Workum
An Elfsteden town with a fine weigh house and the Jopie Huisman Museum.
Route by public transport ↗
Painted cupboards and sailors on the IJsselmeer.
Hindeloopen is one of the eleven historic towns of Friesland, though it feels like a village. Its ships once sailed as far as the Baltic. The wealth brought colourful rooms, a costume of its own and even its own language.
Hindeloopen received its town charter in 1225 and later joined the Hanseatic League. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries its people painted their furniture and walls with flowers and tendrils: Hindeloopen painting. Museum Hindeloopen shows that work, the local costume and furnished rooms. The town is tiny, with narrow lanes, wooden bridges and a lock onto the IJsselmeer. Take the train from Leeuwarden towards Stavoren and walk into town from the station. Start at the museum, have lunch by the harbour and end the day on the dyke at sunset.
One day, four moments. How to get the most out of your visit.
Six places to complete your museum day.
On the Hindeloopen costume, painted interiors, furnished rooms and the town's seafaring past.
Centuries of skating history, with plenty on the Elfstedentocht.
In a few workshops in town the painting is still done by hand.
Stroll past the narrow canals, the lock with its wooden drawbridge and the old captains' houses.
Walk the dyke for wide views over the water and the sailing boats.
Hindeloopen is a proper sailing town. Join a trip out on the IJsselmeer.
More old Frisian towns line the IJsselmeer coast. These three pair easily with a visit.
An Elfsteden town with a fine weigh house and the Jopie Huisman Museum.
Route by public transport ↗The oldest of the eleven towns, at the end of the railway line.
Route by public transport ↗An old harbour town across the water, home to the Zuiderzeemuseum.
Route by public transport ↗Travel times are indicative. Live times on 9292.nl ↗.
Hindeloopen has mostly small hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes, ideal for a slow stay by the water. For more choice, stay in Sneek or Leeuwarden. From Hindeloopen the train runs to Workum, Stavoren and Leeuwarden. In the evening it is quiet, with only the masts in the harbour for company.
Restaurants, shops and hotels near the museums, picked for museum visitors.