Meppel, Koekange, Nijeveen

Meppel is also called the Amsterdam of the North. Not only because they have Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and Heerengracht, where the Grachtenfestival is held at the beginning of June, but also because of the large Jewish community that lived there before the Second World War. Meppelaars are also called 'mosquitoes', because of the popular story that the inhabitants thought the tower of the Grote- or Mariakerk was on fire. It turned out to be a swarm of mosquitoes ...

Koekange literally means: Lazing Land (Pays de Cocagne). Unfortunately, the reality was different at the time the village was founded. The workers in the peat extraction suffered great poverty. If you are in Koekange in early spring, drive along the Dokter Larijweg. Over a length of 7 kilometres there are about a thousand pear trees in full bloom. The village of Nijeveen was originally a ribbon settlement with a lot of cattle breeding, but has been expanding steadily since the 1970s. Perhaps it is for its sociability: the village has an annual party week, a sing-along festival, a cycle round, the NK skeelering, the NK water polo in natural water and a whole list of other sporting and recreational activities.