Helfstedentocht
Instead of skating, go cycling along six historic Frisian cities and villages. You cycle along lakes, cliffs, meadows, on shell-covered paths and historic dikes.
There hasn’t been an official eleven cities skating tour since 1997. It has been many years since it froze long enough or hard enough to organise the ‘mother of all skating tours’. But what does start every year on Whit Monday is the 11-city cycling tour. At 235 kilometres long, it’s also quite a challenge. Especially if you encounter headwinds and a rainstorm. That’s why the Helftstedentocht cycle tour is a nice alternative. It’s about 90 kilometres long and starts in Bolsward.
Locations on this route
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Tourist Information Bolsward
Tourist Information Bolsward
In Bolsward, you will find the Tourist Information at the museum store of Museum de Tiid. Here, a team of enthusiastic locals is ready to provide you with all the information you need!
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Bolsward (Boalsert)
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.
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City Hall of 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.
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11Fountains Bolsward
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.
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Broerekerk (church)
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.
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Tea garden and canoe rental Kootje bij de Brug
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.
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Greonterp Bell Tower
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.
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Aldegeaster Brekken
Aldegeaster Brekken
The water of the Aldegeaster Brekken is located close to the village of Oudega SWF.
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Workum (Warkum)
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.
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Jopie Huisman Museum
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.
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Museum Warkums Erfskip
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.
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11Fountains 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.
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Sint Gertrudis church
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.
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Blazerhaven
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.
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Hindeloopen (Hylpen)
Hindeloopen (Hylpen)
Hindeloopen, or Hylpen as we say in Friesland, is known for its painting and stylish costumes from the past.
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Museum 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.
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Friesian Ice Skating Museum
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.
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11Fountains Hindeloopen
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.
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Stavoren (Starum)
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.
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11Fountains 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.
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The Lady of Stavoren
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.
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Rode Klif (Red Cliff) at Lake IJsselmeer
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.
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Scharl Bell Tower
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.
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IJlst (Drylts)
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.
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Nooitgedagt chimney
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.
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Waterside Gardens
Waterside Gardens
Unique and characteristic to IJlst are the waterside gardens on each side of the Ee.
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11Fountains Ijlst
11Fountains Ijlst
Culture, like nature, consists of layer upon layer. New generations continue to build on a foundation which does not disappear.
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Museum en Werkplaats Houtstad IJlst
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.
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Houtzaagmolen de Rat
Houtzaagmolen de Rat
Visit wind powered sawmill ‘De Rat’ and step back in time three hundred years!
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Terpensmole IJlst
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.
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Sneek (Snits)
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.
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The National Model Railway Museum
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.
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Water Gate 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.
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11Fountains Sneek
11Fountains Sneek
A man with a Horn of Plenty stands on a golden ball in the middle of the water.
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Frisian Maritime Museum
Frisian Maritime Museum
The Frisian Maritime Museum focuses on the history of Frisian shipping.
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City Hall of Sneek
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.
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De Friese Bierbrouwerij Us Heit
De Friese Bierbrouwerij Us Heit
The Frisian Brewery is giving a guided tour and some special tastings, which only can be done on appointment.
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Tourist Information Bolsward
Tourist Information Bolsward
In Bolsward, you will find the Tourist Information at the museum store of Museum de Tiid. Here, a team of enthusiastic locals is ready to provide you with all the information you need!
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