Friesland: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Friesland combines the vast expanse of the Wadden Sea with tranquil waterscapes, historic cities and unusually diverse natural areas. The Wadden Sea is particularly impressive as the world’s largest continuous system of sand and mudflats that fall dry at low tide. It includes tidal channels, seagrass meadows, mussel beds, sandbanks, mudflats, salt marshes, beaches and dunes. Every year, it serves as a breeding and wintering area for 10 to 12 million birds.

Nature

The diversity of Friesland’s landscapes is also evident inland. Nationaal Park De Alde Feanen is a natural area in Fryslân with bodies of water, reed beds, swamp forests and open peatland. There are walking, cycling, canoeing and stand-up paddleboarding routes there. The De Alde Feanen information point offers various walking, cycling and water routes, as well as magazines and brochures with information and suggestions.

Friesland has four national parks, two national landscapes and the only two Dark Sky Parks in the Netherlands. The four national parks showcase a varied landscape with peatland areas, forests, a Wadden Sea island and a lake that was once part of the sea. This means that different types of landscape exist side by side, without the region being defined by a single nature theme.

Schiermonnikoog

Almost the entire island of Schiermonnikoog has been a national park since 1989. Its diverse habitats include mudflats, beach, salt marshes, dunes and forest. The national park can be explored by bicycle or on foot; visitors can discover mudflats, the North Sea beach, salt marshes, dunes and forest.

Schiermonnikoog can be reached from Lauwersoog by ferry or fast boat. Cars cannot be taken to Schiermonnikoog; after the ferry arrives, a connecting bus travels to the village.

Culture and History

Franeker is home to the Eise Eisinga Planetarium, the oldest continuously operating planetarium in the world. It is open to the public and serves as an astronomy education centre. The visitor centre of the Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal offers another perspective on the history of technology, with an interactive exhibition and guided tours of the engine hall and the adjacent boiler house. In the visitor area, there are around two nature trails for walks around the pumping station.

The Fries Museum houses more than 200,000 objects, making it the largest provincial collection in the Netherlands. Its collection reflects the society and history of Friesland from prehistoric times to the present day. The eleven Frisian cities also span a period of history: they were granted city rights between the 11th and 15th centuries. Together, they form the historic circuit of the Elfstedentocht. In the eleven Frisian cities, visitors can experience monumental buildings, museums, canals, church towers and atmospheric streets.

Waterways and Landscape Trails

The Elfsteden Water Route is 231 kilometres long and can be travelled by private boat or a rented sloop. The Elfstedenpad also connects the Frisian landscape: it is a 283-kilometre hiking trail divided into 16 stages. It passes through an environment of lakes, cliffs, dykes, polders, forests and hedgerows.

The various routes reveal different sides of the region: bodies of water and banks, open landscapes, wooded areas and historically shaped cities. In addition to the major routes, Nationaal Park De Alde Feanen and the island of Schiermonnikoog are specific natural areas, each with its own landscape features.

Other destinations in Friesland:Terschelling, Gaasterlân-Sleat, Skarsterlân, Weststellingwerf, Ooststellingwerf, Ferwerderadiel, Franekeradeel, Achtkarspelen, Boarnsterhim, Dantumadiel, Dongeradeel, Harlingen, Heerenveen, Het Bildt, Kollumerland En Nieuwkruisland, Leeuwarden, Leeuwarderadeel, Lemsterland, Littenseradiel, Menaldumadeel, Opsterland, Schiermonnikoog, Smallingerland, Tytsjerksteradiel, Vlieland, Súdwest Fryslân, Wûnseradiel, Nijefurd, De Friese Meren, Wymbritseradiel, Menameradiel.

For the overarching travel overview: Netherlands.