Wadden Sea Dike - Herbaijum | Elfstedenpad Hiking Trail: Section 9

This section of the trail leads north as you walk along the high Wadden Sea dike – with sheep for company – to Harlingen. You continue past the beach at Harlingen and through the Nieuwe Willemshaven port area where you can see the Whale Fountain that surfaced here a few years ago. 

The trail weaves through the beautiful city centre of Harlingen, taking you along canal belt, past old warehouses and through many quaint narrow streets. The more than 600 monuments in Harlingen testify to its importance as a port city. And ships continue to arrive and depart, though today most of them carry tourists. 

Here the skaters began the gruelling trek across the ice to the north of the province. This was one of the most challenging passages especially if the wind was blowing from the east. This stretch is also hard going for walkers with little of interest along the road.

Fortunately, at junction 63 you turn off to the villages Wijnaldum and Herbaijum. Long ago high dwelling mounds or ‘terps’ were built on land that was once beneath the sea. In more modern times significant archaeological finds have been unearthed here.