🚴♀️Plans are coming together for the first week of our Netherlands trip this Spring!
My husband (Bart) and I will be cycling the famous Elfstedentocht Route in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands.
The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) is a historic route that connects 11 beautiful Frisian cities, traditionally known for the legendary long-distance skating race held on frozen canals. Since the canals don’t always freeze, many people now experience the route by bike — which is exactly what we’re planning to do!
Over the course of the week we’ll cycle from city to city, exploring historic towns, canals, and countryside along the way. We’ve planned overnight stays in several of the cities and we will visit all 11 towns (cities) along the route.
It’s been fun doing the research, mapping the distances, and planning where we’ll stay each night.
🚴♀️ Planning Our Elfstedentocht Cycling Route
I found a great map of the Elfstedentocht cycling route , which looks really helpful. I cycled in a small part of Friesland 4 years ago with my sisters Janet and Debbie (fun memorable trip!) We used the app Fietsknoop, which worked great. In Netherlands, it is a number system and the numbers are signposted, so cyclists can follow the numbers between cities rather than relying only on a map or GPS. When you put your route in Fietsknoop, it gives you all the numbers to follow from one town to the next. This map I found gives you all the numbers!!! Easy!!
From what I’ve found so far, the official Eleven Cities cycling route is about 235–255 km long and connects all 11 historic Frisian cities, usually starting and ending in Leeuwarden.
The route can be done clockwise or counter-clockwise, and many people break it up into 4–7 days, which is perfect for enjoying the towns and countryside along the way. We are cycling it clockwise over 7 days.
Planning a trip like this is part of the fun — figuring out distances, finding great places to stay, and mapping out each day of the ride. I can’t wait to experience the beautiful countryside and charming towns along the way. 😊
There are many organized tours, where you go with a group and travel/cycle together, and then you have the company drop your luggage off, etc. I like to do the planning myself so I can cycle where I want, stay where I want to stay, eat and drink what and when I want to, etc. But becuase I know Netherlands a bit (maybe more then just a bit), this is easier for me but also quite a bit of work. If you google you will find all kinds of organized tours for the Elfstedentocht route.
🚴♀️ Our Elfstedentocht Cycling Adventure – Stops Confirmed!
We have confirmed the places we will stay along the 11-Cities Elfstedentocht Route! It took some research, reaching out to family and friends, and of course a little help from Google — but we’ve now picked the 7 cities where we’ll stay during our cycling trip.
More details to come as our adventure gets closer! 🚴♀️😊
- Day 1 – Leeuwarden – I have never been to Leeuwarden but here there is never a dull moment in this city! I am thrilled that we will be staying right in the town’s centre. We’ll arrive here by train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and we found a very unique hotel – the Bakery Boutique Hotel – right in the town centre where all the action and livelihood is. We wanted to make sure we have a big comfy bed so we can get a good night’s sleep after being up all night traveling. Also they will keep our luggage for us for the week while we are cycling – since we will be living out of our panniers and will only be taking limited clothes (stinky!! LOL).
- Day 2 – Sneek – this town is known for its famous Water Gate.
- Day 3 – Stavoren – we are right on the water of the IJsselmeer — looking forward to the views here! This is where the ferry comes in from Enkhuizen (we took this ferry 4 years ago)
- Day 4 – Workum – on the shore of the former Zuiderzee and bordering the Frisian lakes The city became a protected heritage area in 1988.
- Day 5 – Harlingen – a beautiful harbour city.
- Day 6 – Franeker – Bart’s Tante Anneke always told us we needed to go to Franeker because there is so much history there. We’re excited to finally see it!
- Day 7 – Dokkum – we stayed here before and have great memories with Ed & Eileen at the Posthoorn Hotel. Happy to be staying here again!
- Day 8 – Back to Leeuwarden – where we meet up with our boys and girls for another week in the Netherlands!
The planning is half the fun — now we just need to start counting down the days! 🚴♀️
🚴♀️ The Remaining Cities of the Elfstedentocht
While we will be staying overnight in 7 of the cities along the Elfstedentocht route, there are 4 more historic cities that we will cycle through and stop to explore along the way:
IJlst – A small and charming town known for its historic canals and traditional Dutch wood-sawing mill. They have charming wooden bridges and beautiful waterside gardens
Sloten – The smallest of the eleven cities, but full of character with beautiful canals, old city gates, and windmills.
Hindeloopen – A picturesque town along the IJsselmeer famous for its traditional Frisian culture, colourful painted furniture, and maritime history. I have been here 3 times over the last 15 years, and it never gets old. I LOVE this place! ❤️ Bart’s mother was born and raised very near here in a small town called Molkwerum, so it always feels a little extra special to visit.
During the second week of our holiday, we actually have a house rented in Hindeloopen (right on the water) for three nights, which will be amazing. So it’s totally okay that we’ll just cycle through during our Elfstedentocht trip, because we’ll be coming back the following week with our boys (and girls) to spend more time here and really enjoy it again.
Bolsward – A lovely historic city with beautiful old buildings and canals, and an important trading town in Friesland’s past.
I’m really looking forward to cycling through these towns, stopping for coffee, exploring the history, stopping for cheers!, and enjoying the scenery along the way. 🚴♀️☕ Also, one of our hosts told me there is a Elfstedentocht Fountain in each of the cities, so we will have to research that, and make sure that we see all 11 of them.
Friends op de Fiets!! (We are Friends on Bikes!!)
It costs $10 Euros a year to be a member of Friends op de Fiets. What a great organization!
Four years ago when I did an the cycling trip in the Netherlands with my two sisters 🚴♀️ we stayed at a couple of homes through Vrienden op de Fiets (Friends on Bikes). It was a great experience, and you meet and chat with people who know so much about their city – what to see and do, the history, etc.
Friends op de Fiets is a network where hosts open their homes to cyclists and hikers traveling through the area. There are more than 5,000 places to stay, mostly in the Netherlands but also in Belgium, Germany, and other countries.
When we stayed at the two Friends op de Fiets homes years ago, we had:
• Comfortable beds
• A place to store and charge our bikes
• Access to a shower
• Breakfast in the morning
• And both hosts even gave us a packed lunch!
One host went above and beyond. It was raining that evening, so they actually drove us into town for dinner and picked us up later. Such incredible hospitality.
And the price?
At the time it was only €20 per person per night. This year it’s €25 per person per night — still incredibly reasonable.
If you enjoy cycling or hiking trips, this is such a special way to travel and meet kind people along the way. Highly recommend!
Please share!
If you have been to any of these cities or have information to share with us, please do!! 🙂
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