Franeker still has the layout of a small medieval town: a near-rectangular grid bounded by the Wijde Greuns canal on one side and the Noorderbolwerk on the other, with the Voorstraat and Eise Eisingastraat as the main streets and water down the middle. The whole circuit is about an hour's walk, with low brick bridges, period houses leaning slightly into the water, and a steady traffic of small pleasure boats in summer.
The most attractive stretches are along Eise Eisingastraat and around the Korendragershuisje. In good weather, a boat circuit can be rented from the small jetty near the Voorstraat; it covers most of the town and the outlying countryside ditches in an easy hour.