Bollenstreek or Bulb Region

Details

Category: South Holland - places to visit

The Bollenstreek (Dutch for "Bulb Region") is a region in the Netherlands consisting of areas in North and South Holland that feature the cultivation of flower bulbs.

The colourful flower fields that have come to symbolise Holland can be seen in these areas around April.

South Holland

*  The Duin- en Bollenstreek (Dune and Bulb Region) extends from Leiden to Haarlem in southern North Holland. This area, which includes Keukenhof, is the best known flower region.

*  There are a few flower fields in the area south of Leiden (Wassenaar and Voorschoten)

*  There are a few flower fields on the South Holland islands of Voorne-Putten and Goeree-Overflakkee. These fields are found in the sandy clay ground behind the dunes.

North Holland

*  The "Kennemerland Bulb Region" in North Holland extends roughly from the Haarlem area (including villages to the south and west of Haarlem) to Petten (northwest of Alkmaar). Wealthy merchants from Haarlem and Amsterdam introduced the cultivation of flower bulbs on a small scale basis in the sandy soil located close to the dunes in the 16th century. After the Tulip Mania crash of 1637, floriculture strongly declined. Unlike in the Duin- en Bollenstreek to the south, the Kennemerland Bulb Region was not -- despite the broad dune area south of Castricum -- extensively cultivated for this purpose. In the 19th century the area had been earmarked for preservation of the Amsterdam water supply (Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen) and as a location for the national steel company (Koninklijke Hoogovens).

*  The "Northern Bulb Region" is the area around Breezand in the north of North Holland. This area also did not develop as extensively as the Duin- en Bollenstreek to the south. The soil was not as ideal and some of the bulb farmers left to work in the more developed area in the south.

Towns and villages in the various parts of the Bulb Region:

    Aerdenhout
    Avenhorn
    Bennebroek
    Bergen
    Beverwijk
    Bloemendaal
    Breezand
    Castricum
    De Engel
    De Goorn
    De Kaag
    De Zilk
    Egmond
    Groet
    Heemstede
    Heemskerk
    Haarlem
    Hillegom
    Julianadorp
    Katwijk
    Keukenhof
    Langevelderslag
    Lisse
    Lisserbroek
    Noordwijk
    Noordwijkerhout
    Obdam
    Oegstgeest
    Overveen
    Piet Gijsenbrug
    Ruigenhoek
    Schermerhorn
    Sassenheim
    Schoorl
    Spierdijk
    Teylingen
    Uitgeest
    Ursem
    Velsen
    Velserbroek
    Vogelenzang
    Voorhout
    Voorschoten
    Warmond
    Wassenaar
    Wijk aan Zee
    IJmuiden
    Zandvoort