I'm into gardens, gardening, gardenias, garden Salads... any variation on the word really.

So when looking around in North Holland for where there are some little known but interesting gardens one might visit for a day trip from Amsterdam, at the top of my list came Haarlemse Hofjes.

Top of my list came Haarlemse Hofjes: Located throughout the center of town, these little courtyards and hidden gardens were founded by wealthy citizens, some long ago, others more recently. The oldest of all is the Bakkenesserkamer.

Haarlemshuffle.com includes a fine list of these gardens which I highly recommend you look over and make an itinerary to see a bunch of them. They're lovely, near each other, and free to visit!