Published February 2016/Last updated August 17, 2022—The only thing better than seeing sunny, yellow daffodil flowers in early spring is seeing masses of hundreds or even thousands of their gorgeous, golden blossoms. We’ve gathered some of the best daffodil gardens around the globe to see these springtime heralds in all their glory.
London, England
William Wordsworth’s endearing poem “Daffodils” may have sent narcissus lovers scurrying to the English Lake District, but there are other equally rewarding areas in the UK. In London, they peer out of tiny pocket parks and dance in ancient graveyards as well as blanket grand royal parks and historic gardens such as Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, St. James’s Park (pictured), the Green Park, Osterley Park, and Lesnes Abbey Woods. If you’re left wanting more, less than 30 miles southwest of London is the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden Wisley, which offers regimented beds where new varieties are vetted for impact, grace, charm, and weather sturdiness before they come on the market. Photo ©picturesbyrob/Alamy
Lisse, Netherlands
In the Netherlands, Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest garden parks, offers a nonpareil narcissus show that attracts over a million visitors each year, from late March to early May. And don’t forget about the nearby bulb capital, Amsterdam, which rewards visitors with colorful blooms everywhere, including along canals and dikes. Photo ©imageBROKER/Alamy Stock Photo
Versailles, France
Across the Channel, daffodils wow visitors in France’s famed parterre gardens at Versailles. The South Parterre, known as the Flower Parterre, features the perky blooms among espaliered hedges and manicured trees. Photo by Arden Ward Upton
Seosan, South Korea
The daffodil covered mountain at Yugibang Gaok is a popular springtime tourist attraction two hours south of Seoul. Covered with windswept pines and a carpet of daffodils, the hillside behind a century-old, historic Japanese colonial home has several paths to explore. Learn more about visiting the area from Hallie at The Soul of Seoul. Photo by Stock for You/Shutterstock
Ball Ground, Georgia
Make no mistake about it—daffodil displays abound on our side of the Pond, too. Gibbs Gardens, less than an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia, stages the country’s largest daffodil extravaganza with 20 million flowers on 220 acres. Photo by Rick Cannon, Courtesy of Gibbs Gardens
St. Louis, Missouri
The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis features the 2,400-acre private Shaw Nature Reserve that showcases millions of blooms in a woodland setting. The garden was also the site for the prestigious 2016 World Daffodil Convention, run by the American Daffodil Society, the go-to organization in the U.S. Photo by Heather Marie Osborn, Courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Skagit Valley, Washington
Washington’s Skagit Valley may be more famous for its tulips and Tulip Festival, but the daffodil fields put on a show first. Many farms actually grow more daffodils than tulips. And the area is home to the annual La Conner Daffodil Festival each March. Photo by Edmund Lowe Photography/Shutterstock
Roland, Arkansas
While they peak in March, the 400,000+ daffodils on Daffodil Hill at P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm can bloom from January into the first week of May. Plan your visit to Moss Mountain Farm. Photo by Mark Fonville.
Woodside, California
Each year in Feburary and March, the gardens at Filoli feature 37 daffodil cultivars included in the American Daffodil Society’s list of historic daffodils. See more from our spring 2022 feature on Filoli. Photo courtesy of Filoli Historic House & Garden
Nantucket and Boylston, Massachusetts
On the New England island of Nantucket, the annual Daffodil Festival in late April celebrates the flower in nearly every way imaginable, including with a flower show, picnic, daffodil-decorated antique-car parade, markets, and contests. A few hours north, Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, features a spectacular swath of more than 25,000 daffodils. Photo by Paula Guttilla
By Marion Laffey Fox and Jason Burnett