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ranchandcoast.com 88 MARCH 2026 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE We chose the luxurious and historic Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin, positioned beachfront in Noordwijk aan Zee, a short distance from the tulip fields, gardens, and waterways that we longed to explore. is hotel has hosted American presidents and European royalty since 1885, rising above the dunes and wide beach with sweeping ocean views. Complete with grand breakfast buffets and a dedicated champagne bar, among other wonderful amenities, it served as a perfect home base for our adventures. Amsterdam is certainly not the only burg in Holland built along canals, as many would believe. All the smaller hamlets we visited had similar Old City layouts, with that distinctive 17th-century architecture of narrow brick buildings tipping precariously over placid waterways. e charming villages of Delft, Leiden, and Haarlem displayed these famous scenes without the big-city busloads of tourists. It was refreshingly easy to meander through medieval cobblestone streets, bicycles zooming by with their baskets laden with groceries, flowers, and books. Tulip Fields for Days Our timing for this trip proved impeccable, as tulip season lasts just a short eight weeks, from late March to mid-May, with April being the sweet spot. Who knew there were so many varieties of what began as a weedy wildflower before cultivation? Its bulbs nearly toppled the Dutch economy in 1637, when they were traded speculatively as valuable currency, like some sort of medieval bitcoin. Now, tulips have become a universal favorite, a symbol of springtime with thousands of varieties. Feeling adventurous, we booked a private guided tulip bicycle tour in the little town of Lisse, winding through backroads and miles of farmland dedicated to this colorful crop. We hopped on fat, comfy bike seats and happily pedaled along flat roads, with multiple varieties of tulips blooming on either side. Nearby at Keukenhof Gardens, we got up close and personal with more than 4,000 blooming tulips in all their resplendent glory. Every color of the rainbow waved lazily in the warm sun as we strolled by, planted by a team of some 40 tenders who keep this 80-acre park setting fresh for its visiting hoards. Triumph tulips are the sturdy flowers we most often see in our home arrangements, but here they are commoners. Of the more than 7 million bulbs planted here each year in landscaped groupings, standout varieties included the startling beauty of fringed- top pink ladies, the variegated petals of tulips in many colors, flamed and feathered varieties of Rembrandt tulips, ruffled and flamboyantly orange Parrot tulips, and so many more. Delft — Home of the Famous Blue Pottery Considered one of the most beautiful cities in the Netherlands, Delft is a concentration of all the charms we envisioned witnessing in this part of the world. Here the picturesque canals and tree- lined paths are even more quaint, cleaner, and less crowded than Amsterdam, and only 30ish minutes from our hotel. detour destinations <<