Leeuwarden is the natural base for exploring Friesland. Franeker has the famous Eise Eisinga Planetarium, an eighteenth-century home-built planetarium that is still the oldest working one in the world. Harlingen is the old Frisian port — gabled merchants' houses, working harbour, and ferries out to the Wadden islands of Terschelling and Vlieland. Dokkum is a fortified town to the north-east, where the missionary Boniface was murdered in 754. Bolsward preserves an exceptional fifteenth-century town hall. Sneek is the boating capital of the Frisian lakes.
For something a little wilder, drive or take the train and bus to Holwerd for the ferry to Ameland — a beach and bird island in the Wadden Sea — for an unforgettable day on the sand.