Sanders Go Sightseeing: Keukenhof Gardens, Holland (Tulip Festival)

We went on a quick weekend getaway to the Tulip Festival in Holland this weekend! We have heard such lovely things about the gardens and knew that the tulips would be a "must-see" during our time here.

Trying to find a hotel near Keukenhof proved a little difficult on short notice (at least for our price point), so we ended up staying in Rotterdam. It worked out perfectly though, we left on a Friday afternoon after work and made the four hour drive to Rotterdam with hardly any traffic.

About to pass over the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam

My mom had her own room which she happily shared with the kiddos (and we happily let her)! It was nice to have a night to ourselves! We've never been able to experience that when traveling with the kiddos. We ended up downstairs in our hotel's bar for a while and then walked to a cozy little jazz club nearby. It was definitely a hole-in-the-wall type place, some of the people looked a little shady, but the staff was very friendly and the live music was nice...they even played a few "American" songs while we were there!

Our view from the hotel room. The kids enjoyed people and car watching!
(We enjoyed the fact that we couldn't hear any of those people or cars!)

"Proost!"

The next morning we loaded up and headed to Keukenhof.

It was only about a 45 minute drive and the scenery was really pretty...except...WHERE WERE THE TULIPS?!

I had checked the website several times to make sure they would still be open and they were. (Granted, it was the last week but they were still supposed to be tulip festiving)! Almost all the tulips in the fields had been cut, as well as many of the tulips inside the gardens. It was a little disappointing....but still a lot of fun!