Hotels in Amsterdam

The Tulip Museum in Amsterdam

Along the Prinsengracht canal, Amsterdam has a tulip museum which says everything about the flower right from the history of the flower, how they’re grown, where they come from to their role in the Holland’s economy.

The museum was opened by Colorblends which is one of the largest Holland tulip bulb mail-order operations in the United States. Tim Schipper, Colorblends’ owner, says, “We opened the museum because tourists to Holland expect to see tulips, but they’re in season only a few weeks out of the year.” Tim added that Amsterdam was chosen as a site for the museum, even though the tulip-growing fraternity avoids that city, because “Amsterdam is where all the tourists wind up.”

Funding for the museum is shared by Colorblends and Fluwel, a European bulb supplier. The museum traces the history of the flower back to 1050 when they were first cultivated in Baghdad. The Tulip Museum opened in 2004, the same year that Colorblends moved from Stamford to Bridgeport. Admission is 2 euros, or about $3.

Apart from this Tulip Museum, there are many other lesser-known museums in Amsterdam which cater to such diverse interests as torture, marijuana, diamonds, the sex trade, journalism, bags and purses, player pianos, and coffee and tea.