1. Aalsmeer, Netherlands
The world’s largest flower auction, selling 20 million flowers per day, is mere minutes from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Guests can get guided tours around the auction halls and historic gardens.
2. Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Originally a wholesale market for the city’s florists, this street, which has been renamed Flower Market Road, is a top tourist attraction and a great place to pick up affordable orchid hybrids. Over 50 plant stores provide plenty to look at.
3. London, UK
Every Sunday Columbia Road – a street built in the 1860s, now lined with independent shops – is taken over by a flower market selling everything from herbs and shrubs to home-grown British bedding plants and giant amaryllis.
4. Malik Ghat, India
This 125-year-old wholesale flower market welcomes 200 traders every day. Among the bustle, visitors can pick up decorative strings of marigolds, carnations and hibiscus heads, as well as fragile bracelets made from tiny, fragrant buds.
5. Cuenca, Ecuador
High in the Andes, this pretty little town has gained recent popularity thanks to the traditional flower market in its historic cathedral square. All of the plants are locally grown, including a great selection from the mountain rose farms.
