This bike tour takes you through the countryside, along farm ditches through the villages of Tirns and Reahus, passing by town farm De Sibbe where you can buy delicious organic produce, as well as right past historic churches and wine farm Thabor, where the old monastery in Tirns used to stand.

Tirns

Tirns is a small mound village on the Franekervaart canal. Its population has fluctuated around one hundred and eighty for years. Tirns is located five kilometers above Sneek and is a popular place to live for commuters. The village has a long history, which is still clearly visible in the villagescape.

The beautifully situated little church was founded in the last year of the 17th century to replace an older place of worship dedicated to Lambert. A kilometer south stood the monastery of Thabor, still recognizable by the large mound with a farmhouse. It was a priory of Augustinian choristers, founded in 1406 by a Sneker chieftain who himself entered his monastery. This monastery has remained known because several chroniclers worked there, of whom the abbots Worp and Petrus are the best known with very valuable data about Fryslân in the early 16th century. The monastery was destroyed by the Geuzen in 1572.

Reahûs

In the middle of Friesland's meadows you can find the village of Reahûs (Roodhuis), tucked between Sneek, Bolsward and Wommels, on the south side of the municipality of Littenseradiel. When you enter the village, the R.K. Sint Martinuskerk is the first eye-catcher of the picturesque village.

Surrounding the village are mainly the grasslands, which brighten the village with the beautiful green colors. The adjacent Franeker Vaart completes the peaceful, rural picture.

Scharnegoutum

Scharnegoutum is a village located on the Zwette, a few kilometers north of Sneek and is the only village in Friesland through which the Elfstedentocht, via the Zwette, leads directly. The Zwette is the waterway that connects Sneek and Leeuwarden and is an important part of the Middelzee route that was completed a few years ago.
Scharnegoutum originated around the 7th century. But already in the 1st century AD people lived in the vicinity of the village. On old maps the place is referred to as Scarnum, also called Goutum, and at that time there must have been many mills to drain the water from the many currents in the area. On the mound is the Martens Church, built in the year 1861 and the former large presbytery.

Tip: deviate from the route and visit one of the 2 nature reserves of Scharnegoutum.