Keramiek Museum Princessehof
Pottery lovers will adore the Netherlands ceramics museum. Here you'll find the largest collection of tiles on the planet, an unparalleled selection of…
Friesland
This unspoilt northerly province is the spot to take your foot off the pedal and go slow, Friesian-style, amid raw coastal nature and a profusion of namesake black-and-white cows.
Frieslanders are a staunchly self-reliant bunch, with their own language proudly emblazoned on road signs. Here they didn't just have to build dykes to protect their land; they had to build the land as well. Their unique mudflats, laced into the Waddenzee (Wadden Sea), are on Unesco's world treasures list, and the slender islands across this body of water are the country's hottest summertime destination, with forest, dunes and beaches threaded with cycling paths.
Piercing the province's centre is its beguiling, canal-ringed capital Leeuwarden, a European City of Culture in 2018 with a dynamic vibe to match. Elsewhere, craggy fishing villages and port towns such as Hindeloopen and Harlingen charm with 16th-century architecture and a contagious, laid-back pace unchanged for centuries.
Explore Friesland
- Keramiek Museum Princessehof
Pottery lovers will adore the Netherlands ceramics museum. Here you'll find the largest collection of tiles on the planet, an unparalleled selection of…
- BBlokhuispoort
No single sight evokes the undercurrent of explosive creativity pulsating through the Frisian capital quite like this 19th-century prison-turned-cultural…
- Fries Museum
The provincial museum occupies an imposing glass-fronted building sporting a striking wood-and-steel roof that projects out over Wilhelminaplein. The…
- Lighthouse
Ameland's iconic red-and-white banded lighthouse stands 55m tall on the island's west end. The only lighthouse in the island chain that is open to the…
- LLauwersmeer National Park
Nature lovers are in paradise in this tiny national park protecting the man-made watery shallows of Lauwersmeer, split between Friesland and the…
- SSchiermonnikoog National Park
The entire island, except for its single town and surrounding polder, was designated the Netherlands' first national park in 1989. It's easy to lose…
- Eise Eisinga Planetarium
The Eise Eisinga Planetarium is named after its builder, an 18th-century wool comber with a serious sideline in cosmic mathematics and astrology. Between…
- Oldehove
At the northwest corner of the historic core stands the notoriously off-kilter Oldehove – Friesland's rival to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Things went…
- Natuurcentrum Ameland
Just north of Nes village, this centre features an excellent seaquarium in which a number of North Sea species swim around, including manta rays,…
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Friesland.
- See
Keramiek Museum Princessehof
Pottery lovers will adore the Netherlands ceramics museum. Here you'll find the largest collection of tiles on the planet, an unparalleled selection of…
- See
Blokhuispoort
No single sight evokes the undercurrent of explosive creativity pulsating through the Frisian capital quite like this 19th-century prison-turned-cultural…
- See
Fries Museum
The provincial museum occupies an imposing glass-fronted building sporting a striking wood-and-steel roof that projects out over Wilhelminaplein. The…
- See
Lighthouse
Ameland's iconic red-and-white banded lighthouse stands 55m tall on the island's west end. The only lighthouse in the island chain that is open to the…
- See
Lauwersmeer National Park
Nature lovers are in paradise in this tiny national park protecting the man-made watery shallows of Lauwersmeer, split between Friesland and the…
- See
Schiermonnikoog National Park
The entire island, except for its single town and surrounding polder, was designated the Netherlands' first national park in 1989. It's easy to lose…
- See
Eise Eisinga Planetarium
The Eise Eisinga Planetarium is named after its builder, an 18th-century wool comber with a serious sideline in cosmic mathematics and astrology. Between…
- See
Oldehove
At the northwest corner of the historic core stands the notoriously off-kilter Oldehove – Friesland's rival to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Things went…
- See
Natuurcentrum Ameland
Just north of Nes village, this centre features an excellent seaquarium in which a number of North Sea species swim around, including manta rays,…
