Culture

Turning up to tiptoe through the Tulips in the middle of a torrential downpour wasn’t exactly on the wishlist this weekend but as luck would have it – the wind and rain dies down just as we pull into Hatton Country World in Warwickshire.

The carpark is thoughtfully carpeted with full scale event flooring, meaning no matter how much water comes, we’ll still be able to get the cars out when we leave. Checking in is an absolute breeze as well, with scannable QR code tickets on our phones and a really cute tulip hand-stamp if you want to leave at any point.

Heading out into an absolutely adorable little courtyard area, we are immediately greeted by tulip displays everywhere, just as the sun is trying to break through the clouds. I wasn’t expecting so much infrastructure, I hadn’t pictured much beyond fields of tulips, but actually the set up is really cleverly designed for a complete day out.

For the social media inclined, there is no shortage of incredible places to take a photo – it’s clear that Tulley’s have really thought about what people will want here. From tulip laden trucks, to giant clogs, and layered height tulip boxes to peek through, there is no way you’re coming out of this without a new profile picture.

As it’s early afternoon we decide to get ourselves some food first, and there is a very decent selection of food trucks tucked into the corner of the courtyard with things like Pizza and Greek gyros up for grabs. We however, beeline for the Frik’n Deli Dutch Snacks van to grab some in-theme delicacies. Having been to Amsterdam a couple of years ago we knew we loved Bitterballen, so we tried some of the regular beef ragout ones and the cheese ones, alongside some Patat (fancy chips) covered in mayo and curry ketchup. The honest review is – as good as the Amsterdam ones and a perfect sharing trio.

No Dutch snack service can possibly be complete without a tray or two of Poffertjes, and the list of toppings here is frankly chaotic but brilliant. I went with a mix of Nutella and Dutch syrup (which tasted like liquified Stroopwaffel) and nearly made myself sick, in a good way.

We then head out into the tulip fields themselves, and all I can say is WOW. The fields are absolutely vast and stunningly vibrant. Rows upon rows of dancing tulips of every imaginable type. I feel quite dumb on the tulip front, but I truly didn’t know how many different shapes existed. Some were that traditional Miffy style tulip shape, but others were spikey and almost gothic, some were huge fluffy bursting clouds of colour, and then there were those with incredible toothed edges. Our whole visit was soundtracked with calls of “OOH come and look at this one!” and it was quite funny to hear everyone else there doing exactly the same thing.

There were a couple of musicians rocking about the fields playing a very amusing mix of songs on a portable drum kit and guitar, I particularly loved their renditions of Sweet Dreams and Backstreet’s Back. Another great thing to note about the fields, is the thoughtfulness of putting benches all around the edges for people to rest at on their way around. There were a few people attending that day with limited mobility, who were still able to enjoy time in the tulips as they could take a break.

I also really loved how many people had expressly come with the intention of getting photos amongst the tulips, there were a lot of families, women in beautiful dresses (despite the cold day), kids posing, and more than one puppy photoshoot in progress.

We were quite lucky with the weather in the end, the skies let up for a little sunshine while we were in the fields before another massive downpour later on, but I do want to note that since you book your day and time-slots in advance, there’s no telling what the April weather will do for you! The tulip fields do run into May, and they have different rows planted to come up on a rotation whereby there should always be heaps flowering whenever you come within the window.

After we had feasted our eyes on all the stunning tulips, we headed back up the field to the courtyard again, and into the little hut area which turned out to be a full on coffee shop with wooden booths inside. They serve a cracking hot chocolate, and really good brownies – especially useful if you need to warm up. Another thing to note is that there are lots of undercover spaces with tables/seating available around the courtyard – one family seemed to be throwing a whole Birthday party with cake in one of them, what a lovely idea!

The bathroom facilities were also decent – proper toilet blocks, and a number of separate disabled portaloos at ground level as well, we never had to queue for any of them despite it being fairly busy that day. There were also very knowledgeable staff all over site, checking in with people, chatty and super helpful. After taking a million photos of each other with every possible tulip, we clock the threatening skies and skip into the covered exit shop just before the monsoon began.

The shop is another thing I was surprised by, I expected tulip sales of course (but again, the available variety blew my mind) but there was a huge array of products, from ‘Tulip Fields’ candles which smelled amazing, to clothing, plushies and wooden carved tulips. You could even get yourself a ‘coffee and stroopwafels’ hoodie, which very nearly got me. We did come away with some gorgeous tulips to plant at home – which we learnt were actual ones leftover from this display, and will flower for the next four years.

Tulley’s Tulip Farm far surpassed my expectations, I think it’s a really well designed and unique day out – for all ages! There are still tickets going on the website, and Warwickshire is one of three sites in the UK that you can go to, it’s a strong recommend from me. There’s something very wholesome about giving your eyes something beautiful to look at now and then, to remind yourself that after a longgg winter – warmer days are on the way.

https://tulipgarden.co.uk