Theresa's Mixed Nuts: Windmill Gardens Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Windmill Gardens Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan

Tulips are my most favorite flower, so I have been meaning to make the drive up to Holland, Michigan for quite some time to visit their annual Tulip Festival. One thing or another has usually prevented us from going in the past, but this year the stars aligned where Jason and I had one free day open during the week long event and I took full advantage. I wasn't quite sure where we'd get the best tulip views, but after all of the online research, it seemed Windmill Gardens was going to be the hot spot for prime flower viewing.

Windmill Gardens Tulip Festival

We were told by several family members and friends that this particular tulip festival wasn't all it's cracked up to be and we should just avoid going all together, but after seeing their television commercials promoting overflowing beds of glorious tulips, I knew I had to see it for myself.

Windmill Gardens Tulips

Once we got to the gate and paid our $10 admission, I was eager to go frolic among the tulips. Sadly, there were only 3 small flower beds to wander through and they were more filled with tourists than actual flowers. And, since we had such a long winter, I'd say more than half of the tulips hadn't even bloomed yet, so the beds looked scarce and pitiful. To say I was disappointed would be a complete understatement.

Holland Tulip Festival

I think we stayed for about 20 minutes before heading for the exit and calling our visit a bust. Don't get me wrong, there were some beautiful blooms to gaze upon, but this visit was not worth the 1.5 hour drive and $10 entrance fee each. I was picturing Instagram worthy flower fields with blooms as far as the eye could see, but you aren't going to get that here. I saw a few girls dressed up who I assume also has Instagram pics in mind but ended up leaving just as disappointed as I did.

Holland Tulip Festival

Now, the large windmill is pretty cool, and there are a few smaller windmills on the property that make for great photo backdrops, but I wouldn't say they are worth the trip or the entrance fee just for a few snaps.

Windmill Gardens Holland Michigan


Holland does plant blooms all around the downtown area, so if you want to enjoy gorgeous tulips, I'd recommend parking and then take a stroll through town to admire the free tulip views in the city.

Hollan Tulip Festival

Holland Michigan Tulip Festival

My advice for those wishing to see the Holland, Michigan tulips at Windmill Gardens would be to skip it altogether and just enjoy the town's blooms, but if you must go, pick an early morning week day to visit. Both weekends are going to be filled to the brim with people all vying for their own photo opps and it's a pain trying to navigate through the crowds, but the workdays should keep the crowds to a minimum. Also, if the winter has been particularly long, expect for the blooms to be stunted in growth during the festival. They probably won't reach their full potential until after the festival has run its course. Additionally, be aware that Windmill Gardens is not a place where you can pick your own tulips from the gardens to buy, but they do have a tent to order bulbs for planting in your own garden at home. I didn't price them, but I imagine that I got a better deal on my bulbs from Costco last year than what one will be paying here.


Does your town host an annual tulip festival?


22 comments:

  1. Look at her rocking that new bag like a pro :)
    Do adore me tulips and peonies too! Our local ZOO has them tons since it is also a botanical garden, ours are probably prettier :)

    PS are you getting comment notifications from Blogger? I haven't gotten a single one in recent few days ever since they brought those comment field changes :( I don't know if it is just me or not.

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    1. I was going to use that photo for a promotional post on my Instagram stories, but used a different one instead. Couldn't let it go to waste, so it ended up here.
      I am sure yours zoos tulips were prettier and probably in full bloom at the appropriate time. The ones I got from Costco last year bloomed huge and beautiful in my yard. I just bought some dahlias and lily bulbs for summer since I was so pleased with the tulips I got from them.

      No, I am not getting comment notifications either and it sucks. Now I have to weed through it in my panel every day just to make sure the spammer comments aren't coming through :( Such a pain!

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    2. but at least it means we're all suffering... it is not just us :) It is truly shocking that Blogger does not have a comment notifications at our dashboards....

      What colour dahlias did you buy? We have twocoloured red/white ones, very pretty and unusual.

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  2. That's too bad that the trip was a bust! I thought the tulips looked so pretty as well as the windmill in the background. Def. Pinterest worthy imo!

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    1. I think I would have been more impressed if all of the tulips were in full bloom. I'm sure it has looked better in previous years, but this last winter was hard on our spring flowers, I think.

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  3. Nothing ever looks as good as the commercial/advertisement makes it out to be. But at least now you know for yourself. Maybe they should rename it tourist gardens.

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    1. You're right. Commercials can be deceiving and I should have known to listen to people who have actually been there. Tourist Gardens would definitely be more appropriate for their name lol

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  4. Good thing the city is true to the name

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    1. It is. They even have a little Dutch Village where they sell wooden shoes and homemade candles. The town is quite charming.

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  5. Sorry your trip wasn't all as advertised. From the pics you took, everything seemed ok. I enjoyed the pics of the windmill.

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  6. This looks so wonderful. We already had our Tulips selling period here in Texas. Tulips are so so pretty!!

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  7. Oh wow. From the pictures, I would never have know the trip didn't go exactly as planned. The flowers were still very pretty, though.

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  8. We don't have one, but I want one. All those photos are wonderful!

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  9. You may call it odd. I do. I love tulips and especially windmills. Definetly worth going to soon. Beautiful

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  10. Those tulips look lovely, I've never seen so many of them. Windmills just make me smile, I wish there were more of them.

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  11. What an absolutely gorgeous tulip festival. I've been to many, but this one is just breathtaking.

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  12. Aww such a shame that it was a let-down but your photos certainly makes the event look better than it seems!

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

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  13. What a beautiful place and event. Tulips are my favorite flower and the perfect way to kick off spring!

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  14. Wow! This is really pretty! I love tulips! How I wish I could go to this event one day!

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  15. Such a lovely festival to go to, or at least the place is awesome especially since it's filled with tulips. I think it's something that the locals can take advantage of the most.

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  16. I took an anniversary trip to Holland once. We stayed in an awesome, very modern hotel but I can't remember what it was called. Downtown was very quaint and had outside musicians, which I thought was great! We took pics with windmills too...and dutch clogs, lol. :) Sorry you didn't get to see the blooms you wanted though!!

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Thanks for your comments! I appreciate every one of them :) Except promotional posts with added links. Those will be deleted.

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