Tulips, King's Day, and a Brussels Lesson: Our Amsterdam Hosted Trip - Part 2

This is Part 2 of our Amsterdam hosted trip story. If you missed Part 1 — the hotel, the city, the canal cruises, and the first sparks of connection — you can read it here → Part 1

Now, where were we...

Our Tulip Day: Where No Photo Does It Justice

I want to say this clearly, because I mean it sincerely: photographs cannot prepare you for the tulips.

I have seen the pictures. We all have. Countless Instagram posts, travel magazines, beautiful editorial spreads. And still — standing in the middle of Keukenhof on a clear April morning, surrounded by millions of blooms in every direction, color stacked on color across 80 acres of carefully tended paths and gardens — I found myself simply stopping. Just standing there, taking it in.

The entire group went to Keukenhof together, and it was one of those collective moments of awe that bonds people without any effort at all. Lizzie described the gardens as,

...resplendent and colorful and very calming — a great place to sit and talk with other visitors.

Yes. Exactly that.

After Keukenhof, a few of us decided to keep going. Spontaneously, the way the best moments often happen. We took an Uber to two additional sites nearby, and I am so glad we did.

The Tulip Barn

The Tulip Barn in Hillegom is a vibrant tulip farm that welcomes visitors to walk freely between structured rows of brilliantly colored blooms. It is intimate, unhurried, and feels completely different from the curated grandeur of Keukenhof — more like stepping onto a real farm where the flowers just happen to be extraordinary.

The Tulip Experience in Noordwijkerhout is a large show garden established by a tulip farming family, with over one million tulips, an indoor museum about the history and cultivation of the tulip, and the chance to pick your own bouquet to take home. It is educational, photogenic, and deeply personal in the way that family-run businesses always are.

All three — Keukenhof, the Tulip Barn, and the Tulip Experience — were worth every Uber fare. Each one offered something the others didn't. Together, they gave us a full picture of what tulip season in the Netherlands actually means, from grand curated beauty to working farm reality to intimate show garden.

Acres and acres of color. A sky so blue it looked staged. The kind of beauty that makes you go quiet.

Travel Tip: If you visit Keukenhof during tulip season, consider extending your day to include the Tulip Barn and the Tulip Experience. They are close by, easy to reach, and each adds a different dimension to the experience.

King's Day: Even From a Window

The birthday of Netherland's king — April 27th — is one of the most celebrated national holidays in the Netherlands. The entire city turns orange and everyone comes out to party. Street markets appear overnight. Music pours from every square and canal. Boats pack the waterways. The energy is completely unlike any other day of the year, and experiencing it in Amsterdam, the heart of the celebration, is something I had always wanted to do.

I offered a two-night optional extension so that interested travelers could stay for it. Several of the ladies took me up on it — including my mom, the four New England friends, and a few others. I am so glad we stayed.

I am also going to be honest about how the day actually unfolded for my mom and me.

The night before King's Day, at our final group dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant — where the food was genuinely excellent and the service was warm — my mom ate some shellfish that did not agree with her. For several days, including King's Day, she was not well at all, and we spent most of that day in our room rather than out in the streets.

But here is the thing about Amsterdam on King's Day: the city finds you, even through a window.

From our room, we could see across the street where a crowd of twenty- and thirty-somethings had gathered to celebrate in full orange regalia, music going, drinks raised, the whole wonderful spectacle of Dutch national pride in full expression. At some point, I started singing along with whatever they were playing. They noticed. They waved. I waved back. We had the most absurd, delightful, wordless little connection with a group of strangers. It was silly and joyful and it broke the cabin fever just enough.

Even sick and stuck inside, watching Amsterdam transform on King's Day was worth being there for.

The ladies who were out in the streets had a wonderful time, and I loved hearing their stories afterward. Lizzie wrote:

Am so glad we decided to take on King's Day in Amsterdam. That was exciting and so much fun to tell folks about.

Next time, I intend to be out there in the streets with everyone else, orange shirt and all.

Fun Fact: Apparently, the next heir to the throne is a woman, so this holiday will become Queen's Day and will be on her birthday.

A Brussels Footnote — and a Lesson in Humility

After the main group departed, my mom and I took the train to Brussels for two nights before flying home. It was a logical routing in our case, and we decided to take full advantage of it.

Brussels is beautiful. We stayed in the heart of Grand Place — one of the most dramatic town squares in all of Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site ringed by ornate gilded guild halls that glow gold in the afternoon sun. We had a wonderful chocolate tasting tour, which is exactly as delightful as it sounds. We ate well, trying traditional Belgian foods like carbonnade flamande, boulets à la liégeoise, and a Belgian take on tiramisu that has speculoos inside. We wandered, taking in the sites around the square. Brussels is compact and walkable and deeply charming, and I would go back without hesitation.

Now. I also need to tell you something that illustrates a truth I should probably acknowledge more often.

I research and prepare far more carefully for my clients than I do for myself. Truly.

When I booked our Brussels hotel — a highly rated property right on Grand Place — I did not notice, in my somewhat rushed self-planning, that it was housed in a UNESCO heritage-protected building with an extremely tall, steep, winding staircase and no elevator. A gorgeous building. A historically significant building. A building that was going to be a genuine problem when we needed to get ourselves and our heavy luggage down those stairs at five in the morning with no staff available to help.

My mom is 72. I have arthritis. We had not packed lightly.

We figured this out rather quickly after arriving, took one look at the staircase situation, and made the executive decision to change our final night to an airport hotel instead (after staying one night in this historic location). From the airport hotel, we rolled our bags across to the terminal on departure morning like the pragmatic, slightly humbled travelers we were, and it was absolutely the right call.

Expensive lesson. Worth every euro.

I share this not to be self-deprecating, but because I think it matters that you know: even travel advisors make mistakes when they rush their own planning. This is precisely why I am so careful and thorough when I am planning for my clients. You deserve someone who has learned these things the hard way so you don't have to.

Travel Tip: The research matters! Ratings and pictures never tell the whole story.

What Made This Trip Work

When I look back at this particular hosted group, a few things stand out as the ingredients that made it what it was.

The hotel. Banks Mansion was not just a place to sleep. It was a gathering place, a social infrastructure, a reason to come back each evening and find each other. I will be recommending it for years.

The city. Amsterdam is genuinely easy to love. It is walkable, navigable, beautiful, and full of history that reveals itself at every turn. Janine said,

It was an amazing experience. Once in a lifetime...It was a beautiful city.

The balance of structure and freedom. Lizzie noted,

It was nice to not be on a forced march each day — we had a nice range of excursions offered.

That is the philosophy I build every hosted trip around. Come together for the things that are better shared. Go your own way when you need to. Return each evening with stories.

The organizational support. Janine specifically mentioned:

The detailed itineraries we all received — it made keeping track by day so simple...[you] helping with everything from taxis to the metro, clear guidelines on times and locations, and rolling with last-minute additions.

Lizzie added:

Your individualized booklet for each traveler was beyond expectations and was an incredible help.

And then there were the women themselves. A group of strangers who showed up open, flexible, and genuinely curious — about the city, about the experience, and about each other. Lizzie wrote on behalf of herself and Mary:

We both just had so much fun meeting all our travelers in our group...[that] really helped make the trip such a hit. The small group helped. Meeting and traveling with your mom was really fun.

My feelings exactly!

A Personal Note

Traveling with my mom on this trip was something I won't forget. This kind of adventure — a hosted group trip, an international city, tulip season in Amsterdam — is not something she has ever gotten to experience before. Watching her step into it, watching her fit right in with a group of women she had never met, was genuinely special. She is easy to like, and the group took to her immediately.

Being stuck in the hotel room on King's Day while she was sick was, to be honest, not our finest travel moment. But I am so glad she was there for the rest of it. She deserved every bit of those fun days.

What's Next: Travel With Me

This is what hosted travel looks like when it works. A thoughtfully chosen hotel that does half the work of building community for you. A city that rewards curiosity at every level. A group of open and lovely folks who showed up willing to be changed a little by the experience.

Amsterdam in tulip season delivered everything it promised — and then some.

If you are dreaming about traveling in community, about seeing the world alongside people who become friends before the trip is over, I want you to know that there is more coming.

We are planning a Greece and Eastern Mediterranean hosted trip in the fall of 2027 — and if that sounds like your kind of adventure, I would love to keep you in the loop.

Click here to let me know you're interested and we'll make sure you're the first to hear when details are released.

Here's to the trips that surprise us. Here's to the strangers who become friends. And here's to Amsterdam — one of the great cities of the world, at its most beautiful in April.

Amsterdam Hosted Trip