The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
HOW TO DO IT
Viking (0800 319 6660; viking.com) offers a 10-day river cruise including a full day at the Floriade Expo. For the remainder of the week, the cruise sails through the inland waterways of the Low Countries, stopping in key cities to soak up Dutch, German and Flemish culture, including Rotterdam, the windmills of Kinderdijk and Europe’s diamond capital, Antwerp. Viking’s Holland & Belgium itinerary runs from April to October and prices start at £3,495 per person and include return flights, all meals and drinks, eight guided tours, talks and entertainment.
BY RAIL
The Floriade is a short train ride from Amsterdam Centraal Station, so it’s an easy visit while on a break in one of Europe’s coolest cities. EasyJet (easyjet.com) has a two-night stay at the four-star WestCord Fashion Hotel Amsterdam (room only) on May 15 for £189 per person. British Airways Holidays (britishairways.com) has two nights at the four-star boutique Hotel Notting Hill, in the heart of the city with Rembrandt Square and the Museums Quarter on the doorstep. From £249 per person, travelling between April 1 and 30 from Heathrow.
BY THE BEACH
No one thinks of the Netherlands for a beach holiday but there are miles and miles of sandy coastline here. Bloemendaal is close to both Haarlem and Amsterdam (50 minutes by train to the Floriade) and you can stay right on the beach. The Sea Houses of Qurios Bloemendaal aan Zee (00 310 2080 06040; qurios.com) are tucked away in beautiful sand dunes and sleep four – ideal for families (from £173). You walk straight from the porch of your chalet on to the sand, and the park has its own restaurant and pizza place, plus a children’s entertainment programme in the school holidays.
FROM A RUSTIC IDYLL
For a stay in your very own bit of nature, the B&B Life Contains Beautiful Things (00 316 1139 8298; lcbt.nl) is just a 10-minute bike ride from the Floriade, and even offers bike rental. The B&B itself offers individual lodges for two, set in a pretty vineyard, and there are even apple and pear orchards to stroll around of an evening when you have had your fill of florals. It’s a little bit of rustic luxury, complete with wood fire, and you can arrange to have a sauna or a picnic in the vineyard, a yoga class or – of course – a wine tasting (they even do weddings). Located just 20 minutes from Amsterdam by car, the lodges cost £126 per night with breakfast included.
AS A GROUP
Your whole gardening club can book a personalised group trip with ITO (0117 332 0955; itotours.co.uk). Start with an off-the-peg package, which lasts for six days and includes the Floriade, the Keukenhof Gardens (one of the world’s largest flower displays), executive coach travel, five nights in a four-star hotel and visits to a cheese and clog maker, a diamond house and, in Amsterdam, entrance to the Rijksmuseum, a guided city tour and a canal cruise. This tour costs £629 per person, but should you want to make adjustments, ITO will take your preferences into account and design an à la carte itinerary to suit.
ON TWO WHEELS
For the most sustainable travel to the Floriade, catch the Eurostar direct to Amsterdam and take your bike – though bear in mind that only foldable bikes are permitted on its trains at the moment. Eurostar (eurostar.com) offers train and hotel packages, including Eden Hotel Amsterdam, for three nights (May 10-13), from £434 per person; or Van de Vijsel Hotel, Amsterdam, for three nights (July 4-7) from £302 per person.
WITH FOODIE STOPS
Great Rail Journeys (01904 527180; greatrail.com) have a choice of two five-day tours in early summer or autumn. Travelling is mostly by train (and coach for internal transfers). In June, the first tour (departing June 23, £875 per person) soaks up the history of Brussels and
Bruges (with some foodie treats along the way, including a visit to an artisan chocolate maker), with the trip’s grand finale at the Floriade. The second (departing Sept 22, £875 per person) includes a trip to the Keukenhof Gardens, a visit both to Delft, home of the royal House of Orange and the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.
WITH AN EXPERT
Arena Travel (01858 435646; arenatravel.com) has a seven-day river cruise with gardening expert, Helen Yemm, a former Telegraph columnist, television presenter and author. She will be giving talks and Q&As on board, as well as accompanying guests on a full-day excursion to the Floriade. Also included in the cruise itinerary are visits to the historic cities of Hoorn, Den Helder and Harlingen, as well as Amsterdam itself. Departs June 4, from £1,045 per person, based on two people sharing.
ON A CITY BREAK
Your city break doesn’t have to be Amsterdam. Haarlem is a beautiful ancient city full of charm and historic buildings, squares and canals. There’s a Frans Hals museum here (he was a Haarlem man), an outdoor café culture, lots of shopping and markets – all the benefits of Amsterdam, in fact, without the crowds. For a historic hotel with a contemporary twist, stay right in the heart of town at the Hotel Lion d’Or (00 312 3532 1750; hotelliondor.nl, double rooms from £101 per night). From here to the Floriade by train takes less than an hour and costs £8.60 each way.
IN THE TREES
Why not try some unusual local selfcatering that continues the green theme? A tree house, for example. Here it is called a Boomhut (00 310 3202 58253; boomhutovernachtingen.nl, from £106 per night). You stay in a wooden cabin with a terrace, almost 10ft up in the treetops, reached by a wooden staircase. And, keeping it green, it’s just a short bike ride to the Floriade.