The Flower Centers

Keukenhof

26km (16 miles) SW of Amsterdam

Flowers at their peak and the gardens of Keukenhof, Stationsweg 166A, Lisse (tel. 025/246-5555; www.keukenhof.nl), both have short seasons, but if you're here in the spring, you'll never forget a visit to this park. It's a meandering 32 hectares (79 acres) of wooded green in the heart of the bulb-producing region, planted each fall by the major Dutch growers (each plants his own plot or establishes his own greenhouse display). Then, come spring, the bulbs burst forth and produce not hundreds of flowers, or even thousands, but millions (more than 7 million at last count) of tulips from hundreds of varieties, and narcissi, daffodils and hyacinths, bluebells, crocuses, lilies, amaryllis, and many others. The blaze of color is everywhere in the park and in the greenhouses, beside the brooks and shady ponds, along the paths and in the neighboring fields, in neat little plots and helter-skelter on the lawns, and alongside the inevitable windmill. Keukenhof claims to be the greatest flower show on earth, and close to a million visitors a year come to check out this claim.

You should count on spending a morning or afternoon here. The park is open from late March to late May, daily from 8am to 7:30pm. There are special train/bus connections via Haarlem and nearby Leiden. Admission is 13€ ($16) for adults, 12€ ($14) for seniors, 5.50€ ($6.90) for children ages 4 to 11, and free for children under 4. You can grab a quick bite at one of several cafes on-site, so you don't have to go running around looking for a place to eat when you'd rather be enjoying the flowers.

The Bulb Fields

The largest bulb growers are in the southern part of Noord-Holland province and the northern corner of Zuid-Holland, with the heaviest concentration lying between Haarlem and Leiden. Each year from mid-March until the end of April, the bulb fields cover a strip of land 16km (10 miles) long and 6km (4 miles) wide with tulips, crocuses, daffodils, narcissi, hyacinths, lilies, and more. A signposted Bolenstreek (Bulb District) route that covers about 60km (37 1/2 miles) makes viewing the flowers easy (VVV tourist information offices provide a detailed "Bulb Route" brochures). Stalls along the roads sell flower garlands -- do as the natives do and buy one for yourself and another for the car.

To get to the bulb fields from Amsterdam, you can either drive first to Haarlem, then south on N206 through De Zilk and Noordwijkerhout, or on N208, through Hillegom, Lisse, and Sassenheim. Alternatively, go south from Amsterdam on A4/E19, past Schiphol Airport, to Exit 4 (Nieuw-Vennep), and then northwest on N207 for 8km (5 miles) until you hit N208.

Aalsmeer

18km (11 miles) SW of Amsterdam

Selling flowers and plants nets 1.5 billion euros a year at the Bloemenveiling (Flower Auction), Legmeerdijk 313 (tel. 0297/392-185; www.vba.nl), in the lakeside community of Aalsmeer close to Schiphol Airport. Every day, the auction sells 19 million cut flowers and 2 million plants, in 12,000 varieties, from 7,000 nurseries, representing 30% of the trade worldwide. So vast is the auction "house" that 120 soccer fields would fit inside.

Get there early to see the biggest array of flowers in the distribution rooms and to have as much time as possible to watch the computerized auctioning process. The buyers sit in rows in the five auditorium-style auction halls; they have microphones to ask questions and buttons to push to register their bids in the computer (which takes care of the paperwork). As the bunches of tulips or daffodils go by the stand on carts, they are auctioned in a matter of seconds. The first bid, which is the first one to stop the mammoth bidding clock as it works down from 100 to 1, is the only bid.

The auction is held Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 11am (there's little point in arriving after 9:30am). Admission is 4.50€ ($5.65) for adults, 2.50€ ($3.10) for children 6 to 11, and free for children under 6. Bus no. 172 goes there from outside Amsterdam Centraal Station. By car, take A4/E19 south to the Hoofddorp junction, then go southeast on N201.