Leeuwarden: the coolest Dutch city you’ve never heard of
21.07.2023 - 08:08
/ roughguides.com
/ Andy Warhol
By nature of its design, there is something immutable about Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland in the Netherlands’ northwesternmost province. Hemmed in by historic canals, reflective lakes, century-old dikes and dairy farms, the city wears its Dutch stripes well, offering a stopped-clock snapshot of the country as it once was. But look beyond the gabled houses, canal boats and cheese shops, and there’s something far more intoxicating and anarchic going on.
Despite outsider status, Leeuwarden-Fryslân is in the midst of an upswing, beating rivals Maastricht and Eindhoven to be crowned this year’s joint European Capital of Culture – a title it’s sharing with Valletta in Malta. The city is reveling in its new role as an exaggerated community of creativity, too, and the arts scene is thriving. Leeuwarden may only receive a trickle of tourists compared to Amsterdam or Rotterdam, but that’s just another reason to go. Here are six reasons why it should be your next stop in the Netherlands.
With his pop art conundrums and eye-popping mathematical lithographs, Dutch graphic artist MC Escher is to Leeuwarden what Andy Warhol is to New York. Growing up in the city on Grote Kerkstraat, now home to the recently spruced-up Princessehof Ceramics Museum, Escher went on to create 3D dreamscapes of tessellating ducks and staircases that led to nowhere, becoming a pin-up for 1960s’ psychedelia. By walking the city, you’ll see what influenced him: De Oldehove, the town’s wonky, unfinished tower that leans far more than the one in Pisa; the checkerboard fields that gave context to his most famous work. But to better understand his legacy, check out the exhibition Escher’s Journey, a chronology of 80 brain-bending artworks, at the Fries Museum (April 28–October 28, 2018).
Leeuwarden’s canal-side jail Blokhuispoort, gloriously framed by imposing turrets, gothic arch and lock-and-key courtyards, is not what it seems. Beyond the masonry walls, which once contained the province’s most hardened criminals, the jail has been reborn as a ground zero for Frisian hipsters and turned into an eccentric cultural centre. There’s a designer library and café, where cells are recast as reading rooms; a funky youth hostel with Alcatraz-style bunks; and Proefverlof, one of the most talked-about restaurants in the region. With its barred-up windows, it deliberately doesn’t shy away from its edgy history. Which is exactly the point.
© travelfoto/Shutterstock
Leeuwarden is a city that knows gesture. Keen to share their love of this little-known province, the Frisians waste little time with formalities. That explains madcap scheme Leen een Fries, an odd collection of 90 free experiences that all comers can now try. You can rent a librarian to guide