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Eleven Cities Tour
In the tracks of sailing boats and skaters . 8 days . ship name Anna Antal (Standardplus) . tour code ELF
Holland Bike & Barge Eleven Cities Tour-2010





The Eleven Cities Tour owes its name to two men who decided in the winter of 1809 to skate past eleven Frisian towns in one day, a total of 230 kilometers. The first official Eleven Cities Tour however wasn’t held until 1909. The Race of Races has been held only 15 times ever since, in winters that were severe enough for the lakes and waterways to be frozen over. The last edition has been held in 1997.

Highlights include:
The Eleven Cities
Frisian lakes
Mound villages  
 
The peace, the nature and the Eleven Cities Tour have made Friesland extremely popular with skaters, but certainly also with cyclists. The Frisian towns owe their rise to shipping and trade. Friesland enjoyed its heyday between 1000 and 1500, when the settlements in southwest Friesland in particular profited. The route leads you through these towns, with the green watery countryside in between, where farming usually determines the horizon.
Other important parts of the scenery consist of the numerous little bridges, that ‘leap’ the ditches and the sailing boats that cross the vast lakes like white swans.
Attention is also paid to culture. The picturesque villages, historic towns and the original Frisian traditional costumes complete the image of the greenest province of The Netherlands.
 
The route from day to day
sat     Stavoren, embarkation at 4 PM near station. Biking to Makkum 30
sun   Makkum - Franeker 45
mon   Franeker - Leeuwarden 50
tue   Leeuwarden - Dokkum - Leeuwarden 50
wed   Leeuwarden - Sneek 42
thu   Sneek - Sloten 26
fri   Sloten - Stavoren 35
sat   Stavoren, debarkation before 10 AM near station
 

1 km = 0,62 miles