Tour de Pays-Bas Day 4: Vlieland to Leeuwarden

We wake up early in Oost Vlieland to enjoy a morning stroll by the Waddenzee before coffee and breakfast at our hotel.

We still have a bit of time before we have to catch the ferry to Harlingen, so we hop on our bikes for a more leisurely exploration (and to get a few more photos) of the scenery we had to rush through the night before. It’s still beautiful, of course, but the bright morning sky doesn’t quite offer the same dramatic backdrop we had last night. As stressful and exhausting as it was to go from boat to bus to bike, our introduction to Vlieland was certainly memorable!

At 11:50 a.m., it’s time to take the ferry back to the mainland. Unlike the casual and personable Vriendschap from yesterday, the Vlieland-Harlingen ferry is massive and packed with families and screaming children begging for overpriced snacks and sodas. Next time we’ll opt for the express ferry. (We kid, we kid.)

Harlingen - Leeuwarden: 27.8 km
Google Maps time: 91 minutes   Our time: 83 minutes (WHAAAAAAT?!)

We arrive in Harlingen and enjoy a ’t Twaalf Uurtje lunch (which translates roughly to the 12 o’clockie? It’s a soup, salad and two small sandwiches all for 15 euros! Perhaps a special at Borrel for Stroopwafel Sundays?) on the deck at the Café ’t Noorderke & Restaurant Noorderpoort. We’re right by a canal leading into the harbour and enjoy watching the bridge get raised for passing boats. We spy a cute book and music store across the street and realize how strange it is that we haven’t visited one on this trip so far. A record for us (no pun intended)!

As much as we promised ourselves to take it easy today, it’s already 2:30 p.m. and we want to see as much of Leeuwarden as we can. Particularly as today is also a much-needed laundry day. So we skip the shops and race straight through Harlingen, trying to take in as much of its beautiful architecture, canals and … a camel? (No, it’s not a cycling-induced hallucination, Knorka the camel is very real! With a subscription to the Leeuwarder Courant, you can read all about it here.)

This is Alison’s first time in the province of Friesland and she’s already charmed, particularly as we pass through the city of Franeker. We try to keep our eyes on the road as we pass by beautiful ancient buildings and the historical university. (Franeker also makes up one of the 11 cities when Friesland hosts the magnificent Dutch ice-skating competition, the elfstedentocht. Always potentially an annual event, the elfstedentocht is weather-dependent and sadly has not been staged since 1997. … But Alison already thinks we should do the 200-km tour around Friesland on our bikes next time!)

Justin gets inspired as we’re actually outpacing Google Maps’ prediction of us reaching Leeuwarden at 4:08 p.m. So we pedal hard, hitting highs of 33 km/h, taking advantage of lighter headwinds and absolutely loving today’s bike route weaving through charming villages, scenic parks and alongside quieter roads. It’s exactly the kind of bike route we were dreaming about when plotting this trip.

But our arrival time is now down four minutes to 4:04 p.m., so no stopping for water, breaks or photos of any of this (sorry!). Justin starts thinking, “Wouldn’t it be incredible if we make it in by 4 p.m.?” And as we close in on the city of Leeuwarden, we are at 4:01 p.m. And then 4 p.m.! And then … 3:59 p.m.? Justin starts barrelling through the city like a maniac to see if we can make it nine minutes ahead of time with Alison trailing behind probably wondering why the hell he’s in such a hurry. We pull up to our hotel as the giant clock tower chimes four and we couldn’t be happier. Or more exhausted!

Unfortunately, after our triumphant entrance, our evening in Leeuwarden offers us a few challenges and disappointments (and a lot of frustrating walking back and forth). First, the hotel (we won’t name it) is understaffed and check-in takes forever, with Alison having to return to the front desk three times because our keycard didn’t work (we do get a free drink though!).

Next, laundry: We tried to pack light, so by now we need to wash some clothes. Unfortunately, outside of Amsterdam, laundromats (or wasserettes) are few and far between in the Netherlands. The only one we can find in Leeuwarden is a 25-minute walk from the hotel. And once we get there, there’s no vending machine for detergent (and no shops nearby). We run a wash anyway, figuring it’s better than nothing, and walk back to one of the cozy cafés we’d passed along the way. (We also see an inviting fish shop and make a note to grab some kibbeling while our clothes are drying.)

Turns out, running a load in the dryer is a steep 13.50 euros (self-service!) so we decide to hang up our clothes to dry around our hotel room instead. At least we have kibbeling to look forward to! Except when we pass by the fish shop again, it’s too late – they’re closing up. No kibbeling for us. And Justin’s desire to eat late once again makes us miss out on our first choice for dinner. Is this whole universe – or Leeuwarden at least – against us?! … More likely it’s just a couple of successive First World problems causing us to overexaggerate.

We take solace in some cozy drinks at a couple of cafés and enjoy a stroll around this beautiful city. As it’s summer and this is very much a student town, it’s a quieter than expected Friday night. Not that we’d be up for a late evening as we’re exhausted. But we can’t help but feel we haven’t really given Leeuwarden its due, and we want to explore the city a little more. So we make an executive decision for what’s going to happen for Day 5. (More photos of Leeuwarden coming on Day 5, promise!)

CAFÉS OF THE DAY:  Café de Strohoed is a bit of an institution in Leeuwarden and a welcome rest after our initial disappointments in the city. There are folks from all walks of life gathered here, a huge selection of beers and just that gezellig atmosphere a genuine bruin cafe provides. The bartender was super friendly and gave us some tips for dinner (we just wished we’d asked what time kitchens tend to close up!). Café de Spoek was also a great bar to hang out in, reminding Justin of the Dutch watering holes he frequented as a teenager in the ’90s. Indeed, owner Klaas has most of his CD collection from that decade lining the walls as decoration. It’s a weekend spot only and it probably gets loud later into the evening, but the tunes are killer, service is great and it’s as gezellig as it gets.

WHAT WE MISSED: So much! As we mentioned, there were many stops we wanted to make en route from Harlingen to Leeuwardem. And we definitely want to explore Friesland by bike further. We’ll be back!

LEARN FROM THE AMATEURS: The Dutch eat early. Considering you can get food at any hour in Amsterdam (but even that’s changing post-COVID), we just assumed the same would be true in most Dutch cities. Because people definitely like to stay out really late. For Justin, post-meal time is wind-down time and the last thing he wants on a full stomach is another beer. But maybe he’s just weird and getting old. If you’re like Alison and have no problem with a perfectly normal dinnertime of 7:30 p.m., you’ll be fine. Thankfully, Grand-Café De Walrus’s kitchen is open late with a menu option that seems to strangely cater to weirdos like Justin by offering all three of their soups in snack-size bowls (see left). Plus their patio is packed and this seems like this is the place to be on a Friday night!