Netherlands Travel - Friesland Province
With its group of dune-swept islands, a charming capital in Leeuwarden, and a chain of eleven immaculate, historically significant cities/villages, Friesland, one of the three northern provinces, is a well-deservedly popular tourist destination. It is situated on the mainland but also includes the West Frisian Islands. The islands themselves are hardly more than an extended sandbank, with portions accessible by taking vigorous, wadlopen hikes along the ankle to knee-deep mud flats that border them to the south. In the north, you can find long expanses of hourglass-fine sandy beaches and a network of bikeways.
The mainland's landscape, like that of much of the Netherlands, is primarily green, with canals cutting it in half dotted with black-and-white Frisian cattle and pitch-black Frisian horses. Sleek wind turbines, a contemporary alternative to the last operational windmills in the region, take advantage of the powerful westerlies to break up the monotony of the pancake-flat terrain. The inhabitants of this area speak a distinctive language called West Frisian and follow a traditional way of life.
So through this series of articles, I intend to share our stories and experiences of traveling across the Friesland province of the Netherlands with our fellow photography and travel enthusiasts. I hope they help you plan your travels across this beautiful province!
Many nations have windmills, but the Netherlands has so many of them and they are such a significant part of the nation's industrial and cultural legacy that many people throughout the world associate windmills with the country. From the Middle Ages onward, windmills have been a defining feature of the Dutch countryside. In the heyday of the windmills during the 19th century, there were roughly 9,000 windmills in the country. Even though the Industrial Revolution replaced windmills with steam, diesel, and later electricity, over 1,000 antique windmills, many of which are still operational, still stand throughout the Netherlands thanks to historic preservation initiatives. Today, along with cheese, tulips, and clogs, they are among the most well-known images of Holland. For this reason, visiting a windmill has to be at the top of your travel itinerary when visiting the Netherlands.