Aalsmeer Flower Auction – anyone visit it?

Will anyone who visited this flower auction give me some feedback? How did you get there and was it worth the trip to see it?

We are considering back to back tulip river cruises on Avalon leaving on Wednesdays from Amsterdam so we are thinking of arriving a few days early so we can visit the auction. Our information is it is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 7:30 to 11.

Thanks, Hal

Get there as early as possible. Busnr 172 from Centraal Station brings you there. This bus leaves 2 x each hour, driving time around 1 hour.

More about the auction on this website:

http://www.floraholland.com/EN/ABOUTFLORAHOLLAND/VISITTHEAUCTION/Pages/VisitAalsmeer.aspx

I wish I could have gon ,But I did see a film on it on the ship .

Hi Hal : we went to Aalsmeer on our Tulips & Windmills tour with Vantage. It was an optional tour with Vantage in the morning of our day at Keukenhoff. Are you sure your Avalon tour doesn' t include or offer it? It was well worth it for the flower lover...I have never seen so many flowers under one roof. The auction is amazing and over before you figure out what's happening! I cannot explain what we saw but it was one the most interesting tours we did and I loved it! Tip: bulbs are for sale in pre-packed mixes...they can be shipped (at proper time for your area) but they were quite pricey and you can find them cheaper elsewhere. Just make sure wherever you buy bulbs that they are U.S. certified otherwise they will be confiscated when you go through customs.

We went in April and it was amazing. As Ine said, take the local bus 172 from in front of the train station. I think it took about an hour, but was fun to see other parts of Amsterdam. It will take you to the front door of the enormous auction. I think it was 5 euros to get in. The hard part is getting there as early as you need to. This is definitely an early morning place. We got there about 9 and I would not recommend any later than that. They were completely finished by 11:00. I think they are open every week day (M-F), not sure where you got the M,T, F info. We went on a Thursday morning. Thought it would be a good thing to do the first morning there since we would be up early anyway due to the time change. It is facinating and not something you will see anywhere else. We were on Avalon as well and it is not offered as an option with them. We highly recommend it, let me know if you want more info. One of the great things about Amsterdam is that EVERYONE speaks English. They are also very friendly and helpful, so don't worry about wandering off on your own.

Hi Hal : we went to Aalsmeer on our Tulips & Windmills tour with Vantage. It was an optional tour with Vantage in the morning of our day at Keukenhoff. Are you sure your Avalon tour doesn' t include or offer it? It was well worth it for the flower lover...I have never seen so many flowers under one roof. The auction is amazing and over before you figure out what's happening! I cannot explain what we saw but it was one the most interesting tours we did and I loved it! Tip: bulbs are for sale in pre-packed mixes...they can be shipped (at proper time for your area) but they were quite pricey and you can find them cheaper elsewhere. Just make sure wherever you buy bulbs that they are U.S. certified otherwise they will be confiscated when you go through customs.

We agree 100% with the above poster. The flower auction is not to be missed. This is a very early morning activity because after the auction the flowers are flown all over Europe. If you arrive much after 9:00 AM the flowers will be gone.

If You`re able to visit on a Monday (not always possible when touring) I think you`ll find it goes later and is busier.

We were driving and got caught in traffic and didn`t get there til 9.30. It was still going strong when we left at 11.30 and friend who came from Amsterdam by bus (on a different monday) said the same thing.

It was great fun and one of our favourite things in The Netherland.

Thanks everyone for the information. We are seeing our travel agent today so maybe she can offer some suggestions.

We got the Monday, Tuesday and Friday infomation from some web site but we probably did not understand what it was telling us.

Again, thanks to all!

Here's a link to the visitor page. It does say M-F. Have fun, it is great. Be quick with your pictures though because they move everything around so fast it becomes a game to see if you can snap a pic before the flowers are gone! I have lots of blurry pics from there!

http://www.floraholland.com/en/AboutFloraHolland/Visittheauction/Pages/VisitAalsmeer.aspx

Thanks for your response to my question concerning Aalsmeer. Your comments about taking the tour on Vantage got us thinking since Avalon does not offer the tour and their cruises are only 7 days (we were going to book back-to-back cruises just to get a longer cruise experience). So, we looked at Vantage this morning and saw their cruise is 10 days with very interesting pre and post cruise options.

If you don't mind, may I ask your feelings about Vantage? The ship, booking with them, air reservations, etc.??? I am a little concerned about booking directly without a travel agent helping with the air. I don't want to be flying to multiple airports from Philly or Newark to save a few bucks when there are direct flights. Maybe I'm concerned about nothing but I thought I would ask.

Thanks in advance for any comments you may wish to share.

Hal

Will anyone who visited this flower auction give me some feedback? How did you get there and was it worth the trip to see it?

 

We are considering back to back tulip river cruises on Avalon leaving on Wednesdays from Amsterdam so we are thinking of arriving a few days early so we can visit the auction. Our information is it is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 7:30 to 11.

 

Thanks, Hal

Excellent side trip, great for flower/plant lovers and those who like to view organized chaos--like an aircraft carrier flight deck! So impressed the first visit on a Thursday we went twice. On trip #1 we had a rental car and left the hotel early enough to arrive at 7:30am when the action was really throttling up. We took a cab from a nearby hotel at AMS (Schipohl) on the second trip (not on a Thursday), don't recall the fare but split with a second couple and it was very reasonable for Europe. If you take a cab be certain the driver guarantees drop off at the front entrance. You might find a map online that shows the entrance and possibly directions on how to get there. If you do, take it with you to show the cabbie. I'd arrive no later than 8am, after that you've missed the bulk of the activity. Thursday was recommended to us because that's when buyers and shippers are gearing up for the weekend deliveries around the globe so the volume of flowers and plants is at its highest. The Thursday visit was more active than the other day we visited which was still impressive. I believe the entry fee was around 8 euros. Be sure to take your camera and try to get someone in one of the four auction rooms to explain the Dutch auction process. As I recall there were some stop points around the mezzanine level with explanations of what you are seeing on signs. There might have been a headset option as well but you can verify that on the Aalsmeer website. I think it's also called the Bloemenveilling, not sure of the spelling. Don't miss this!

Thanks for your response to my question concerning Aalsmeer. Your comments about taking the tour on Vantage got us thinking since Avalon does not offer the tour and their cruises are only 7 days (we were going to book back-to-back cruises just to get a longer cruise experience). So, we looked at Vantage this morning and saw their cruise is 10 days with very interesting pre and post cruise options.

 

If you don't mind, may I ask your feelings about Vantage? The ship, booking with them, air reservations, etc.??? I am a little concerned about booking directly without a travel agent helping with the air. I don't want to be flying to multiple airports from Philly or Newark to save a few bucks when there are direct flights. Maybe I'm concerned about nothing but I thought I would ask.

 

Thanks in advance for any comments you may wish to share.

 

Hal

You will not be disappointed! You have to book directly because they don't deal with travel agents. I know I can probably do better buying my own air but at this point in my life I'm all about the less stress the better! I live on eastern Long Island so have access to JFK. I'fe never had a problem with my air arrangements with vantage. I prefer to fly Lufthansa and that means we go from NY to Frankfort and change planes! If you're flying from Newark or Philly you should go non-stop to Amsterdam. We did the Brussels extension so we changed at Frankfort. The ship we've been on most is Odyssey and Explorer. I understand they have new ships this year that look lovely. Food was great, people were great. We're leaving next month in our 6th trip with Vantage. Only complaint I have is their failure to respond to e-mail! You'll get better help if you call them! Any further questions e-mail me @ chydro564@ Yahoo.com. you won't be sorry..I mean it! Judy

You will not be disappointed! You have to book directly because they don't deal with travel agents. I know I can probably do better buying my own air but at this point in my life I'm all about the less stress the better! I live on eastern Long Island so have access to JFK. I'fe never had a problem with my air arrangements with vantage. I prefer to fly Lufthansa and that means we go from NY to Frankfort and change planes! If you're flying from Newark or Philly you should go non-stop to Amsterdam. We did the Brussels extension so we changed at Frankfort. The ship we've been on most is Odyssey and Explorer. I understand they have new ships this year that look lovely. Food was great, people were great. We're leaving next month in our 6th trip with Vantage. Only complaint I have is their failure to respond to e-mail! You'll get better help if you call them! Any further questions e-mail me @ chydro564@ Yahoo.com. you won't be sorry..I mean it! Judy

Thanks. We would leave from Newark or Philly since they are the easiest airports for us to use. So many trips and so little time. :)

I hear you! We've been selecting trips based kn the amount oof stamina we'll need! Except Holland was strictly for the tulips. Keukenhof was absolutely indescribable! Tulips are me favorite flower and I think my eyes and brain just I'd on them!

Hi – we have just returned from our first river cruise, Castles on the Rhine and Danube, with Vantage on the River Discovery II and I have to agree with all previous posters. We did Amsterdam – Budapest with pre and post extensions in each city. Vantage’s optional tour on the Amsterdam extension, covered Aalsmeer, Edam and Zaanse Schans and it was well worth the price and the early wake up just to see the flowers and the process of the auction is amazing. As for Vantage, we were very satisfied with trip as a whole, the ship was lovely and new, all of the staff was very friendly and helpful, the food was good, the hotel accommodations were great, and transfers and baggage handling was excellent. We are in NJ, so Newark is our airport of choice and we had a direct flight to Amsterdam. Coming home was not as easy since there were no direct flights from Budapest, so we needed to change planes in Amsterdam and this required a very early flight from Budapest – we had to have our bags out at 3:15 am and leave the hotel at 3:45 am. I looked into booking on our own but couldn’t find any better flight arrangements, their price was not out of line, and we really didn’t want to deal with the transfers on our own, so we used the Vantage air package and it was easy and well handled. Hope you enjoy your trip!

Barbara: this was our very first Vantage trip and it remained one of my favorites! We became addicted to river cruising and met people we still travel with! We were on the Odyssey which I think has been retired. We did reverse of your trip, starting in Budapest so we gad a late flight home but from tulips and windmills we got the 3 a.m. departure! It does make it easier having Newark or for us JFK as our departure airport. Everybody goes through one or both of them. So:where are you going next?:)

Barbara: this was our very first Vantage trip and it remained one of my favorites! We became addicted to river cruising and met people we still travel with! We were on the Odyssey which I think has been retired. We did reverse of your trip, starting in Budapest so we gad a late flight home but from tulips and windmills we got the 3 a.m. departure! It does make it easier having Newark or for us JFK as our departure airport. Everybody goes through one or both of them. So:where are you going next?:)

Hi - great question - as has been said before 'so many trips, so little time'.

If it were strictly up to me, I'd be signed up for the Christmas Markets later this year, but DH has back problems and doesn't do well in the colder weather. We are thinking about doing our first escorted tour (also known as a bus tour) in Ireland in the spring and Vantage is under consideration. As for the next river cruise, well…..the tulips, Portugal and the wine areas of France all sound wonderful. Do you have any recommendations?:confused:

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the flower auction. Definitely nothing like it. The logistics of it just bogle the mind. As everyone say, the earlier the better. I'll echo Hydrokitty's sentiments regarding Keukenhoff. If you can wait til next April, Keukenhoff is worth it. The tulips are outstanding. We went to the Netherlands this year because of Floriade, which was okay but doesn't compare to K. However, it's only open about 6 weeks a year.

Kim

Hi - great question - as has been said before 'so many trips, so little time'.

 

If it were strictly up to me, I'd be signed up for the Christmas Markets later this year, but DH has back problems and doesn't do well in the colder weather. We are thinking about doing our first escorted tour (also known as a bus tour) in Ireland in the spring and Vantage is under consideration. As for the next river cruise, well…..the tulips, Portugal and the wine areas of France all sound wonderful. Do you have any recommendations?:confused:

With Vantage we've done Egypt and Jordan (amazing, but in all honesty I don't think I'd book it now); Holland and Belgium (not to be missed but if you like tulips and flowers you must wait till April to go) Costa Rica (fantastic in January and if you fly to Florida first you can spend a few days getting used to the warm weather!!) We're leaving next week for Russia and I can't wait. Next will be either Budapest to Black Sea, Norway for the northern lights or China. Guess I better get busy printing more money!!:D