Netherlands Guide
The north and the Frisian Islands
Sneek
Twenty minutes by train from Leeuwarden, SNEEK (pronounced snake) was an important shipbuilding centre as early as the fifteenth century. At the beginning of August, crowds flock in for Sneek Week, an annual regatta, when the flat green expanses around town are thick with the white of slowly moving sails.
Sneek's train and bus stations are five minutes' walk from the old centre. Stationsstraat leads to the main square, Martiniplein, whose ponderous sixteenth-century Martinikerk (mid-June to mid-Sept Tues– Sat 2.30–5pm; mid-July to mid-Aug also Tues– Thurs 7–9pm; free) is edged by an old wooden belfry. Around the corner at the end of Grote Kerkstraat, the Stadhuis, Marktstraat 15 (mid-July to mid-Aug Mon– Thurs 2–4pm; free), is all extravagance, from the Rococo facade to the fanciful outside staircase; inside there's an indifferent display of ancient weapons in the former guardroom. Heading east along Marktstraat, follow the signs to the nearby Scheepvaart Museum en Oudheidkamer, Kleinzand 14 (Mon– Sat 10am–5pm, Sun noon–5pm; €3; 
www.friesscheepvaartmuseum.nl ), a well-displayed collection of maritime models, paintings and related miscellany. Turn right at the end of Koemarkt and you reach the grandiose Waterpoort, all that remains of the seventeenth-century town walls.