Flower Market- Amsterdam

My favorite market we visited was the Bloemenmarkt in Amsterdam. Since the middle of the 19^th century, this city of canals has boasted floating flower market. This flower market is the most famous in Holland. I thought this was a weird place for a flower market, but there is actually a reason it is there. In 1862, when it was first established, the plants and flowers sold were brought to Amsterdam on barges via canal from various places. It was easier to organize the market on the water than transport all the plants to land. Today, the fresh flowers are still brought in every day, but now they are delivered by the land rather than on canals. The market stalls still rest on barges in the canal, but they are permanently anchored there.

This market is open all year long, which is great because visitors and locals can take advantage of all the different colorful plants no matter what the season. Of course my favorite were the Dutch tulips, which are obviously a popular item. At Christmas time the barges become covered with evergreens of every shape, size and hues. I would love to go for Christmas and see all the beautiful Christmas trees! Plants are imported from other places and brought to the market, so it is not unusual to find tropical and nonnative plants at these barges. I found a great selection of Dutch souvenirs onboard the barges.

There are 15 stalls and honestly, I know nothing about flowers so they all looked similar to me. The climate is mild in Amsterdam, which makes for a good selection of flowers. I found out that this market is mostly for locals, even though it is a popular tourist destination. The market was extremely busy, especially for October when I went. I heard Christmas time is the most crowded time to go to the flower market. Since the market is mostly local businesses, the prices were much more reasonable than the Bellinzona market and I really wish I had bought some tulip bulbs to plant in my own garden when I came home. Also, since there are many vendors, if one shops price is too high you can go to the next stall. I could have gotten several tulip bulbs for one euro. What was very helpful was the vendors mark the packages of flowers that are allowed into the US. Sometimes if you can’t bring them through security, the shopkeeper could send the bulbs to your home for you.

The weirdest thing I saw in the market was Cannabis Starter kit. They are a few cannabis seeds and soil. They sell between 3 to 6 euros. The low price makes it obvious that this is worthless and there would be no way to get it home, regardless of where you lived. Buying marijuana seeds in Amsterdam is legal, but the buyer risks smuggling them back home and that is not worth the price. Overall, the market was extraordinary and so beautiful! I could have spent all day smelling the beautiful flowers and seeing all the bright colors.