24 hours in the Westerkwartier

Rub the sleep from your eyes and take a good look around. You may not notice it at first glance, but the longer you look, the more unique the landscape becomes. Winding ditches, villages on hills and endless distant views. You are in the middle of the National Landscape Middag-Humsterland, the oldest cultural landscape in the Netherlands. A beautiful area to discover by bike. View the landscape from the eye of art group De Ploeg, for example, with one of the De Ploeg cycle routes. Along the way, you will encounter the mound villages that characterise the landscape. These villages are situated on top of hills, so that in the past, when the land flooded, people still kept their feet dry. Ezinge is such a mound village, here you will find Museum Wierdenland where you can learn all about the history of Middag-Humsterland. At the highest point of the mound you will find the church with a small cemetery, turn on The Province podcast and learn more about it in 3 minutes.

A little further on you will find Garnwerd. In this cosy village on the Reitdiep, it sometimes seems as if time has stood still. With a church, a mill and an authentic little bridge, the village actually has everything you could want. Did you know that here you will also find the smalste straatje van Nederland that you are allowed to drive through by car? Garnwerd is an ideal place to make a stopover. At Reitdiep you will find two restaurants where you can go for a delicious lunch. At Garnwerd aan Zee, children can have fun in the water and sand while parents watch from the terrace. On the other side of the bridge you will find the historic premises of Bij Hammingh. While looking out over the water, enjoy a delicious meal.

Now that your belly is full again, you can get back to it for a whole afternoon. In and around Leek there is also a lot to do. On the outskirts of the village, for instance, is Borg Nienoord and its surrounding estate. Inside the stately building, you can discover how the Groninger nobility used to live and in the garden you can feast your eyes on de schelpengrot. On the estate you will also find the family park where children can really let off steam. Is the weather not so good? Then you can visit Posta7 in Tolbert, a village nearby. Inside, they have plenty of activities, from miniature golf to curling. Want to experience something really unique? Then you can even go on safari in the Westerkwartier. At ostrich farm Fam. W. De Kreij, in the village of Boerakker, you can go on a real ostrich safari. There you will learn everything about the largest ratites in the world.

After a day full of adventures in the Western Quarter, it is time to sit down for dinner. Fortunately, there are plenty of options for that too. For example, lovers of fine dining can go to Herberg Onder de Linden in Aduard. The chefs here put their best foot forward every evening to put another surprising menu on the table, which is why they have a prestigious Michelin star. Prefer to imagine yourself in faraway places? Then come to the Eisseshof for an Indonesian meal. Lovers of history can also dine elaborately in the last farmborg in the Netherlands, the Piloersemaborg.

When night falls, it's time to get under the sheets. At the Hayema Heerd, you can do so in a very special way, in a stro-iglo. You don't sleep on a normal mattress there either, because this one is made of straw as well. If you prefer to sleep on a real mattress, they will pamper you at In 't Holt 1654 in the heart of Zuidhorn. If, after the two previous borgen, you would like to visit a third one during your visit to the Westerkwartier, you can stay in the Coendersborg holiday cottage. Lying in your bed, you will look back on a day full of beautiful memories.