Description

Eleven Cities Cycling Tour

Eleven Cities Cycling Tour. Self-guided 6 days – 5 nights.
Half April – Half October, the tour is also available in short and long versions send an email to info@cycleclassictours.com

Book your Eleven Cities Cycling Tour with Cycle Classic Tours or simply book your Bikes with us, and be sure you enjoy your unique 11-City Tour without any hassle. Cycle through the heart of Friesland and visit the 11 Cities on a top-class Gravel Bike, Road Bike, Trekking Bike, or E-Bike in beautiful Friesland!
Our Cycle Classic Tours office and bike rental location are on the border between Friesland and Overijssel.

Need a Bike Only in Friesland? BOOK HERE

Cycling Tour – Self-Guided Road Bike, Gravel Bike, E-Bike or Trekking Bike Tour.
You can book for 6 days—5 nights with luggage transfers from April 15 to October 15—prices start from €725 per person. You can also book the bikes only with the GPX routes and luggage transfers and book your own accommodation. We deliver the bikes to our hotel and pick them up at your hotel on your last day door-to-door. You can also leave your suitcase(s) with our driver, and on your last day, you’ll receive your suitcase(s) back on your lats cycling day.

For self-guided options and Bike Rentals please send us an email: info@cycleclassictours.com we deliver and pick up bikes all around Friesland.

What is the Eleven City Tour?

The Eleven City Tour is an ice-skating event called Elfstedentocht. It’s the most popular event in the Netherlands and even the World Cup football or the Olympics are less interesting for the Dutch. The last winner was Henk Angenent in 1997, he is still world-famous in The Netherlands and a legend. The Elfstedentocht skating event is the oldest skating event passing through eleven historical cities of the Dutch province of Fryslan. In fact, The 11 towns have city rights that’s why it’s called 11 Cities. In the history of the Elfstedentocht, only 15 events have been held, the last one in 1997.

The Eleven Cities Tour is a cycling tour that follows a circular route along the canals and rivers of Friesland. The 11 historical Frisian towns are Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, and Dokkum. Friesland is the province for cyclists. Friesland was once again chosen as the best cycling region in the Netherlands! And this shouldn’t come as a surprise. With a wide cycling network, culinary cycling routes along the eleven cities, and our accessibility for E-bikes, Friesland is suitable for all kinds of cyclists!

Eleven Cities Cycling Tour, on Gravel, Road, or E-Bike

Discover the beauty of Friesland with Cycle Classic Tours and cycle through all eleven historic cities during this unique 6-day cycling tour. Just a pick of all the highlights.

Jump on your bike and discover Friesland and all the beauties of the Eleven Cities!

The Eleven Cities Cycling Tour is inspired by the legendary Eleven Cities Ice Skating Tour
Visit the eleven historic cities of Friesland
The villages each have their own unique history
Friesland means Cycling in a historical landscape with beautiful forests, hedgerows, heathlands, grasslands, and canals.
The vegetation and wildlife, a very varied landscape with historic cities, picturesque villages, and traditional farms
Friesland is unique with all its wooden bridges and many canals
Stavoren, the oldest town in Friesland
Friesland is one of the most rural provinces in the Netherlands and feels like a different country, people speak Frisian the second official language in The Netherlands
Sneek is a cozy little town famous for the Waterpoort, a water gate in a defensive wall that was built in 1613.

Download information as PDF

Day 1

Arrival Day Leeuwarden

Welcome to one of the friendly provinces in the north of The Netherlands: Friesland! Visiting Leeuwarden is the perfect opportunity to discover the vibrant capital of Friesland province. Leeuwarden is trendy these days with, high-quality museums and it offers excellent dining opportunities. Late afternoon you will meet one of our Cycle Classic Tours staff members with the bikes and you will get a short briefing so you will be ready for tomorrow's start! For Parking your car: Parking garage "Hoeksterend" in Leeuwarden, approx. € 29,- per week.

Day 2

Leeuwarden-Sneek-Ijlst-Sloten-Balk-Rijs 85 km-53 miles

On your first cycling day, you discover four of the eleven cities: Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, and Sloten. You will start at the Statue of Us Mem in Leeuwarden. The image of 'Us Mem' (Our Mother) has perhaps become the symbol of Friesland. From the statue of downtown Leeuwarden, you start cycling southwards to Sneek. Sneek is a water sports town, but there’s more to do in Sneek! The lively town has some ancient monuments and several museums, as well as a pleasant and varied shopping area full of pavement cafes, bars, and restaurants. From Sneek, you go further to Ijlst, Langweer, and Sint Nicolaasga before arriving in Sloten. This tiny little village is worthwhile to stay for a coffee, it's the smallest of the eleven cities and once a strategic location along the waterway from Sneek to the Zuidersea. Enjoy its beautiful residential buildings and fortifications before you set off to Balk and finally reach Rijs/Oudemirdum. Here you will stay your second night.

Day 3

Rijs-Stavoren-Hinderloopen-Bolsward-Harlingen-Franeker 83km-52 miles

Today you cycle through six of the eleven cities: Stavoren, Hinderloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, and Franeker, and leave the Gaasterland region. You will cycle the first part along the Ijsselmeer (formerly the Zuiderzee ‘Southern Sea’). All around the IJsselmeer, there are numerous little ports. The first 11 cities of today are Stavoren. Surrounded by water from the Ijsselmeer this cozy little place commerce played a large role in the Golden Age. It's like you are in Copenhagen when you walk along the harbor and look across the sea. Next to the harbor with a view of all ships and colorful houses. A little further you will cycle through Hinderloopen. This city prefers to do things its own way and that makes Hindeloopen a real trendsetter. The straight connection from the Zuidersea to the Oostseabrought them all kinds of cotton called the 'sits'. In the nineteenth century, you could find all kinds of 'fashionistas' in Hindeloopen. From Hinderloopen it's time to cycle to Workum before you arrive in Bolsward. Take a stroll through the old city centre of Workum it’s an attraction in it of itself. Pretty soon you arrive in Bolsward, a lovely historical Hanseatic town that captures the hearts of many tourists. From here to Harlingen. Harlingen is the only Harbor City in Friesland you will discover beautiful warehouses, amazing facades extraordinary inner harbors, and atmospheric streets. However, being located next to the sea gave Harlingen an important position in trade and it gained city rights in 1234. Earlier than Leeuwarden and about 100 years earlier than Franeker. Through the ages, welfare increased, something you can still see in the more than 500 monumental buildings throughout the city. Nowhere else in the Netherlands, you will find this many monuments per square meter. You can stay your third night in Harlingen or cycle to Franeker ( depends on available hotel accommodation as well).

Day 4

Franeker-Dokkum 63 km-39 miles

Your start will be the University City of Franeker. The inspiring history of Franeker is visible in the city center, with its grant monuments and small historic jewels. Set off from Franeker or Harlingen through Dongjum, Anjum, Berlikum, Sint Annaparchie, Marrum, and Holwerd before arriving in Dokkum. Between Franeker and Dokkum the Wadden Sea lies a beautiful vast meadow landscape that is dissolved on the horizon by mysterious cloudy skies. The harmonious landscape with reed fields and flowering meadows is only interrupted by quiet villages, stately farms, and canals. In Sint Annaparochie you will find the Van Harenskerk, where Rembrandt van Rijn married his Saskia, it's definitely worth a visit! You will overnight in Dokkum one of the hidden treasures of Friesland. The town was orientated towards the sea to which it had an open connection. It became strategically important and was fortified with defensive earthworks and moats in 1582, the outlines of which can be seen to this day. Later the harbour silted up and the town became land-orientated. It has long attracted pilgrims who come to pay homage to St. Boniface, a missionary from England who came to convert pagan Frisians to Christianity. He was murdered here in Dokkum in the year 754. Outside the chapel, there’s a well that Boniface was said to have discovered and blessed. The clear water has healing properties or so some say.

Day 5

Dokkum-Leeuwarden 25 km-16 Miles

There is an option to do the 5 days - 4 nights in that case you can skip day 5 in case you want to cycle further to Leeuwarden. You will discover the part that is skated twice during the Elfstedentocht. Along the way, you will not only see the Eleven Cities Monument but also the famous bridge of Bartlehiem. Today is easy pedaling along the water of the Dokkumer Ee and lots of time for a coffee break in the charming Frisian villages. The decision point of the Eleven Cities Tour is in Bartlehiem, the hamlet in the north of Friesland, where the Finkummervaart connects the Dokkumer Ee. Here skating the Eleven Cities riders left towards Oudkerk on the way back to Leeuwarden. Bartlehiem owes its name to a monastery that was once called Bethlehem. Bartlehiem will be informed of this later. Bartlehiem does not have city rights, it is not even a village, but this hamlet is still a mandatory place on the Eleven Cities Route. It is the only place along the tour where you can see Elfstedentocht participants in action in three directions. From Bartlehiem you freewheel the last part of your memorable Elfstedentocht before you arrive for your last night in the capital of Friesland: Leeuwarden.

Day 6

Departure Day Leeuwarden

End of the tour, Check out between 09.00 and 10.00 Thank you for joining Cycle Classic Tours. We love to see you back on one of our other tours. You can leave the bikes at the hotel.

Book Date

Book Now

Booking Information

All prices are based on double rooms - for bookings & inquiries: send an email to info@cycleclassictours.com The hotels we working with are:

Luggage transport

We operate our luggage service van from half April to Half October. Please note: Luggage must be ready at reception from 9:00 AM for the transportation to the next hotel. The driver only takes luggage’s which are provided with a Cycle Classic Tours label. CCT is not responsible for any damages or lost luggage. CCT is responsible from the moment we pick-up your luggage at your hotel until it is delivered to the reception of the next hotel.
You can also book luggage transfers only with the maps and GPX files for 195 euro per person

Extra Information

Fill out and submit the online booking request or send an email to info@cycleclassictours.com
We confirm you and charge a deposit fee of €375 per person
We tend and try to send all over within 48 hours.
You will receive an invoice, the tour program, and the terms and conditions
Please do not make travel plans until you receive our confirmation.
Your confirmation invoice contains a statement reflecting your deposit payment and the balance due.
The balance payment is due 30 days before the start of the tour.
The information given is accurate and reliable, to the best of our knowledge. Should errors be found, we will rectify them as quickly as possible. However, we accept no responsibility for errors or inaccuracies.

Included

6 DAYS - 5 NIGHTS price from €725

2 nights in Leeuwarden day 1 & day 5
1 night in Rijs/Oudemirdum
1 night in Franeker/Harlingen
1 night in Dokkum
Breakfast
All luggage transports
One 20 liter Ortlieb bag per bike, with lock and repair kit
One handle bar bag per two persons
Personal start and finish pack
Roadbook with maps
GPX routes
Additional tourist information and tourist tax

Not Included

High Season supplement July 15 - Aug 31 €100
Single supplement €340 - single travelers €495
Breakdown assistance € 50 per person
Bike rentals - Check all models: CCTBIKERENTAL.COM/FRIESLAND
Gravel Bike Carbon €250
Gravel bike package €75 and includes: Ortlieb frame pack, Ortlieb handlebar-pack, Ortlieb handlebar-pack
Gravel Bike Alu with bike rack € 200
E-Bike €200 Canyon - Cube Sport with 500Wh battery
Trekking bike €150
Child Seat €25
Standard Road Bike Carbon Ridley Fenix SL Disc Utegra €230
Premium Road Bike Carbon Ridley Fenix SLIC Disc Utegra €265
Alu Road Bike Canyon Rim Brakes €175
Panniers 2 x 20 liter Ortlieb €40 ( when renting only)
Helmet €10
E-Bike - Road Bike Insurance €25 (covered up to 500 euro)
Extra nights price TBC
Tourist tax
Taxis
Lunches
Dinners
Drinks