Pure Delight | The Taste of Friesland
Surhuisterveen, Burgum, Harkema
Cycling through this region means more than just moving through a landscape, you’re moving through a story. Between the hedgerows and meadows, the old mills and farms, you start to notice how much of what you see, smell and taste leads back to the land itself. This is a place shaped by time, by nature, and by the people who have lived and worked here for generations. This isn’t the Friesland of sails and cities, but of quiet roads and working farmyards. A region where time seems to slow down, yet where every day is spent preserving and renewing, always starting from the soil. Hedgerows and alder lanes mark the natural borders between the fields. They filter the wind, shelter animals and create a landscape full of glimpses, as if you're cycling through green stage curtains. This land wasn’t easily won. What is now a leafy, layered landscape once began as rough peatland and poor heath. Peat cutters lived in turf huts. Life was tough, and the land didn’t give in easily. That’s how a grounded, resilient way of life emerged: what you have, you share. What you make, you make with care. That spirit still lives on, in the people, in the land, and in the taste of what’s made here. Because tasting here is more than just flavour. In the local bread, cake or biscuits, you taste the grain from nearby fields. In the jams and juices, you taste fruit ripened under the Frisian sun. A product in a farm shop isn’t just a product, it’s the story of craftsmanship and commitment. Here, working places are the heritage. Not locked behind glass, but still in use, the mill that still grinds, the clog maker working with wood like generations before him, the bakery where dough is still shaped by hand. The shop where regional products are selected with care. Everything here is the result of generations of experience, and you can feel it. Often, it’s the same family passing down the trade. Sometimes, it’s young makers returning to the traditional skills of the past, not because it’s faster, but because it’s better. The landscape offers space and breath. From the lookout towers, you can gaze over De Leien or the Burgumer Mar. You’ll hear the rustle of reeds, the call of the godwit, the whistle of a swallow. And while the birds come and go with the seasons, some things never change: the love for the craft, the care for the land, and the belief that good things are allowed to take time. You don’t have to see it all when cycling here. In fact, the best way to take it all in is to choose. To get off your bike now and then. To taste a little more, of the food, the people, the landscape. You don’t have to search for it. You’ll find it along the way. This premium cycling route was created by our editor: Désirée van Uffelen.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Koartwâld , 9283 TW Achtkarspelen | 43.1 KM | |
|
From
92
to
23
|
1015 M | 1 KM | |
| Head northeast on Koartwâld | 180 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hurde Eker | 44 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Hurde Eker | 791 M | ||
| You are now at section 23 | 0 M | ||
|
From
23
to
11
|
1449 M | 1.4 KM | |
| Head northwest on Pûsterwei | 684 M | ||
| Continue onto Pûsterpaad | 765 M | ||
| You are now at section 11 | 0 M | ||
|
From
11
to
10
|
1159 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head southwest on It Langpaed | 1.1 KM | ||
| Make a slight left | 30 M | ||
| You are now at section 10 | 0 M | ||
|
From
10
to
9
|
2946 M | 2.9 KM | |
| Head north | 311 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Feartswâl | 108 M | ||
| Turn left onto Krúswei | 913 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Krúswei | 711 M | ||
| Turn right onto De Rysloane | 612 M | ||
| Continue onto It Kleasterbreed | 291 M | ||
| You are now at section 09 | 0 M | ||
|
From
9
to
13
|
1016 M | 1 KM | |
| Head west | 74 M | ||
| Turn right onto De Sânnen | 942 M | ||
| You are now at section 13 | 0 M | ||
|
From
13
to
12
|
477 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head northwest on De Buorren | 477 M | ||
| You are now at section 12 | 0 M | ||
|
From
12
to
40
|
1361 M | 1.4 KM | |
| Head north on Tillewei | 355 M | ||
| Continue straight | 274 M | ||
| Continue onto Hege Dyk | 732 M | ||
| You are now at section 40 | 0 M | ||
|
From
40
to
72
|
43 M | 0 KM | |
| Head north on Hege Dyk | 43 M | ||
| You are now at section 72 | 0 M | ||
|
From
72
to
71
|
2653 M | 2.7 KM | |
| Head southwest | 76 M | ||
| Turn right | 72 M | ||
| Continue onto Jisteboerewei | 545 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Jisteboerewei | 910 M | ||
| Turn right onto Joost Wiersmaweg | 392 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Schoolstraat | 550 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 104 M | ||
| Turn right onto Ieswei | 4 M | ||
| You are now at section 71 | 0 M | ||
|
From
71
to
70
|
129 M | 0.1 KM | |
| Head southwest on Ieswei | 129 M | ||
| You are now at section 70 | 0 M | ||
|
From
70
to
69
|
1801 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head west on Ieswei | 1.5 KM | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Ieswei | 6 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Ieswei | 274 M | ||
| You are now at section 69 | 0 M | ||
|
From
69
to
66
|
1008 M | 1 KM | |
| Head west on Rijksstraatweg | 1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 66 | 0 M | ||
|
From
66
to
5
|
1070 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head west on Rijksstraatweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 05 | 0 M | ||
|
From
5
to
81
|
2303 M | 2.3 KM | |
| Head west on Rijksstraatweg | 388 M | ||
| Turn left onto Swarte Mar | 109 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Swarte Mar | 268 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Dokter Ypeijlaan | 945 M | ||
| Continue straight | 7 M | ||
| Turn right onto Zomerweg | 586 M | ||
| You are now at section 81 | 0 M | ||
|
From
81
to
54
|
1577 M | 1.6 KM | |
| Head south on Kloosterlaan | 1.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 54 | 0 M | ||
|
From
54
to
62
|
895 M | 0.9 KM | |
| Head southwest on Schoolstraat | 791 M | ||
| Continue onto Tsjibbe Geartsstrjitte | 104 M | ||
| You are now at section 62 | 0 M | ||
|
From
62
to
27
|
1003 M | 1 KM | |
| Head south | 328 M | ||
| Turn right | 34 M | ||
| Turn right onto Van Harinxmaweg | 641 M | ||
| You are now at section 27 | 0 M | ||
|
From
27
to
84
|
824 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head south on Van Harinxmaweg | 824 M | ||
| You are now at section 84 | 0 M | ||
|
From
84
to
47
|
904 M | 0.9 KM | |
| Head northeast | 44 M | ||
| Turn right | 97 M | ||
| Turn left onto Knilles Wytseswei | 370 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Greate Buorren | 178 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Greate Buorren | 215 M | ||
| You are now at section 47 | 0 M | ||
|
From
47
to
83
|
1271 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head northeast | 14 M | ||
| Turn right onto Greate Buorren | 1.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 83 | 0 M | ||
|
From
83
to
82
|
2588 M | 2.6 KM | |
| Head south on Reed | 2.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 82 | 0 M | ||
|
From
82
to
79
|
2039 M | 2 KM | |
| Head northeast on Mienskerwei | 974 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Mienskerwei | 252 M | ||
| Turn right onto Sumarderwei | 412 M | ||
| Continue onto Teije Tolstraat | 22 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Teije Tolstraat | 379 M | ||
| You are now at section 79 | 0 M | ||
|
From
79
to
75
|
2312 M | 2.3 KM | |
| Head west on Elte Martens Beimastrjitte | 251 M | ||
| Turn right onto Snakkerbuorren | 56 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Snakkerbuorren | 38 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Snakkerbuorren | 157 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 1.1 KM | ||
| Turn left | 650 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Achterweg | 87 M | ||
| You are now at section 75 | 0 M | ||
|
From
75
to
76
|
2149 M | 2.1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Torenlaan | 229 M | ||
| Turn left onto It Heechsân | 269 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on It Heechsân | 68 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Lange Geestlaan | 607 M | ||
| Keep right onto Lange Geestlaan | 976 M | ||
| You are now at section 76 | 0 M | ||
|
From
76
to
77
|
587 M | 0.6 KM | |
| Head southeast on Boskwei | 587 M | ||
| You are now at section 77 | 0 M | ||
|
From
77
to
16
|
1592 M | 1.6 KM | |
| Head southeast on Boskwei | 460 M | ||
| Turn left onto Skeanpaad | 797 M | ||
| Turn right onto Skeanpaad | 280 M | ||
| Turn right | 55 M | ||
| You are now at section 16 | 0 M | ||
|
From
16
to
42
|
836 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head east | 58 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto De Dunen | 186 M | ||
| Turn left onto Betonwei | 376 M | ||
| Turn left onto Barchhiem | 67 M | ||
| Turn right | 149 M | ||
| You are now at section 42 | 0 M | ||
|
From
42
to
49
|
2469 M | 2.5 KM | |
| Head east on De Bosk | 595 M | ||
| Turn left onto Nijewei | 1.1 KM | ||
| Continue onto De Stûken | 819 M | ||
| You are now at section 49 | 0 M | ||
|
From
49
to
37
|
1216 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head south on Feartswâl | 413 M | ||
| Continue straight | 45 M | ||
| Turn right | 278 M | ||
| Continue onto Havenstraat | 480 M | ||
| You are now at section 37 | 0 M | ||
|
From
37
to
14
|
527 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head southeast on Havenstraat | 7 M | ||
| Continue straight | 5 M | ||
| Turn left | 327 M | ||
| Turn right onto Gedempte Vaart | 188 M | ||
| You are now at section 14 | 0 M | ||
|
From
14
to
92
|
1855 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head northeast on Gedempte Vaart | 1.5 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Koartwâld | 373 M | ||
| You are now at section 92 | 0 M |