Anyone visiting the Tulip Experience Amsterdam will literally step into a sea of colors.
From soft pink and deep purple to bright white and sunny yellow. Everywhere you look, tulips bloom in the most extraordinary shapes. With over seven hundred varieties, the Tulip Garden is a true paradise for tulip lovers.
Sylvia Pennings, director of the Tulip Experience Amsterdam, explains what makes their tulips so special. She also shares the unique tulip found nowhere else in the world.
"We really have everything: tall, short, early, late, and especially many mixed tulips."
For growers, the Tulip Garden also serves as a testing ground for new tulip varieties, allowing visitors to view them directly in our show garden.
Not all the tulips in the garden are already known to the public. Tulip Experience Amsterdam also shows new, as-yet-unnamed varieties. "We're showcasing tulips that aren't on the market yet," says Sylvia. "We've even given some of them nicknames ourselves, like our “peony pink”. That makes it extra fun, because you can really see which tulips could become a staple in the future.”
"I don't know how many different tulips there are in the world, but we have around 700, maybe even 800 varieties growing here"
The absolute crowd-pleaser? The double tulip. This full-flowered variety looks more like a peony than a classic tulip. "Double tulips are truly the trend right now," says Sylvia. "They're lush, full-bodied, and bloom in beautiful hues. Visitors come to our Tulip Garden every year just to see them."
Double tulips symbolize luxury and joy and have been popular since the 17th century. Their wide petals also ensure they stay beautiful for a long time.
You can also order the double tulips for home use. In our webshop, the double tulip is very popular. If you want to plant them in the garden, do so in a sheltered spot out of the wind to prevent damage.
Because new tulip varieties are continuously being cultivated, Tulip Experience Amsterdam also has tulips that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.
The most special tulip? Sylvia explains, "We have tulips that start yellow and finish orange. And also varieties that open white and gradually turn pink. That's spectacular to see, of course. These are my favorite tulips."
These so-called Magic Tulips change color as they age or receive more sunlight. In the Tulip Experience Amsterdam show garden, you can observe these special varieties up close and literally see them change color throughout the season.
Curious about the new varieties we've added this year? Then visit Tulip Experience Amsterdam. "Every year we have new tulip varieties. And each tulip tells its own story," says Sylvia with a smile. "Together they form the most beautiful living garden in the Netherlands."
Book your tickets now for the coming season. Tulip Experience Amsterdam is open from March 19 to May 10, 2026.
Would you rather have these special tulips in your own garden? Then order tulips from our nursery via the Tulip Experience Shop.
This article was written in collaboration with Sylvia Pennings, director of Tulip Experience Amsterdam. Since she was nine, she has helped out at her father's tulip nursery, and in 2019, they founded Tulip Experience Amsterdam. Together with her family, she lets visitors experience the magic of the tulip and shares the story of the bulb grower.
