Nienke Panis-Ringersma has made a career out of following the region's famous blooms. Here are her favourite ways to experience the season, from road trips to bulb picking. Few images are as indelible as the sight of candy-coloured tulips bursting through the dark winter ground.
But in the Netherlands – the world's largest exporter of the magical bloom – venerating tulips is a way of life. In the weeks leading from icy winter to spring, rows of flowers stud the country's landscape in technicolour streaks, most famously in the Bollenstreek "Bulb Region", stretching between the towns of Haarlem and Leiden, arching towards the North Sea. And with tulips come tourists; eager to experience the blooms for themselves.
We spoke to Nienke Panis-Ringersma, the lens behind the popular Dutch-based tulip photography blog, Tulips in Holland , to find the best tulip bloom experiences in the Netherlands. "People in the Netherlands are very down to earth," says Panis-Ringersma, whose images and tulip facts receive thousands of likes per month on Facebook . "They are quite used to the flower fields.
You know when it's tourist season, because the roads are clogged with people on a bike who are not used to riding bikes." Nonetheless, Panis-Ringersma adores her nation's iconic bulb flower – enough to have made it her career. "I think it's the excitement," she says.
"It starts around December when we can buy tulips in the florist shops. And around the third weekend of January, we celebrate N.
