Cycling holiday of the year 2025: Eleven Cities Tour & Ameland!

The fishing harbor Lauwersoog, with the brand-new World Heritage Center (WEC) featuring everything about the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea and the seal rehabilitation center, which was previously located in Pieterburen, has recently become a top destination within cycling distance (25 km). Naturally, campers want to spend a day cycling on Ameland, which costs €20.04 round trip per adult and €12.60 per bicycle. Children up to three years old travel free on the ferry. Youth aged 4 to 11 pay €11.04 for a return ticket.

The crossing — for example, on the Oerd shown in the photos below — should be seen as a mini-cruise on the Wadden Sea. The boat trip lasts 50 minutes. The morning outbound trip (07:15) and the evening return (18:30) offer different views of the UNESCO World Heritage site, both surprisingly shaped by the ebb and flow of the tide and the position of the sun.

Action and Dead Silence

However, many are content with just visiting the pier and terminal with its café-restaurant and special viewing spots to watch the arriving and departing (fast) ferries. The short rhythmic bustle, influenced by ferry departures and arrivals, followed by longer periods of eerie silence, is a unique experience. Apparently, this remains so, as locals and people from the big city Leeuwarden come weekly. There is an excellent bus connection between the Frisian capital and the terminal, but depending on your physical condition, the route to Holwert is also very doable by bike: less than 30 km on good cycling paths. In the latter case, but also by car or other motor vehicle, you are as free as a seagull.

More information:

• www.zeevantijd.nl
  (For multi-day Friesland vacations, including fully organized Elfstedentocht cycling tours, departing from Holwert on the Wadden Sea)

• www.ontdekwec.nl
  (World Heritage Center in Lauwersoog)

• www.wpd.nl
  (Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten, ferry service Ameland–Holwert and return)

• www.wpd.nl/veelgestelde-vragen/tarieven-ameland-2025
  (Ferry fares to Ameland with Wagenborg for 2025)

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Two beautiful rust-brown mega-maidens, one slightly slimmer than the other, stand on the sea dike in Holwert (Holwerd), near the pier overlooking the Holwert-Ameland ferry terminal and the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage site. According to their creator, artist Jan Ketelaar from Drachten, they are not singles hoping that Neptune or an Ameland bachelor will fall for or on them. No, they are waiting for high tide. They are patient types — it can take up to six hours before it arrives. And they never seem to find the tide high enough, as they have been standing there for some time.

The ladies were installed in 2018, when Leeuwarden was European Capital of Culture and all of Friesland was riding the wave, and in 2019. First the thicker one, then a year later the slimmer one. They have since become iconic figures, typical Frisian “bring it on” steel statues. Not a quick artistic job — Ketelaar worked on them over about ten years with long intervals. The two gigantic ‘wiven’ (maidens), five meters tall, are made of welded rods. The gaps were then welded shut again, creating a bumpy structure. Could they withstand a hundred years in the salty sea air and wind force 10 or more?
Photos: Albert Hendriks, Fries Nieuws.

Albert Hendriks from Wolvega, editor at Jachtbouw Nederland and Fries Nieuws as well as travel journalist, uses a Weinsberg CaraCompact Edition Pepper camper as his reporting vehicle. He and his wife search for special holiday destinations on two Dutch-made Dutch ID Infinity e-bikes fitted with Schwalbe Marathon E-Plus puncture-proof trekking tires. Thanks to the sporty geometry of these bikes, available at Bike Totaal, they fit perfectly in the camper’s garage, which is spaciously accessible from both sides. You can follow the duo on Facebook at www.facebook.com/friesnieuws, www.facebook.com/frieslandtravel, and on www.friesnieuws.nl.

Hendriks considers the Elfstedentocht by bike — including a day trip to Ameland from the Zee van Tijd holiday accommodations in Holwert, located on the Elfstedentocht cycling route — the ultimate tour of tours:
“It is the ultimate Friesland experience with two UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in the monumental town of Franeker and the Wadden Sea. The crossing from Holwert to Ameland is not a must, though, as a view over the sea dike at Holwert and a visit to the end of the pier in the Wadden Sea, where the ferry departs and arrives, is already quite spectacular. But to be honest, a bike ride on the island is unforgettable. Very different from the mainland.”