Mainau Island ,Germany

      78465 Insel Mainau, Germany

Mainau Island in Germany is similar to keukenhof in Holland.It's like a big wonderful garden with lot's of beautiful flowers and a wonderful scenery.

They have beautiful gardens with different themes.The kids loved the big peacock and duck formed flowers.We visited at the beggining of spring which was still a bit cold but sunny,perfect weather to walk around.They also have playgrounds and picnic place all over the place whenever you want to have a break after a long walk.

When i first saw the place ,it reminds me of the "secret garden" cartoon series that i used to watch when i was a kid.

Inside the park they have souvenir shops and you can find nice postcards or calendars showing the beauty of the island if Mainau.They also have restaurants selling "bratwurst" a typical german sausage served with a piece of bread with mustard or ketchup ;)

They also offer different activities for the kids like treasure hunt,children's tour,pony rides etc.

It's worth a visit specially in spring when the flower bloom everywhere.

Here's the website for the full information:

http://www.mainau.de/infos-fuer-familien0.html

Tulips and travel - Keukenhof farm, Netherlands

Stationsweg 166A, 2161 AM Lisse, Netherlands.

A place for tulip lovers and flower enthusiasts.The picture above is not actually inside keukenhof but around lisse.I did a biking tour with my son around Lisse where keukenhof farm is located.There's bike rentals on the side of the farm,click the link below for the price and infos.

http://www.rentabikevandam.nl/keukenhof_en.html

We decided to explore Lisse first and to look for tulip fields to take some photos before going inside of keukenhof.

The place is really beautiful and breathtaking,a lot of tulips everywhere! (Literally),made us stay longer just to look at the fields while enjoying the fresh air and beautiful weather.We went there during spring (of course! :D fyi Keukenhof is only open every spring) it was a bit windy and cold but sunny, so not that bad at all.And expect a big volume of tourists coz at the same time it's the flower festival in Lisse.

Going to keukenhof is so easy.Just take the bus from amsterdam/Schiphol airport,just on the side of arrival area.They have direct shuttle bus going to keukenhof.It's also good for a short trip if you have a long transit time.Bus + entrance costs 19€ and you can buy it right there at the bus terminal.

We bought the Holland pass,so we got a free ticket + roundtrip bus ticket to keukenhof.

HOLLAND PASS is an all-in-one city pass in amsterdam.Click the link for all the information.

http://www.hollandpass.com/keukenhof2014

If you think you will visit mostly the main attractions like madame tussauds,keukenhof,Nemo science center,canal tour etc. it's worth it to purchasr the holland pass specially if you have a kid w/ you ,it also serves as a fast track ticket to some attractions.

For all the info. about keukenhof click the link below ;)

http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/