Travel Bag: Garden tours dazzle the eye

We all look forward to a resurgence of beautiful blooms — particularly those who live in colder climates — and there’s no shortage of garden tours to help you get your fix.

If you want to make a vacation out of it and take a trip, Amsterdam hosts a tour in one of the largest flower gardens in the world, Keukenhof. Also referred to as “Garden of Europe,” Keukenhof is open March 21-May 19 this year.

More than 7 million bulbs will bloom this spring, according to the Keukenhof website, with a total of 800 varieties of tulips. A visit includes flower shows, inspirational gardens, art, a treasure hunt, petting farm, maze, and playground. There’s even free wifi at the pavilions around the park, and dogs are allowed as long as they are leashed.

If a trip to Holland isn’t doable, there are tons of local and regional garden tours, including:

Festival of Houses and Gardens, March 13-April 18 in Charleston, SC; various tours are available during those dates.

The White House Garden Tour, held in the spring and the fall. Dates are announced two weeks ahead of time, but are typically in mid to late April and late October.

Monticello, the plantation home in Charlottesville, Virginia designed by Thomas Jefferson.

Newport, Rhode Island boasts a number of gardens among its famed mansions, making for a fun house-and-garden tour.

And there are hundreds more, from those that require ticket purchases in advance to those one town over from you.