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The Waterpoort (Water Gate) of Sneek, the must-see sight of the city.

Súdwest-Fryslân (Dutch: Zuidwest Friesland, English: Southwest Frisia) is a municipality in Friesland, the Netherlands.

Understand

Súdwest-Fryslân as a municipality was formed as recent as 2011 out of the former municipalities of Bolsward, Nijefurd, Sneek, Wûnseradiel and Wymbritseradiel with parts of Boornsterhem and Littenseradiel being added on New Year's day of 2014 and 2018 respectively. The addition of part of Littenseradiel made Súdwest-Fryslân the largest municipality of the Netherlands not only in land area, but also overall size, surpassing Noordoostpolder. The municipality, when being still on the drawing table in 2009, was intended to be named Zuidwesthoek, but was eventually not as this would raise confusion between East Frisia (Germany), Friesland, West-Friesland (North Holland) and the region of Southwest Frisia. Upon creation the municipality was named Súdwest Fryslân, with the hyphen being added five months later.

Súdwest-Fryslân contains six major cities:

Bolsward (Boalsert)

Bolsward's Broerekerk.

1 Bolsward formed out of three terpen (artificial dwelling mound), the oldest of which would have dated back to before the start of the Gregorian calendar. The Broerekerk is the oldest building in the city, partially dating back to the thirteenth century. The church, however, was destroyed during a fire in 1980. Nowadays it is preserved as a ruin. Bolsward got its city rights in 1455 and was one of the Hanseatic cities of the Netherlands. The town hall of Bolsward was built around 1615 and is a symbol of the prosperity the city had in the seventeenth century. The town hall was expanded 150 years later and was decorated with rococo elements. Bolsward is one of the Eleven Cities of the Elfstedentocht.

Hindeloopen (Hylpen)

2 Hindeloopen got its city rights in 1225 and is one of the eleven Frysian Cities. Though it never had a harbour but instead only a roadstead by the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea), or the IJsselmeer as it is known today. Hindeloopen became a mercantile city and was part of the Hanseatic League. It mostly exported gin and wool to the countries by the Baltic Sea (mostly modern-day Poland and Germany), whereas it only imported wood that would be traded to the city of Amsterdam and the Zaanstreek.

The city grew most between 1650 and 1790. Its mercantile fleet consisted of about eighty ships during this time. The captain houses of this era still show how wealthy the Hindeloopers were. Later, during the rule of Napoleon, the city lost its position due to trade bans, and it turned into a city of fishermen.

IJlst (Drylts)

The Ee in IJlst with the bleken on either side.

Becoming a city in 1268, 3 IJlst was the fourth city of Friesland to gain city rights. The city was best known for its shipbuilding and its trade position. IJlst formed along the Oude Ee, which was a small river between the Zuiderzee (the current IJsselmeer and Markermeer) and the Middelzee, which was an inlet from the Waddensea running between Leeuwarden, Sneek and Bolswerd. The Ee river has mostly disappeared over time, but fragments of it can still be found in IJlst, which the Ee runs through as a moat. On the banks of the Ee are beautiful bleken, which were used by households along the river to bleach their laundry. These "bleaches" are partly still owned by the households along the Ee.

During the Industrial Revolution, IJlst became a large producer of wood. The Nooitgedagt firm is a prime example. They produced tools, wooden toys and, naturally, ice skates. The firm's factory still stands, albeit only the first building built for the firm. Nooitgedagt's factory also included the first building built fully out of concrete, but this building was demolished in October of 2004. Another reference to the production of wood-related products during the Industrial Revolution are the multiple sawmills surrounding the city.

Sneek (Snits)

Aerial view of Snits.

With some 33000 inhabitants, 4 Sneek is not a particularly large city, yet it is the largest city in Súdwest-Fryslân nonetheless. It is well-known in the Netherlands however, as it is one of the eleven cities in the famous Elfstedentocht and also for the Sneekweek, a major water sports event organized here every year.

Sneek formed upon a sandy headland in the tenth century. The settlement became a town after a dike was constucted to the southern side of the Hempolder Scherhem during the twelfth or thirteenth century. Sneek is connected to the IJsselmeer via the Geeuw and Sneeker Oudvaart, which were constructed after the Middelzee clogged up with clay and eventually was reclaimed. Sneek largely burnt down in 1295 during a large fire. In the thirteenth century, the town gained its city rights, which would be officially written down in 1456, which made Sneek one of the eleven Frisian cities. This too was the time in which Sneek flourished as a trade city, which would continue until sometime around 1550. Sneek has been the only city in all of Friesland to have ever been a walled city. Nowadays the defence works, the construction of which was started in 1492, only consist of the Waterpoort and Het Bolwerk after the walls and gates were demolished.

• Tourist Information Office Sneek (VVV), ☏ +31 515 750678. Mo-Fri 10am-4pm, in high season till 5pm. Sat. 11am-2pm. The VVV office provides all kinds of booking services for lodging and boat rents and the helpful staff can give all kinds of information regarding sights in and around the city and even the broader lake district. 

Stavoren (Starum)

Statue of the Lady of Stavoren, 1969

The historical city of 5 Stavoren was granted city rights in the 1060s, which makes it the oldest city in Friesland. It is mentioned in old texts as the burial place of early Frysian kings. In 1285 Stavoren became a member of the Hanze.

The city declined in the late Middle Ages after the harbour got silted, blocking all ships from entering and leaving the harbour. This spawned the story of the Lady of Stavoren (Frouke fan Starum). It describes how a rich patrician merchant widow. She sent out the captain of her merchant fleet out to find the greatest treasure in the world. He returned with wheat, which can feed the hungry, and therefore is the greatest treasure in the world. The widow didn't accept the 'treasure', and ordered for it to be thrown into the harbour of Stavoren. When she was confronted about this, she threw her ring into the ocean, declaring that she was as likely to fall into poverty as she was of regaining the ring. Shortly after, a banquet for fellow Hanseatic merchants was held. She found her ring back inside of a fish served to her. Soon after she fell into poverty, spending the rest of her life begging for scraps of bread, while the wheat that had been thrown into the sea, formed a sandbank that blocked of the city harbour.

The silting of the harbour meant that Stavoren no longer was of a use on the international market. It however re-established itself in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. The nineteenth century brought another wave of decline. The once international harbour declined along with the city, and not much of its glory remains to this day. On touristic summer days, however, the glory of the once so famous harbour city seems to come back. The sea that once threatened the city is no longer around, as the completion of the Afsluitdijk meant that the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea), could be controlled by mankind. Therefore, a risk of flooding is not existent anymore.

Modern day Stavoren is a village of roughly 1000 citizens. It is one of the stops of the Elfstedentocht (Tour of eleven cities), an ice skating race held only in winters so cold that safety can be guaranteed. Since the first Elfstedentocht in 1909, the race has been held a total of fifteen times, with the last one being nearly twenty years ago, in 1997.

Workum (Warkum)

6 Workum

Get in

The A7 highway is the backbone of transport in the region, with the N359 national road connecting to many of the smaller cities.

By car

From Amsterdam, follow the A7/E22 going north towards Hoorn, after which you should stay true to the A7, crossing the Afsluitdijk. After reaching Friesland near Zurich, the first city you will find is Bolsward, followed shortly after with Sneek.

Cutting Germany in half with a line spanning between Amsterdam and Prague, everything north of this line should travel via Leer, while everything south of the line should travel via Oberhausen:

• From Leer and Groningen use the Autobahn 280, which meets Autobahn 31 near Bunde. Follow this Autobahn, which shortly after will become the A7 at the German-Dutch border. This road can be followed all the way to Sneek, which is then followed by Bolsward.

• From Oberhausen and Arnhem, use Autobahn 3 heading for the German-Dutch border. After crossing the border not far from Emmerich am Rhein, head for Arnhem, after which, at exit 26 (Arnhem-Noord) and the Waterberg Interchange (Knooppunt Waterberg), head onto the A50 heading for Zwolle and Apeldoorn. Simply follow this highway, which will become the N50 not far from Zwolle. From here, follow directions to Emmeloord, where the N50 will become the A6. Simply keep going straight the entire time, and near Joure, head onto the A6 heading for Sneek instead of Heerenveen. Once again, you will first get to Sneek, after which Bolsward is not far.

To get to IJlst, head for Sneek, and take exit 20 (IJlst) on the N7, followed by a turn towards Sneek. Next, head right on the roundabout, and take a right turn at the next larger intersection. At the end of that road (Stadsrondweg Zuid) you should take a right turn. Following this road will get you to IJlst.

To get to Workum, Stavoren and Hindeloopen, use the N359, which meets the A7 at Bolsward. This road will first pass by Workum, then Hindeloopen, followed by Stavoren. To get to the latter two, first cross the railway, after which you should leave the N359 on your right at the next possible point. Here, take a right onto the Oosterdijk. This road will take you to Hindeloopen directly. To get to Stavoren, take a left turn onto the Suderseewei on the edge of Hindeloopen. When the road ends in front of the dike holding back the IJsselmeer, take a left onto the Westerdijk. Follow this road into the town of Molkwerum and follow this road following signs directing to Stavoren. Either after or before crossing the Johan Frisokanaal, take a right. These roads will both get you directly to Stavoren from here.

By public transit

All of the six cities of Súdwest-Fryslân have a train station except for Bolsward. They are all on the same line as well, that being the Leeuwarden — Stavoren railway. From Leeuwarden, this railway, serviced by Arriva, will connect to 1 Sneek Noord  ARR , 2 Sneek  ARR , 3 IJlst  ARR , 4 Workum  ARR , 5 Hindeloopen  ARR , 6 Koudum-Molkwerum  ARR  and 7 Stavoren  ARR  in that order. 8 Leeuwarden  NS  ARR  in turn can be reached directly from Rotterdam via Utrecht and The Hague via Lelystad, Amsterdam and Schiphol.

Some of the stations above are located a fair way away from the city centre. Sometimes you can fetch a bus to get to the city centre, but walking may be a fair alternative too. These stations and towns are:

• Workum; located 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) from the city centre. To get to the city centre, either take bus 44 or 102, or walk northwest along the Spoardyk, cross the roundabout and follow the same road until it terminates. At that point, you'll find yourself in the centre of the historical town.
• Hindeloopen; 1.75 kilometres (1.09 mi) from the city centre, a bus to the town centre is the best option. Take bus 9411 heading for Hindeloopen Museum. The bus goes back and forth between the city museum and the train station each hour and is fairly synchronised with the trains.
• Koudum-Molkwerum, like Hindeloopen has a bus connecting the train station with the town centre of Molkwerum. It leaves hourly and is numbered as bus 9391, which heads for Molkwerum Hellingstr.. Weirdly enough, Koudum isn't serviced by a bus from the namesake train station, but by bus 44 instead, which runs from Balk to Bolsward and stops in Koudum at Koudum Centrum. Walking from the train station to Koudum isn't a great alternative either with it being a 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) walk.

Bolsward can only be reached via bus, which runs from Leeuwarden (line 92, via Winsum and line 192, direct), Heerenveen (line 199, via Sneek's railway station). Bolsward in turn also connects to Zurich near the Afsluitdijk (line 90) and the ferry to Vlieland and Terschelling at Harlingen (lines 99 and 199).

Get around

Bus lines are the main backbone of the public transport in Súdwest-Fryslân. A map of all the bus lines can be found here. In a nutshell, buses  44 ,  90 ,  98 ,  99  and  239  are the main lines to get across most of the municipality, as well as the train line from Stavoren to Leeuwarden. A much better alternative would be renting a bicycle or car instead, since buses are far from as frequent as those in the Randstad.

Do

Sailing races are one of the main tourist draws during the annual Sneekweek

• For locals and visitors alike, Sneek is almost a synonym for water and water sports, and no visit this area is complete without at least some experience on the water. You have a wide choice of ways to join the crowds, but if you're not a water sports aficionado, boating is a good pick. As in all the towns along the Frisian lakes, several places rent out canoes, sloops and sailing boats. For the inexperienced, a canoe of sloop is the best option. You don't need any permits or licenses and navigating is easy enough to be explained on the spot. If you're not on a budget, there are even some larger yacht-like motorboats that you can rent without a boating license. They are often rented out for a week, allowing for more extensive trips around the Frisian lake area and the IJsselmeer. Note that you'll pay a large deposit, and that smaller damages (up to €500 or so) are typically covered by that deposit, not the insurance. If you feel insecure, ask for a short course, as they are generally available. Whatever you do, don't miss out this: you can't say you've seen this region if you haven't seen it from off-shore!

• Jachtcharter Klompmaker, De Zwaan 20, Woudsend. This place is a half hour drive from Sneek, but a good choice to rent fully equipped yachts. Book well in advance, as last-minute options are only rarely available. From €1300 for a 4 person yacht, one week. 

• Sailing comes with a bit more technique, and if you don't have proper sailing experience, it's not advisable to rent a real sailing boat. You could however book some sailing classes, which are typically great fun and will leave you with some handy skills for another time. Sailing classes come in all kinds: in groups, private, for half a day or for two full weeks. Make sure to make reservations in advance though.

Eat

As Sneek attracts rather large water sports crowds in summer, there's a wide selection of restaurants available. Many have nice outdoor terraces, often along the water side.

• Ken's Eatcounter, Kaatsland 56, Sneek, ☏ +31 515 789412. This small Suriname eatery is popular with locals and visitors alike, and a good spot for a cheap lunch or dinner. You can take away too, if you want. Think tasty roti, fried rice and spicy chicken. 

• Cook & Ny, 1e Oosterkade 24, Sneek, ☏ +31 515 433 019. This nice, modern place serves nice Mediterranean cuisine, including tapas menus. Around €28 for a menu. 

• Texas Steakhouse, Wijde Noorderhorne 11, Sneek, ☏ +31 515 425 299. This place may not look too special from the outside, but if you're craving a steak, this is the place to be. Good portions, well prepared and good quality for money. €25. 
• 't Vaticaan, Grootzand 10, Sneek, ☏ +31 515 432 607. In terms of decor, this place lives up to its name. Enjoy a good French menu (with some Dutch influences) between statues of saints. It's a cosy restaurant with good quality dishes. Around €30. 

Go next

Routes through Súdwest-Fryslân

Amsterdam ← Hoorn ←	W  E	→ Heerenveen → Groningen
Leeuwarden ←	N  S	→ Lemmer
Stavoren ← Hindeloopen ←	SW  NE	→ Sneek → Leeuwarden