Stavoren

Stavoren claims to be the oldest town in Friesland, a Hanseatic port that traded through the Zuiderzee and had city rights before most of its neighbours, and it is now a village of about a thousand with a harbour, a marina and the ferry to Enkhuizen. Its harbour silted and the trade left, and the story the town tells about that is the Vrouwtje van Stavoren: a rich merchant's widow sent a captain for the most precious cargo in the world, he returned with wheat, and she had it thrown into the harbour in fury - whereupon a sandbank grew where it fell, the Vrouwenzand, closing the port and ruining the town. A statue of her with a child stands on the quay looking out. It is a moral tale about pride rather than history, and the sandbank is real. The Elfstedentocht passes through and the IJsselmeer dyke walk runs from here.

What you actually see

• The oldest Frisian town - a Hanseatic port that lost its trade when the harbour silted.
• The Vrouwtje statue - the merchant widow of the legend, on the quay.
• The Vrouwenzand - the sandbank the story blames for the town's ruin, which exists.
• A ferry to Enkhuizen - the crossing over the IJsselmeer from the harbour.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is small and quiet - two hours. The ferry to Enkhuizen is seasonal and the crossing takes about ninety minutes. The legend is a moral tale, not a record of what happened.

Nearby

Hindeloopen is north; Gaasterland is east; Enkhuizen is across the water.