Garden Shows & Flower Festivals in Europe
Europe's biggest flower shows, festivals and garden fairs for the 2026/2027 season – from Keukenhof to Chelsea. When they take place, what you'll see and when to go.
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🇬🇧United Kingdom
RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London
The world's most prestigious garden show, staged by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since 1913. Show gardens by top designers, the latest plant introductions and, regularly, members of the royal family. Tickets sell out far in advance, and the first two days are reserved for RHS members.
RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival
The world's largest flower show by area, set in the grounds of the Tudor palace. More relaxed than Chelsea – and unlike Chelsea, you can actually buy the exhibited plants on the final day. From 2026 it alternates with a new RHS show at the Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire.
🇳🇱Netherlands
Keukenhof, Lisse
The largest flower park in the world: 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths across 32 hectares. Open only 8 weeks a year. Tickets are bought online for a specific date and time slot (from around €21.50), with presale starting in October. Mid-April is usually the most beautiful time.
Full Keukenhof guide →Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam
The world's only floating flower market – the stalls have stood on houseboats along the Singel canal since 1862. Tulip bulbs, plants and souvenirs; certified bulbs can even be taken outside the EU.
🇩🇪Germany
Mainau Island (Insel Mainau)
The "Flower Island" on Lake Constance – 45 hectares of gardens surrounding a baroque palace. Hundreds of thousands of tulips in spring, roses and dahlias in summer, and a butterfly house all year. Fly to Zurich (about an hour's drive) or Friedrichshafen just across the lake – a perfect long-weekend destination.
Full Mainau Island guide →IGA Metropole Ruhr 2027
The International Garden Exhibition (motto "Zukunft.Blüht" – the future blooms) comes to the Ruhr region for the first time: three main show parks and dozens of satellite projects across the region, with six months of programming. Germany's garden mega-shows (BUGA/IGA) rotate to a different city every two years – the next BUGA takes place in 2029 in the Rhine Valley.
🇫🇷France
International Garden Festival, Chaumont-sur-Loire
A showcase of experimental concept gardens – each year on a different theme (2026: "The Garden Makes a Movie"), open daily 10:00–19:00 throughout the season. Combines perfectly with the Loire Valley châteaux.
Monet's Garden, Giverny
The garden Claude Monet painted his whole life – including the famous water-lily pond and Japanese bridge. Most impressive in May and June, when the wisteria and irises are in bloom.
🇮🇹Italy
Orticola, Milan
An elegant flower and plant market in a historic park in central Milan. Dozens of Italian nurseries sell plants you won't find anywhere else – from heritage roses to Mediterranean herbs.
Euroflora, Genoa
Italy's largest flower show, with a tradition going back to 1966 – held only once every few years, and each edition is a spectacular affair on the border between horticulture and art.
🇪🇸Spain
Patios de Córdoba
For two weeks the residents of Córdoba open their private flower-filled courtyards – patios overflowing with geraniums, jasmine and bougainvillea. The festival has been on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list since 2012, and entry to the patios is free.
Temps de Flors, Girona
Girona's entire historic centre turns into a flower gallery – installations fill churches, staircases, courtyards and places otherwise closed to the public. An hour by train from Barcelona.
🇵🇱Poland
Zieleń to Życie (Green is Life), Warsaw
Poland's largest horticultural trade fair (33rd edition) – over 170 exhibitors, including 130+ nurseries from across Europe with thousands of trees, shrubs, perennials and balcony plants.
🇨🇿Czechia
Flora Olomouc
The largest and oldest flower show in the Czech Republic, running since 1958 – a great stop if you're visiting Moravia. The spring show is the highlight of the season: Pavilion A is transformed into a giant floral exhibition every year. The autumn Hortikomplex showcases fruit, vegetables and nursery stock, with great bargains to be had.
Full Flora Olomouc guide →Zahrada Čech, Litoměřice
A traditional September sales fair that people visit mainly to shop – fruit trees, seed garlic and onion sets, perennials, tools. The ideal place to stock up for autumn planting. A smaller spring market, Tržnice Zahrady Čech, is held in April.
Hobby, České Budějovice
South Bohemia's largest fair for gardeners and DIY enthusiasts. Seedlings, balcony flowers, greenhouses and garden machinery – timed precisely for the main spring planting season.
Permanent gardens worth a detour
Průhonice Park near Prague (250 ha, at its peak in spring when the rhododendrons bloom), the Flower Garden in Kroměříž (a UNESCO-listed baroque garden) and the Fata Morgana tropical greenhouse at the Prague Botanical Garden.
💡 How to plan your trip
- Keukenhof and spring events: buy tickets online well in advance – Keukenhof uses timed entry slots, and the best April dates disappear first.
- When to go for tulips: peak bloom depends on the weather; mid-April is the safest bet. To grow tulips at home, see our tulip profile.
- Shopping at shows: buy plants at the end of your visit, and in September remember to plant garlic and spring bulbs – you'll find the exact dates in our garden calendar.