Abbotsford Tulip Festival Bus Tour from Vancouver (Lakeland Flowers)
A Living Canvas in the Fraser Valley
Five million tulip bulbs. Seventy varieties. Thirty-five acres of colour pressed up against the North Cascades. And it's been sitting just over an hour from Vancouver this whole time.
Lakeland Flowers calls itself a vibrant, living canvas, and once you're inside the gates that stops sounding like marketing language. The fields stretch in long, deliberate rows of doubles, fringed varieties, and parrot tulips, the kind with petals that look hand-torn. Five kilometres of tulip-lined pathways wind between them. Baby grand pianos sit out in the open for anyone to play. Painters set up easels mid-field. Giant Dutch klompen (the wooden shoes) appear at the end of pathways like punchlines, alongside vintage bicycles, swings, canoes beached in the blooms, and elevated viewing platforms that let you see the whole patchwork from above.
The whole thing sits on the traditional, unceded territory of the Semá:th and Máthxwi First Nations, with the Cascades rising behind the fields. It is, by any honest measure, Canada's biggest tulip festival, and over 100,000 people came through last year.
A Sweet Stop on the Way Home
After a few hours in the fields, we head fifteen minutes down the road to Birchwood Dairy, a family-run farm that's been milking cows on Sumas Prairie since 1968. They make ice cream on-site with milk from their own herd, 16% butterfat, more than fifty rotating flavours. The country kitchen does soups and sandwiches if you need something more substantial. Wander out back to see the calf barn, the vintage tractors, and the mountain views over the fields. It's a quiet, slow ending to a colour-saturated day.
What's Waiting for You
- Five kilometres of tulip-lined pathways, with seventy varieties blooming in waves. The bloom chart on Lakeland's site updates regularly, so you'll know roughly what's peaking when we arrive.
- The photo ops you've already seen on Instagram, in person. The yellow brick roads, the giant klompen, the swings, the canoes parked in the blooms, the elevated platforms. Bring a real camera if you have one. Your phone will also be fine.
- Live music drifting through the fields. Open-air pianos sit out among the tulips for anyone to sit down and play. Some days there are painters working on new pieces in real time.
- Food trucks on-site every day of the festival, so you don't have to plan lunch. Coffee, snacks, the works.
- A scoop (or three) at Birchwood Dairy on the way home. Espresso, raspberry cheesecake, salted caramel, mint Oreo, fifty more. The take-home tubs are reasonably priced and nobody is judging you for buying one.
- Mountain views in every direction. The Cascades behind the tulips, Sumas Prairie around Birchwood. Fraser Valley in spring is genuinely a different country from downtown Vancouver, and you're an hour away.
- A built-in excuse to wear the rubber boots you bought during the pandemic and have never used. (If it's rained recently, you'll be glad.)
Pickup Locations
Logistics
When is the trip? We're running this day trip on Saturday, April 25 and Saturday, May 2, 2026. Pick the date that works for your calendar (and check the bloom chart on Lakeland's site if you're trying to time peak colour).
Where does the bus depart from in Vancouver? Pickup details are listed on your booking confirmation. We typically depart from central Vancouver in the morning and return in the late afternoon or early evening.
How long is the drive? About 60 to 90 minutes each way, depending on traffic over the Port Mann. You'll be relaxing on a coach with reclining seats, AC, large windows, and an onboard washroom, so it goes by quickly.
Is festival admission included in my ticket? Please check your specific booking details. Lakeland Flowers tickets are sold separately on their website and pricing varies by day of the week. Weekend tickets are $19 in advance or $25 at the gate. We'll confirm in your pre-trip email exactly what's included and what to book yourself.
What kind of bus is it? A full-size coach. Reclining seats, air conditioning, big windows for the Fraser Valley views, onboard washroom, and storage for jackets, camera bags, and the inevitable ice cream tub on the way home.
The Experience
How much time do we spend at the tulip festival? You'll have a generous block of time to wander the fields at your own pace. Most people find a few hours is enough to walk the full 5 km of pathways, hit the photo spots, grab something from a food truck, and not feel rushed.
Is it really that big? Yes. Thirty-five acres, seventy varieties, around five million bulbs. It's the largest tulip festival in Canada and last season pulled over 100,000 visitors.
What if it rains? The festival runs sunrise to sunset rain or shine. Bring layers and waterproof footwear. Honestly, soft overcast light is what photographers prefer anyway.
Will the tulips actually be blooming on my date? The festival is timed to peak bloom and runs roughly April 13 to May 3, weather dependent. Lakeland updates a bloom chart on their website as the season progresses, so you can check before you go. Different varieties bloom at different times, so there's almost always something at peak.
Birchwood Dairy
What's at Birchwood? Family-run dairy farm since 1968. They produce milk from their own herd of about 120 Holsteins and make over 50 flavours of ice cream on-site. There's a country kitchen with soups, sandwiches, and baked goods, a country store, and the cows being milked daily from 3:30 to 5:00 PM in the observation room.
Is the petting zoo open? Heads up: Birchwood's petting zoo is seasonal, typically opening in May. For the April 25 trip it likely won't be open yet, and for May 2 it's borderline. The calf barn, the country store, the ice cream, and the mountain views are open year-round regardless. We'll confirm closer to the date.
How long do we spend at Birchwood? Long enough to order, eat, wander the grounds a bit, and pick up a tub for the road. It's the wind-down portion of the day.
Food and Drink
Is lunch included? No, food is on your own. There are food trucks at Lakeland every day of the festival, and Birchwood does light lunches in their country kitchen. Bring some cash or a card and you'll be sorted.
Can I bring snacks on the bus? Yes. Just please clean up after yourself.
What to Bring
What should I wear? Layers. Spring in the Fraser Valley can swing from warm sun to cool wind in the same hour. Comfortable walking shoes are essential, and rubber boots are a smart call if it's rained in the days before your trip. The fields can get muddy.
What should I pack? Camera or phone with charged battery, water bottle, a light rain jacket, sunscreen (the fields are wide open), cash or card for food and tickets, and a tote bag if you're planning to buy anything from the country store at Birchwood.
Solo Travellers and Accessibility
I'm coming solo. Will I feel weird? Not at all. A good portion of every Parkbus trip is solo travellers, and the ActiveDays Facebook group is a low-pressure way to say hi to a few people before you board. By the time we hit Birchwood, the bus feels like a group.
Is the festival accessible? The pathways at Lakeland are mostly flat farm tracks, but conditions depend on recent weather (mud is the main variable). If you have specific accessibility needs, please get in touch with us before booking and we'll help you figure out if it's a fit.
What about kids?Family-friendly throughout. Both stops are popular with families.
Partnership Context
Who are Lakeland Flowers and Birchwood Dairy? Lakeland Flowers is a working flower farm in Abbotsford run by the Warmerdam family, drawing on Dutch flower-growing tradition. Birchwood Dairy is a 220-acre family-run dairy farm on Sumas Prairie, founded by Len and Grace Krahn in 1968 and now run by their sons. Both are independent operators we're proud to bring travellers out to support.
Whose land is this on? Lakeland Flowers and Birchwood Dairy are both located on the traditional, unceded territory of the Stó:lō Peoples, including the Semá:th and Máthxwi First Nations, who are the original caretakers of this land.
