5 Tips for Visiting Tulip Time in Holland, MI

Hey y’all! For a few years I’ve wanted to go to Tulip Time Festival in the city of Holland on the western shore of Michigan. This year, I finally made it happen! Because Holland was settled by people from the Netherlands, the area has a rich Dutch history and the Tulip Time festival celebrates and shows off this fun culture.

The sprawling tulip gardens and arts and craft market were super cool and totally worth the trip! For those making their own way to the festival in the coming years, I wanted to share the things I wish I would have known before making the trek to Holland.

1. Go during the week if you can.

If you go to Tulip Time over the weekend, it’s no exaggeration to say that there will be more people than tulips. I’m no good at Photoshop, but I found myself watching tutorials after my trip to try and get all of the other people out of my beautiful tulip photos. You can really see the amateur white clouds in the picture below where I had to re-do the sky after clearing a woman out of the background… ha!

It would have been a lot more enjoyable to see the tulips without worrying whose photo you were ruining by simply existing. I would even contemplate going the week after Tulip Time next time, as the flowers will most likely still be in bloom and you’d have a fraction of the crowds.

2. Go toward the end of the festival to see more blooms.

Possibly because we had a particularly cold winter this year, there were only about a quarter of the flowers in bloom during the first weekend of the festival. So what we saw were fields of tulips as far as the eye could see, but only one or two rows in bloom and the others simply green stalks. That, coupled with all of the tourists mentioned in the above point, made the amount of people near the flowers even more concentrated and noticeable.

This could depend on the weather that year, but I think it’s safe to say going the last week or the week after the festival would typically be your best bet.

3. Book your accommodations super early.

I’m talking like a year in advance. My husband was in awe that this little town in Michigan would be so popular that everything would already be all booked up over 6 months in advance, but it’s really popular. Holland, being partway between Detroit and Chicago, most likely attracts people from both cities as well as all the suburbs around it.

There is a hotel in downtown Holland called CityFlats. I wasn’t early enough to book it, but it’s in the absolute best location and has pretty good reviews. If you book early enough, you may have a shot at landing a room there.

Hanging out with Thomas Jefferson in downtown Holland.

4. Make reservations for meals well before you’re hungry.

We stopped at New Holland Brewing for lunch on Saturday and were told there was a two and a half hour wait. We soon found out that all of the other restaurants in the area were no different. We even tried to order a pizza from Little Caesar’s and they said they weren’t taking any new orders because of how busy they were! We were hungry, so we ended up eating ice cream for dinner.

5. Arrive early for dances and shows so you get a good view.

On the event schedule, there are various shows and demonstrations you can see including traditional Dutch dances. There aren’t bleachers or a stage or anything—they happen in the street–so if you want to see any of these, be sure to arrive 15-20 minutes before it starts and get a good spot. I’m too short, so I would have literally needed to be in the very front to see anything.

Despite the things I wish I would have known, I’d still say it was worth the trip. We had some great weather and I especially liked the arts and crafts market. There were lots of local artists with some truly unique items for sale. It made me wish I had unlimited funds so I could buy a little of everything!

For someone interested in gardening and flowers as well, it was neat to see how many different types of tulips there are. There are some really unique ones with frayed and pointy leaves as well as almost any color you can think of.