Dokkum is one of the eleven historic cities of Friesland, tucked into the province's northeastern corner near Groningen. It is famous as the place where the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface was killed in 754 while attempting to convert the Frisians — an event still commemorated at the Bonifatius Chapel and spring outside town.
The town itself is a compact, canal-ringed beauty. The Admiraliteitshuis recalls Dokkum's time as a naval port, and the old centre rewards a leisurely stroll. Nearby, the village of Anjum has the wind mill museum De Eendracht, and the former fishing village of Moddergat — now home to a small museum about the 1883 fishing disaster — is also worth the short drive.