Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the Netherlands Haarlem Bloemen Route
AO Edited

Bloemen Route

The Bloemen Route, or “Flower Route”, stretches 25 miles through prime Dutch tulip country as a result of “tulip mania,” the world’s first economic bubble.

Haarlem, Netherlands

Added By
Lew Blank
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Multiple varieties of Bloemenroute tulips   dierk schaefer / Some Rights Reserved
A lone red flower   Jordan Wilms / Some Rights Reserved
Pretty colors   Gilles San Martin / Some Rights Reserved
Bright yellow bulbs   Olga Vanyushina / Some Rights Reserved
Blue and purple flowers   Pug Girl / Some Rights Reserved
Colorful floral patchwork   Jeroen Sangers / Some Rights Reserved
Pink and red   DennisM2 / Some Rights Reserved
Fields of tulips   Roman Boed / Some Rights Reserved
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
  Sarah Vanheel CosmopoliClan / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
  Sarah Vanheel CosmopoliClan / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Bloemen Route   vasilisapremudra / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Floral cultivation, also known as floriculture, began in the Netherlands in 1593, when the first tulip was planted on Dutch soil. Since then, the flower business has boomed, albeit in bizarre fashion.

In the 1600s, merchants from Amsterdam began to travel to the East Indies, and when they returned with remarkable profit, they built large estates surrounded by tulips. Suddenly, tulips became a status symbol in the Netherlands, and everyone wanted one.

As demand for tulips grew, a phenomenon referred to as “tulip mania,” the vendors of the flowers steadily raised their prices, and in 1634, speculators were introduced into the tulip market. A futures market was created, where vendors sold contracts which allowed buyers to purchase bulbs in the future, at the very end of the growing season.

By the winter of 1636-37, many of the bulb futures were changing hands a whopping ten times a day, and one singular bulb cost a ridiculous sum, equivalent to ten times the annual salary of a skilled craftsman. This market for tulips is often referred to as the world's first economic bubble.

Then, as the Bubonic Plague spread throughout the Netherlands, consumers stopped showing up to tulip markets, and the bubble burst. It sent the country into complete economic collapse, which had reverberations all across Europe.

Despite the economic collapse of the tulip market, tulip mania left its mark. Without tulip mania, the Netherlands wouldn't have the floral patchwork it has today. The biggest Dutch flower auctions bring in five billion dollars each year. The country is filled with flowers, so many that the road going through the largest cluster is 25 miles long.

This route is called the Bloemen Route, and it winds through a rainbow of colors, all Dutch tulips, fields of different pigments arranged next to each other like a floral quilt. So beautiful are some of these tulips that you might just want to spend ten times your annual salary to buy one.

The Bloemen Route starts in Haarlem and ends in Leiden. The famous town of Lisse, home to the world-renowned Keukenhof Gardens, is located at the heart of it. Instead of driving the route, you can rent a bike to enjoy the floral beauty to the fullest.

There's a yearly Flower Parade, featuring dozens of tulip-decorated floats, that largely follows this same route. It's called the Bloemencorso Bollenstreek and takes place around mid-April.

Related Tags

Flowers Roads Roadside Attractions History Horticulture Plants

Know Before You Go

Peak-blooming season for the tulips is the second half of April.

Community Contributors

Added By

lewblank

Edited By

vturiserra, Sarah Vanheel CosmopoliClan, vasilisapremudra

  • vturiserra
  • Sarah Vanheel CosmopoliClan
  • vasilisapremudra

Published

May 20, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duin-_en_Bollenstreek
  • http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/flower-route-netherlands-road-trip/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
  • http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/samecris/eccrisis/eccris01.htm
  • https://cosmopoliclan.com/travel-with-kids/inspiration/tulip-fields-netherlands/
Bloemen Route
62 Groot Heiligland
Haarlem, 2011 ES
Netherlands
52.376608, 4.633599
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Frederikspark

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Grote Kerk

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Teylers Museum

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Haarlem

Haarlem

Netherlands

Places 4

Nearby Places

Frederikspark

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Grote Kerk

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Teylers Museum

Haarlem, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Haarlem

Haarlem

Netherlands

Places 4

Related Stories and Lists

18 Places Where You Just Have to Stop and Smell the Flowers

List

By Jonathan Carey

Related Places

  • John Bartram’s garden house.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Bartram's Garden

    The oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States.

  • A rare Franciscan manzanita, similar to the one that led to Rowntree’s nighttime raid to save one of the endangered plants. She admitted that she’d “garnered it ghoulishly in a gunnysack.”

    Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

    Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden

    Named for a self-taught botanist who cataloged hundreds of native plants, this garden continues her work of preserving California plant life.

  • Milepost 1523 is near the Cushman Street Bridge.

    Fairbanks, Alaska

    Alaska Highway's Milepost 1523

    This mile marker stands at the unofficial end of a highway built to defend the United States from a Japanese invasion during World War II.

  • Amsterdam Tulip Museum.

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Amsterdam Tulip Museum

    Tucked in the back of a flower shop, its collection details the fascinating history of the Netherlands's iconic symbol.

  • Avenue of the Giants

    Humboldt County, California

    Avenue of the Giants

    One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

  • The rhododendron garden in May.

    Portland, Oregon

    Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

    Nestled between a college and a golf course, the garden is home to more than 2,500 rhododendrons.

  • A saintly sculpture.

    Guanajuato, Mexico

    Ex-Hacienda de San Gabriel de Barrera Gardens

    This colonial mining complex is now home to magnificent themed gardens.

  • A window into the past.

    Vista, Australia

    Newman's Nursery Ruins

    The haunting remains of a beautiful old plant nursery founded in the 1850s.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.