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Side trip to Friesland 2-3 days-where to stay?

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Our family of 5 is visiting the Netherlands for the first time. We’re set to stay in Haarlem for 5 days to tour Amsterdam and surrounding areas. However, we actually fly into Amsterdam 2 days earlier to make it a full week. What I’m wondering is should we just stay in Haarlem the entire time and take day trips from there using public transit? Or if we want to tour the Friesland area (where my husband’s ancestors are from) is it better to pick one of the northern cities for those first two days to be based in for a different experience? A friend suggested to me Leeuwarden, but my husband would like to see Groningen as well.

For additional context, we’re traveling with teenagers and will be spending a week in Ireland where we’re staying in a few different places. Would love advice on this as I’m trying to find the right balance of seeing some different parts of the Netherlands without burning the family out!

Posted by
15 posts

Regarding Friesland and family history, we found a wonderful Friesland source of ancestry info and tour guide. We hired an experienced tour guide who also does ancestry research. During his research process, he sent email updates & photos; at the project end, he would provide a bound book, lineage history etc. Plus, we hired him to tour for a day to small towns, as well. We were astounded that he had traced my friend's family back to the 1500's or 1600's and even could tell us why her grandmother was born at sea and what type of boat. He was smart, kind and accommodated our needs easily and offered to pick us up and drive us directly to our next stop at day's end (we had no car). Covid, unfortunately, prevented us from taking that trip and then her family illness prevented my friend from traveling. In the next year or 2 I'm going to Friesland and will use his services.

We found him on Tours by Locals dot com and his name is Jaap, a gentleman in his 50's or 60's. Please let him know Jane and Pat of the USA recommended him; he may recall that Jane the weaver sent a beautiful woven towel. If you don't know Tour By Locals, it's located in USA and is a reliable org, which cares about its customers. It closely vets its tour guides. Highly recommend.

FYI: there are several bus and train runs from Amsterdam to Friesland - less than 3 hrs;

Friesland has so many intersting things to explore: their distinctive horses; Bunker Museum; Frisian Resistance Museum, Fries Scheepvaart Museum in Sneek; Museum 'T Fiskershuske. plus if your children like to bike, check out Schiermonikoog, an island with a remarkable history.

Posted by
1613 posts

When do you plan to take this trip? Where in Friesland do the ancestors of your husband come from? How will you get around? Train or car?
All these questions need to be answered before we can give you meaningful advice.
Friesland is beautiful but it can be difficult to reach the smaller cities and villages if you rely on public transport only. So where you should stay depends on what you want to visit.

Posted by
11 posts

@rgstevens thanks for the information! I'm looking into it to see if he might be available and able to accommodate our family of 5 (the tour states 4). Do you know if this would be interesting to teenagers? Our plans have changed due to the availability of the Anne Frank house tour and it looks like we might have to turn this into a day trip. Still worth it? My husband is very much into ancestry and history so I know he would love something like this. Thank you for this tip and any additional insight you might share.

Posted by
15 posts

Hi Karen,
these are my thoughts but Dutchtraveler knows far more than I do so heed his/her advice.

We found that Jaap was very flexible in his accommodating our needs, including picking us at a boat launch and later dropping us off in Leeuwadden. He also has children so I think that he would make this an interesting tour for them as well. Tip: bus runs from Amsterdam to Friesland take less time (2.5hrs) and is less costly than trains (3.25 hrs)

My impression is that he is one of those people who truly enjoys what he does and his enthusiasm was contagious. He got excited by the amount and content of my friend's family information. His ability to find specific details amazed us. Quite a fine writer.

You can designate how many hours you wish to tour and what your interests are. My thoughts when I think of Friesland: 3 UNESCO sites, Viking history, the last remnant of land bridge between Denmark & UK, sailing & maritime history, horse farm, Wadden Islands, World War II, many National Parks, and local culture and its own language. So much more... windmills, genius water engineering.

https://www.friesland.nl/en https://www.opreismetco.nl/en/the-netherlands/things-to-do-in-friesland/

If you're able, consider an overnight there. For a cost-conscious stay, consider the former prison now well-run hostel The Alibi Hostel in Leeuwadden. Good reviews, private bathrms in several rooms, central location. Bus stop less than 5 minutes and train station 10 min walk. Breakfast. https://alibihostel.nl/en/ If you prefer Groningen, ask Jaap for suggestions.

Don't get overwhelmed by this all - decide your 3 top interests and he'll devise an itinerary for your approval and a price quote.
I envy you!

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