Eleven Cities Tour

Netherlands Bike + Boat Tour

Friesland’s famous 11-cities tour…

The beautiful countryside, peaceful nature and of course, the “Race of Races” (the Eleven City Tour) have made Friesland very well-known. The Eleven City Tour owes its name to two men who decided in the winter of 1808 to skate past eleven towns in one day, a total of 230 kilometers (144 miles). To prove they had done it, they obtained the signatures of the owners of cafés or hotels in every town. The first official Eleven City Tour was held in 1909. Not only is Friesland popular with ice skaters, it is also popular among cyclists as well. 

This tour leads you through these famous eleven towns with the beautiful green countryside in between, where farming usually determines the horizon. Other important parts of the scenery consist of the numerous little bridges that 'leap' the ditches and the sailing boats that cross the vast lakes like white swans. Apart from the natural beauty that abounds, there is also the culture to be experienced. The picturesque villages, historic towns, and the traditional Frisian costumes complete the image of the greenest province of the Netherlands.

Where You’ll Stay

On the Standard Plus class ships.

What’s Included

• 7 nights on board ship
• Breakfast buffets, packed lunches & 3-course dinners
• Coffee & tea on board
• Tour guide
• 24-speed hybrid bicycle
• Route information, road book
• Ferry fares en route

What’s Not Included

• Museum entrance fees (approx. €15 per tour)
• Beverages (incl. alcohol), available on board
• Train to Stavoren, €30

Tour Dates

• Saturdays on July 14 & 28, 2012.

Skill Level

Easy, guided tour with average daily distances between 16 to 34 miles on flat terrain and good asphalt roads and bike paths.

Tour Boats

• Anna Antal
• Liza Marleen

Day-To-Day Itinerary

1. In Stavoren, board at 4 PM. Bike to Makkum, 18 mi (30 km)
2. Makkum - Franeker, 28 mi (45 km)
3. Franeker - Leeuwarden, 31 mi (50 km)
4. Leeuwarden - Dokkum - Leeuwarden, 31 mi (50 km)
5. Leeuwarden - Sneek, 27 mi (42 km)
6. Sneek - Sloten, 16 mi (26 km)
7. Sloten - Stavoren, 22 mi (35 km)
8. Stavoren, disembark by 10 AM.

*All distances are approximate. The above planned itinerary is subject to change due to changing wind and weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances having to do with mooring requirements, etc.

SATURDAY: Arrival in Stavoren. Embark at 4 PM; bike ride to Makkum 18 mi.
Once you arrive on board the boat, you may put your luggage away in your cabin and then enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. It is also a good moment to become acquainted with the tour guide, skipper, crew, and of course your fellow passengers. The bicycles are distributed so you may test them out. After dinner, you begin riding, passing through Hindeloopen. In earlier times, Hindeloopen did not have its own harbor, but only an anchorage. The fleet was in Amsterdam while the captains spent the winter in their commodore's residences in Hindeloopen. In the small streets some sea captains' houses remind us of this time of glory. You can see an anchor hanging on the facades of these houses, in those years a sign, that the captain could still accept freight. In summertime when the captain was at sea, the captain's wife lived with the children in the so called “Likhus”, little house behind the captain's house at the waterline.
You continue riding through the meadows to Workum, a town that flourished around 1300 when other towns lost their connection to the open sea. At that time, it was mainly the large fleet that determined the herring trade in London. This wealth enabled the construction of the St. Gertrudiskerk, but the church was never completed due to the collapse of the trade industry. That is why the tower and the church are separate buildings. Your destination is Makkum where you will embark once again, already having cycled through three towns of the 11 city tour.

SUNDAY: Makkum - Franeker, 28 mi./45 km
You cycle along the barge canal to Bolsward, a country town famous for trading butter and cheese. Bolsward also has an important religious center. The different monasteries on the edge of town are a testament to this and the atmosphere of provincial respectability is visible in the modest Martinikerk (church), the elegant town hall, and the austere houses lining the canals.
You ride further through the old polders to Kimswerd with its statue of Grutte Pier, the resistance fighter who opposed the Saxons and the Burgundians. He used a password to distinguish friend and foe: “buter, brea en griene tsiis, hwa’ t dat net sizze ken is gjin oprjochte Fries” (“Butter, bread and green cheese, if you can’t say that you’re not a real Frisian”).
Now you arrive in Harlingen, a fishing village that developed strongly in the sixteenth century because Friesland directed its economy more towards Holland. The beautifully restored storehouses have names like Polen (Poland), Sumatra and Java, reminders of the trade with far-away places. For three centuries, the town was the most important harbor in northern Netherlands, but was finally eclipsed by harbors in western Netherlands and Delfzijl. You ride through the harbor area to reach Franeker, an old university town with a lovely town hall. Another attraction worth visiting is the Eisinga Planetarium, where planets have been revolving in their fixed orbits on the ceiling since the eighteenth century.

MONDAY: Franeker - Leeuwarden, 34 mi.
From Franeker you ride into the western arable corner, with the predominance of agriculture and horticulture. On the loam ground of the reclaimed land, mainly seed-potatoes are grown.
At the start of the Christian era, houses and even entire villages were built on top of artificial hills, to protect them against all the wateer and flooding. These hills were called terps or artificial mounds. In later centuries the ground from the terps was used again to fertilize the land. Only the ground around the church was spared. This is clearly visible in Boer, Westernijkerk, Ferwerd and Hogebeintum, which lie on the highest terp in Friesland, further along the route.
In St. Annaparochie there is a statue of Rembrandt van Rijn with his young wife Saskia van Uylenburgh. They married here in the old village church.
Now you enter Het Bildt, a polder area laid out according to the principles of the Renaissance in the 17th century: straight ditches, straight roads, and straight dikes. Along these dikes the small workers’ cottages are on the outside of the dike, while the large gentleman farmers’ residences are on the "good" side of the dike. The social differences that held sway over the country then emerge clearly.
After Oudebildtzijl, you will soon be back in the 'old land' and once again, the roads wind through the landscape. The villages you pass through are considerably older and are sometimes called the terp villages.
In one of them, Jelsum, you can visit an old Frisian estate. The Frisian were nobility that would live in these estates for centuries. Jelsum estate is one of the few that is authentically furnished with its walled garden adjacent to the house.
From Jelsum, you will head to Leeuwarden. Leeuwarden is the capital of Friesland and is a typical Dutch city with narrow streets, brick houses, canals, museums, small shops, and a historic center with a beautiful park. 

TUESDAY: Leeuwarden - Dokkum - Leeuwarden, 31 mi.
On your way to Dokkum, you can visit several terp villages. The small town of Bartlehiem is the best stop on the Eleven Cities Tour. Here, skaters pass over the low bridge over the Finkumervaart; if the skater passes the bridge a second time, he knows he will receive the highly-coveted medal.
You will head to Dokkum along the river Ee, a narrow but important waterway used a great deal by barges.The asphalt bike path, originally a towpath, is totally separate from the road. Nature, the cows, and the white sails in the distance are your company.
On your way to Leeuwarden you can visit different terp villages.

WEDNESDAY: Leeuwarden - Sneek, 26 mi.
When you leave Leeuwarden, you ride past different terp villages. You can recognize old dikes meandering through the landscape, like the Slachtedijk and the Heegdijk. Bozum offers you a wonderful example of Romanesque architecture, like the church St. Maartenskerk. The church was built in the twelfth century from tuff stone, and a century later its height was increased with bricks. Thick walls, small windows, and little in the way of decoration show the austerity of this edifice.
Ylst is an idyllic little town with a narrow town canal, low houses, and a ribbon of linden trees. It is the market town for dairy products, meat, salt and skins. Ship-building and the lumber industry also arose in the late Middle Ages. The saws in the lumber mill De Rat (The Rat) from Zaandam are still wind-powered.
The banks of the connecting waterway between Ylst and Sneek are covered with a fringe of reeds and the occasional willow and alder. Riding through this green landscape you can enjoy the abundant flora and fauna special to this region.
Sneek is the regional center of the southwest corner and best known for its Waterpoort, or water gate. The sailing competitions on the Sneekermeer lake make it a national and international water sport enter, and greatly loved by many a yachtsman.

THURSDAY: Sneek - Sloten, 16 mi.
Besides the Waterpoort (16th century), Sneek also boasts the Frisian Scheepvaartmuseum (maritime museum). There you get an impression of the Frisian history of both seagoing and inland shipping and shipbuilding and the sport of skating.
The Pontdyk takes you to Langwer the Langweerderwielen. Langweer is a typical water sport village with a yachting harbor, camping ground, and catering establishments. You cycle past te Vegelinsbossen (forests), a green enclave in te lke district, to St. Nicolaasga, where the large church from 1887 dominates the village.
The smallest city in the Frisian eleven is Sloten with only 650 inhabitants. Menno van Coehoorn (1641-1704), the fortress builder of the Dutch Republic, designed the fortifications. He lived in Wijckel, where you can visit his splendid grave in the village church.

FRIDAY: Sloten - Stavoren, 22 mi.
You ride via the Van Coehoornbosch to Balk, the center of the Gaasterland region. The river Luts is your route as you cycle to Oudemirdum on the edge of the Gaasterland forest. On the south coast of Friesland at Laaksum there is a slave monument with the inscription: “leaver dea as slaef” (rather dead than enslaved). After riding the entire 11-City tour, you end up back in Stavoren, the oldest town of the eleven. Stavoren is well known for its legendary lady whose pride – she had valuable grain thrown into the sea, because it was not gold – resulted in the silting-up of the harbor and the downfall of the city at the same time.
There are small sandy beaches within walking distance of the boat.

SATURDAY: Stavoren, debarkation after breakfast.

Book This Trip

Questions? Call us! 877-965-2064 or e-mail us