The 200 km long Elfstedentocht, organised by the De Friesche Elfsteden association, has existed for over 100 years. The first organised skating race was organised on 2 January 1909, and the last one on 4 January 1997. Back then, almost 17,000 people completed the 200...

The capital of Friesland Leeuwarden, in Frisian ‘Ljouwert’, European Capital of Culture in 2018, is since 1524 the capital of Friesland. The city has more than 500 monuments worthy of seeing and has always had distinguished and relative wealthy residents. The rich and...

Sneek: Small Amsterdam Just like Amsterdam, Sneek is both transected and surrounded by canals. Indeed Sneek has many similarities with the capital of the Netherlands, although of course this comparison flounders because Sneek is many times smaller, plus it is...

The wood city of Friesland Until deep into the 20th century nearly everything in IJlst was centered upon wood. Wooden skates (houtjes), planes and chisels with wooden handles and wooden toys fabricated by Nooitgedagt (1865-1975). And, of course, wooden ships. This...

A real gem The fortress settlement of Sloten, which is also referred to as the ideal renaissance town due to its regular shape, was an independent municipality with its own council until 1984. It now belongs to the municipality De Fryske Marren. Sloten was founded in...

Hanzestad full of wonderful stories In 1061 Stavoren was officially granted town privileges. For centuries it had been an important trading town. The little woman of Stavoren [Vrouwtje van Stavoren] is a legend about a wealthy merchant’s widow who is held responsible...

Small city and port, water sports centre with international appeal The well-preserved history and the houses of the commodores of Hindeloopen captains who plied their trade by sailing to Scandinavia, the Baltic States and the United Kingdom, the lock keeper’s house...

The liveliest and largest museum of Friesland The port, trade and craft city of  Workum is one of the youngest Friese Elfsteden [Frisian city ice skating route] cities, but given the many historic buildings in the elongated city centre, one would thing it is the...

Hanzestad Until 1100, Bolsward had an open link with the Middelzee, which eventually silted up and was then surrounded by dykes built by monks. A link with the Zuiderzee (today the IJsselmeer) also existed until 1200. The town developed into an important transshipment...

A pleasant surprise on the scores of the Wadden Sea “This town is always in motion,” explains Albert Hendriks, managing director of Friesland Holland Tourist Information & Travel Service. “Things happen here. There is always something to do, even on Sundays.” That...

Former university town Visit a real castle, meet clever Frisians and admire top-notch modern art in a historical setting? Then the center of former university town Franeker is the place to be; it’s the only Frisian town with a sturdy castle: Martenastins, which houses...

Pilgrimage site Dokkum is often jokingly referred to as ‘moordstad’; in Dutch this means both murder city and a city to die for. The latter because Dokkum is a friendly fortified town with many distinctive shops, restaurants, hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and terraces on...