They call it 'The Garden of Europe', and it's open for only 8 short weeks every spring. The spectacular Keukenhof garden in the Netherlands is said to be the largest spring flower garden in the world – and it's the highlight of our Avalon Tulip Time river cruise.

BestTrip.TV filmed this once-a-year explosion of color of blooming tulips, surrounded by some of the famous Dutch tulip fields.  We were there and even we thought it was too incredible to be real!

Garden Travel expert Tara Nolan of SavvyGardening.com shares her insights into what makes the Keukenhof a can't-miss celebration of spring, best experienced from our Avalon Tulip Time river cruise.

And if you think the Keukenhof garden experience on a Tulip-Time cruise is just for girlfriend getaways, think again.  The gardens are a living, technicolor business card for the Netherlands' floriculture industry - the biggest in the world.  So think of it instead as one of the most stunning 'factory tours' you could ever hope to take. And bring along the guys, not just the girls.  They will be just as awed as we were!

Thinking of taking a Tulip Time cruise? Here are 8 amazing facts about flowers in Holland, home of the world's largest floriculture industry:

• Nearly half of the world's floriculture products come from the Netherlands.
• 77% of all flower bulbs exported around the world are Dutch, and the majority are tulips.
• Tulips are the national flower of the Netherlands, but they originally came from Turkey; then were bred and cultivated by the Dutch into the spectacular showy flower we know today.
• The appealing stripes on some of the most sought-after varieties of tulips are the result of a virus!
• The total land used for the production of flower bulbs in the Netherlands is over 2.5 million acres!  The Bollenstreek (Bulb Region) is more or less between Amsterdam and Rotterdam.  The Keukenhof garden is in this area, surrounded by tulip and other flower fields.
• You can rent a bicycle during your visit to Keukenhof to explore the fields surrounding it, and if you have time, you can even follow all or part of the 37 km-long, sign-posted 'Leidse Bollenroute'. (You'll love cycling in Holland; all the land is flat!)
• Holland also exports fresh-cut plants and flowers: 2/3 of the world's total.
• Amsterdam is home to the world's only floating flower market; over a dozen shops operate year-round from one of the city's famous canals.

Like we did, you can experience the Keukenhoff garden, take in some of the surrounding flower fields, and visit Amsterdam's Floating Flower Market all during an Avalon Tulip Time River cruise that delivers you to the front of the line at the Keukenhof, and overnights in Amsterdam so you can go to the flower market.

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