• Stay the night in a beautiful lodgings
• 5 overnight stays includign breakfast
• distance: 15 - 55 kilometres per day
Unique cycling tours along the treasuries of Northeast Friesland
After the Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), the Markant Friesland Route is the most fascinating cycling route of Friesland. The Elfsteden route is 254km long and leads you past renowned highlights of the province. The 170km-long Markant Friesland Route on the other hand should be regarded as a comfortable ‘expedition’ leading along little-known, but globally unique attractions. A tour full of pleasant surprises. A tour which reveals to you the history of Friesland’s formation as well as its rich cultural history. With this package you will cycle the northern part of the Markant Friesland route.
The gentry’s palatial homes, windbreak-lined meadows, romantic villages on knolls, National Park the Lauwersmeer, UNESCO World Heritage Site the Waddensea, ‘Eleven Cities’ town Dokkum, medieval churches and remnants of monasteries as well as over twenty very unusual museums. Art, nature, culture, that is Markant Friesland.
Every day’s unique!
The 3- or 6-day Markant Friesland cycling packages lead you straight across knoll country and along the Waddensea coast to the Lauwersmeer. Silence and space are striking elements in Lauwersland. It’s a prime place to unwind. You’ll also explore the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden, a landscape lined with copses and windbreaks, typical of the Frisian Woods. Not to be missed is the botanical garden De Kruidhof which also accommodates the Ice Age museum.
Of special interest is the region south of Dokkum, where in 754 the world-famous missionary Bonifatius (Saint Boniface) was killed. This representative of the Frankish Empire was born in 672 (675?) in Exeter, Southwest England. His remains rest in a sarcophagus in the Fulda Abbey in Germany. Saint Boniface, bishop, martyr and saint, is considered to have been the architect of Western Europe’s Christianity. Dokkum is now a charming and very interesting ‘Eleven Cities’ town and maintains friendly relations with Fulda. Fun Fact: the Dutch call Dokkum a ‘moordstad,’ meaning a very fine place but also place of murder.
Centuries ago Dokkum was home to the Frisian Admiralty (Navy) because it had a direct connection with the sea. The former Admiralty building (Admiraliteitshuis) is now a large museum.
Cycling along ‘stinzen’ and ‘staten’ (small Frisian castles) you’ll end up in a number of charming places such as Burdaard at the Dokkumer Ee, where the Frisian painter Ruurd Wiersma left behind particularly interesting works. You pass the ‘Eleven Cities’ ice-skating route and become acquainted with the ‘hell of the north’ as it is called by skaters of the Eleven Cities tour.
Wherever you are, the horizon will feature a knoll with a church spire or a decor of centuries-old trees which picturesque small villages hide behind. One of these, with its big old trees on the grassy village square, is Veenklooster, a settlement that looks as if it came from the neighbouring province Drenthe. Here you’ll find a beautiful furnished manor, as well as a large agriculture museum.
Number of km per day
Day 1: Arrival
Day 2: ± 35 km
Day 3: ± 32 km
Day 4: ± 50 km (cycling around De Leijen +5 kilomtres)
Day 5: ± 55 km
Day 6: ± 15 km
Starting day
As you wish.
Total of cycling days
Five
Start and finish
Ferwerd
