Around April each year, you’ve got a few precious weeks to enjoy the explosion of colour and flowers at their freshest. Here are six of the best places in the Northern Hemisphere to run among the blooms during the sweet spot of spring.
Sure, seeing tulips in Holland might be a well-trodden path, but who cares when you’re surrounded by candy-striped fields stretching as far as the eye can see? Tulip season officially runs from March to May, but mid-April is when the neat rows of bulbs – accented by gently rotating windmills – are at their picture-perfect best. Hire a car and drive to Noordoostpolder, the country’s largest growing area, where the 100 km-long “flower-bulb route” unspools through 1,000ha of impossibly bright blooms.
Like a scene out of a fairy tale, woodland floors throughout the UK are magically transformed into cerulean seas between late April to early May as bluebells burst into bloom. Home to half the world’s population, Britain is the best place to witness the spring cacophony of bluebells, which grow wild only in small pockets of western Europe. Found in so-called ancient woodland, the delicate blue flowers are best seen by escaping urban areas. For those who can’t leave London, though, the renowned Kew Gardens maintain a bluebell wood near Queen Charlotte’s Cottage.
A trip down any highway in central Texas between March to April reveals a stunning sight: thousands of wildflowers crammed into every available patch of soil, from grazing pastures to vacant lots. Queen among the crop is the bluebonnet – the state flower that elicits near fanatical zeal from locals. Rent a car in Austin and drive to the surrounding Hill Country to see oceans of indigo – as well as fervent Texans climbing over fences and traipsing through fields for their annual spring photo among the bluebonnets.
While California’s state flower can be found sprinkled across parks and highways in spring, it’s in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve that the golden blooms conspire to create an ocean of orange. Located about a one-and-a-half-hour drive out of Los Angeles, the park boasts 13km of trails that wind through gently rolling hills blanketed by wild poppies. A half-hour drive east from the reserve, in the town of Lancaster, the much-loved flower is celebrated each April with a two-day festival of games, markets and music.
Visit the island of Jeju in spring and you’ll see pastures gilded with bright yellow flowers rolling out to meet the sapphire blue of the East China Sea. Korea’s largest island is a prime farming area for canola, and pockets of the plant’s vivid blooms can be found nestled among majestic cliffs and coastlines. For the ultimate in postcard-worthy scenes, though, venture east to Seongsanpo where a UNESCO World Heritage-listed volcanic crater combines with azure water and golden fields to create truly jaw-dropping views.
When it comes to floral festivities, there’s nothing quite like the Japanese spring party known as hanami. During April, parks, gardens and streets are transformed into a riot of pink courtesy of the cherry blossom tree. Make the most of this much-anticipated event and do as the locals do: pack a picnic, head to the nearest park and let your hair down with literally thousands of revellers beneath a canopy of blossoms that has to be seen to be believed.
This story first appeared on silverkris.com
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