954. Legend has it that so many people stopped to gawk at the flowers at this Dutch immigrant’s farm about 25 miles outside Melbourne that Sies and Johanna Tesselaar eventually gave in and opened their fields to the public. Today, the farm is filled to the brim with 900,000 tulips, and the 2022 festivities (September 10 to October 9) included theme weekends: One of the most surprising for first-timers was the Turkish weekend, which celebrated the flower’s Central Asian origins, featuring music, cuisine, and art from Turkey. For some atmosphere, stay at Monreale House , a 1923 guesthouse with four cottages that are frequented by wallabies, wombats and lyrebirds.
4. Tonami, Japan
About four hours northwest of Tokyo by bullet train, Tonami is a sister city to Lisse, the Netherlands, home to the world’s most famous flower garden , Keukenhof . Like its sister city, this city in Toyama Prefecture is crazy about tulips—they even appear on its flag. Every spring, Tonami hosts the Tulip Fair (April 22–May 5, 2023), where three million tulips in 300 varieties are displayed at the Tonami Tulip Gallery , where you can try tulip-flavoured soft serve ice cream, and the colourful Tonami Tulip Park . Much closer to the action, there are a few standard business hotels, but for true Japanese hospitality, head further afield to the family-run Yumetsuzuri Onsen Ryokan , about a 10-minute taxi ride or half-hour bus ride away. In addition to natural springs, the hotel offers hyper-seasonal cuisine: if you come during the tulip season, you will most likely be eating young ayu fish, firefly squid, fatsia shoots and bracken.
5. Skagit Valley, Washington
Nowhere in the United States produces more tulip and daffodil bulbs than this agricultural hub an hour north of Seattle. Washington’s flower industry dates back to an English immigrant named George Gibbs, who planted $5 worth of tulips on his land in the 1890s and soon discovered that the soil was ideal for their propagation. Every April, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is best enjoyed by car, stopping at farms like RoozenGaarde Show Garden and Tulip Town along the way . The best hotels in the region are in the small town of La Conner , which has several charming independent inns, like the Wild Iris Inn . The 18-room inn’s must-have amenities include the complimentary cruiser bikes for exploring the parks and marinas along the Swinomish Channel.
6. Scottish Borders, Scotland
Best known for his historical novels such as Ivanhoe and Rob Roy , Sir Walter Scott was obsessed with reshaping Scotland’s national identity. To this end, he built his own Gothic Revival mansion, Abbotsford, in the Scottish Borders , where he lived from 1817 to 1825. As part of the project, Scott designed three Regency walled gardens that remain virtually unchanged to this day, with tulips blooming there every spring. To see the gardens at dawn before the crowds arrive, book a stay in the Hope Scott Wing , once home to Sir Walter’s granddaughter. Alternatively, across the River Tweed, the Kingsknowes Hotel , an 1869 mansion that once belonged to a local textile mill owner, overlooks Abbotsford.
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