Helfstedentocht

Bolsward (Boalsert)

Bolsward, or Boalsert as we say in Friesland, is the city where history and architecture play a leading role. Let yourself be carried away by the rich history of this eleven cities city.

Visit Bolsward

City Hall of Bolsward

The City Hall of Bolsward is one of the most beautiful gems of Friesland, although it's currently surrounded by scaffolding for renovation purposes. The richly decorated City Hall was built in the 1614-1617 period and designed by Jacob Gysbert.

11Fountains Bolsward

Bats are intriguing, useful animals, crucial to the ecological system for their insect hunting. In Asian culture, the bat symbolises wealth, happiness and the blessings of old age.

Broerekerk (church)

The Broerekerk was built in the 13th century as a monastery church of the Friars Minor. The monastery was abandoned and demolished in 1580. The three-aisled church without a tower is a ruin as a result of a fire that took place on 8 May 1980.

Tea garden and canoe rental Kootje bij de Brug

Canoe Rental Friesland Kootje bij de Brug is a Canoe and Rowboat rental company with a tea garden by the water. It is one of the most charming canoe businesses with a tea garden in Friesland.

St. Vituskerk

Greonterp Bell Tower

The Greonterp bell tower was built in 1822. It consists of a square stone substructure, a pyramidal wooden superstructure, a bell chamber with baffled openings and a spire. There are similar bell towers in Hinnaard and Hartwerd.

Aldegeaster Brekken

The water of the Aldegeaster Brekken is located close to the village of Oudega SWF.

Workum (Warkum)

Workum (or Warkum as we say in Friesland), is one of the famous Frisian cities that has enjoyed city rights since 1399. Located on the shores of the former Zuiderzee and bordering the Frisian lakes.

Visit Workum

Jopie Huisman Museum

The Jopie Huisman Museum is dedicated to the life and work of the Frisian self-taught master painter Jopie Huisman. His love of nature and his compassion are a recurrent theme.

Museum Warkums Erfskip

Museum Warkums Erfskip is housed in the old Waag building in the center and tells more about the history of Workum and its surroundings. It is the starting point to discover and admire the highlights of the beautiful city of Workum.

11Fountains Workum

For centuries Workum’s city arms on ‘De Waag’ have been supported by two lions. They are naive and their theatrical pose prompts laughter.

Sint Gertrudis church

On ‘De Merk’, you'll find ’Workum Cathedral’, Sint Gertrudis church. This is the largest late-Gothic cruciform church of Friesland, with the largest windows in all the province.

Blazerhaven

Alongside the sea lock in Workum, is on the one side the De Hoop shipyard and on the other, the Blazerhaven. The latter was dug in 2008, and forms a historic maritime complex together with De Hoop, around the old Zuiderzee locks in Workum.

Hindeloopen (Hylpen)

Hindeloopen, or Hylpen as we say in Friesland, is known for its painting and stylish costumes from the past.

Visit Hindeloopen

Museum Hindeloopen

Three centuries ago, Hindeloopen grew into a major trading city. The city had a large fleet of 100 ships that sailed across the ocean. Hindeloopen is still an attractive city to visit. Many old characteristic properties are preserved.

Friesian Ice Skating Museum

This museum is a must for all ice skating fans. You will find the world’s largest collection of ice skates here, and a complete history of the Elfstedentocht in a specially designed Elfsteden-room.

11Fountains Hindeloopen

The city coat of arms, with its tree of life, with the deer and the doe surrounding it, is the source of inspiration for the fountain in Hindeloopen.

Stavoren (Starum)

Stavoren (or Starum as we say in Friesland) is very much the main city of the IJsselmeer, being enclosed by the lake on three sides. It is also the oldest city of Friesland, founded around 300 BC at a waterway, and gaining city rights in the 11th century.

Visit Stavoren

11Fountains Stavoren

The sea gives, the sea takes. Stavoren, once a rich Hanseatic city, has much to say on this subject. Floods, maritime trade wars, a port that silted up: the city fell into poverty several times.

The Lady of Stavoren

From the 15th century on, the flourishing Hanseatic city of Stavoren began to fall upon bad times. It is this period in history that is related in the saga of the Lady of Stavoren. In the saga, all aspects of Stavoren as a trading city are covered.

Rode Klif (Red Cliff) at Lake IJsselmeer

At the edge of Lake IJsselmeer there is a red cliff that is 10 metres high. It was formed during the last ice age but one when the land was pushed up by glaciers that advanced from Scandinavia. The forces exerted by the ice created hills in the landscape.

Scharl Bell Tower

The circular graveyard in the little village of Scharl sits on a natural mound. The wooden bell tower in the graveyard was built in 1898. Beneath its four-sided metal dome roof there is a single bell.

IJlst (Drylts)

IJlst (or Drylts in Frisian) is not only one of the famous 11 cities, but also a 'wood city'. For many years, tree trunks were processed here by the legendary wood trading companies Oppedijk and S.O. de Vries.

Visit IJlst

Nooitgedagt chimney

The silhouette of IJlst would not be the same without the old factory chimney, on which the letters of the Nooitgedagt name can be read from top to bottom.

Waterside Gardens

Unique and characteristic to IJlst are the waterside gardens on each side of the Ee.

11Fountains Ijlst

Culture, like nature, consists of layer upon layer. New generations continue to build on a foundation which does not disappear.

Museum en Werkplaats Houtstad IJlst

Experience the history of IJlst during an active visit to: Museum and workshop Houtstad IJlst. IJlst has been connected with wood for many centuries.

Houtzaagmolen de Rat

Visit wind powered sawmill ‘De Rat’ and step back in time three hundred years!

Terpensmole IJlst

The Terpensmole hasn't always been located near IJlst, and it hasn't always been named that way. The origin of the mill is in Grou, then Sneek, and it eventually ended up in IJlst.

Sneek (Snits)

Sneek, or Snits as we say in Friesland, is the water sports city of the Netherlands. But Sneek is more than water sports and the Sneekweek. The city is bustling with events, culture, unique hotspots, and nice shops.

Visit Sneek

The National Model Railway Museum

Discover the past and present of the track company at home and abroad. Plus, fine examples model construction, playgrounds for children and a lot more. Enjoy Europe's largest collection of model trains in bustling Sneek.

Water Gate Sneek

The Water Gate in Sneek is perhaps the city’s most recognisable landmark. This stone structure is characterised by its two octagonal towers.

11Fountains Sneek

A man with a Horn of Plenty stands on a golden ball in the middle of the water.

Frisian Maritime Museum

The Frisian Maritime Museum focuses on the history of Frisian shipping.

City Hall of Sneek

The City Hall of Sneek was built around 1478. The building was actually constructed on the foundations of two Frisians strongholds: a Medieval, defensible, residential tower. The City Hall was subsequently extended and altered many times.

De Friese Bierbrouwerij Us Heit

The Frisian Brewery is giving a guided tour and some special tastings, which only can be done on appointment.