Things to do in Friesland

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Why it's so different from other provinces

Friesland has 11 historic towns, more than 200 lakes, its own language, its own culture and the calm to let it all exist at its own pace. It's a province that is never in a hurry, and where you don't need to be either.

Whether you have a weekend or a full week, whether you're going with kids or with friends, whether you're after culture, nature or simply some peace and quiet: Friesland has it. On this page you'll find the best tips for a day, a weekend or a holiday in Friesland, including how to get the most out of it.

A weekend in Friesland: the towns, the lakes and the water

Friesland has eleven historic towns, and no two are alike. Leeuwarden surprises you with the Fries Museum, the world's largest ceramics museum at the Princessehof and the leaning Oldehove tower. Sneek has the iconic Waterpoort and lively marina terraces. Sloten, the smallest of the eleven, has canals so narrow you can cross them in three steps. Franeker is home to the oldest working planetarium in the world, built in the eighteenth century by an ordinary wool comber. Each of these towns is at its most beautiful when you arrive from the water.

Because the real discovery of a weekend in Friesland isn't a town, but everything in between. The lakes in Friesland are linked by canals and waterways that together form a network you'll never truly experience from a car. On the water you see Friesland from a different side: the backs of the little towns, the reed beds where herons stand still as if time doesn't exist, the Marrekrite spots in the middle of nature where you moor up and don't meet a soul. A long weekend of boating in Friesland is doable, special and, for many, the start of a yearly habit.

Friesland for a week: that's when it really begins!

For many people, a week in Friesland is a turning point. You see enough to understand how the province fits together, you relax enough to truly get away from it all, and you always discover something that makes you think as you leave: I wish I'd seen that.

A week on the water is the best way to do it. The Elfstedenroute, which takes in all eleven historic Frisian towns, can be sailed comfortably in a week. You see more of Friesland than the average tourist sees in five visits, you spend the night in the loveliest spots and you have a new town to moor up in every day. You'll find all the boating routes, the lakes and practical information for a week on the water on our Friesland boating routes page.

Friesland is big enough to keep surprising you

Anyone who visits Friesland once comes back. Friesland has its busy spots too, but also varied nature, with its narrow little bridges and wide-open meadows. People come back, though, because it offers something that is getting harder and harder to find: space. Physical space, on the water and in the sky. And mental space, once you realise that the province is in no hurry and that you don't need to be either.

At Familieboten, we're happy to help you find that experience. We know the boat owners personally, we know the routes and we know which boat suits which group. Give us a call, take a look at our boats and find out why Friesland is the province you underestimate, until you get there.

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