Are you going on holiday to Friesland and looking for a place to unwind? Then put Anne-Famke’s Pleats on your list. On the Dokkumer Ee, near Stiens, you'll find a charming farmhouse with a circular B&B and a cosy ice cream and tea garden. But what really makes this place special, you'll only discover when you walk onto the property. Here, everything revolves around hospitality, meeting, sharing, and enjoying the peace and quiet.
Anne-Famke’s Pleats: more than a B&B
Anne-Famke's Pleats is the joint project of Jori and Wini, together with their daughter Anne-Famke, after whom the farm is named. Their dream was simple: to share the place where they feel most at home with others. ‘We think this is the nicest place in the world. And we want to share that,’ they say. This idea is reflected everywhere you look. Not only in the Bed & Breakfast and the ice cream and tea garden, but also in the small-scale concerts and other events they organise. These are always freely accessible. ‘We pay for everything ourselves,’ says Wini. ‘Not because we are rich, but because we want everyone to be able to join in.’ Meeting each other and giving something back to the local community, that's what Anne-Famke's Pleats is all about.
Taste Friesland in the tea and ice garden
The vision of Jori and Wini is also evident in the ice cream and tea garden. They opt for products from Friesland as much as possible and enjoy collaborating with local entrepreneurs. For instance, the ice cream is from Gorredijk, offering surprising flavours like sugar bread and liquorice. With coffee, there's cake from Blooming Bakery, the bakery run by care institution Fier, where women escaping domestic violence are trained as bakers. Cheeses, sausages and beers also largely come from the region. This makes a stop at the terrace not only tasty but also a wonderful way to support Friesian makers.
Are you by any chance in the neighbourhood on the second Wednesday of the month? Then you can join De Eetkamer. For €7.50, a three-course dinner is served, but it's mainly about the encounters. Neighbours, holidaymakers and also residents of the asylum seekers' centre sit down together. After each course, a bell rings and everyone changes places, allowing you to meet new people all the time. A wonderful initiative that shows how Anne-Famke’s Pleats wants to connect people.
Anne Famke’s Pleats: a nice tip for somewhere to stay, or somewhere to visit if you're in the vicinity of Dokkum.
Sleeping on the Dokkumer Ee
Anne-Famke's farm, 'Pleats', is also a bed and breakfast tip that fits perfectly on the greener list. The two B&B rooms are largely furnished with repurposed materials. Old doors have been given a new lease of life, a discarded office kitchenette was salvaged, and a terrace that would otherwise have ended up as rubble also got a second chance here. From your room, you can look out over the Dokkumer Ee and be right in the heart of the Frisian landscape.
Also interesting: Discover Dokkum!
There's plenty to do in the surrounding area too. Cycle a section of the Eleven Cities Route, visit the historic city centre of Dokkum, go stand-up paddleboarding – with boards ready for you at Anne-Famke's Pleats – or take a refreshing dip in the Dokkumer Ee. Travelling with children? Then there's a good chance they'll entertain themselves for hours first on the farm with a trampoline, swings, a sandpit, an outdoor kitchen, and old drainpipes to clamber through. Our advice? Don't plan too much. Sit for a while longer with an ice cream or a cup of coffee and enjoy the peace and quiet. It's precisely those unplanned moments that often make a holiday the most beautiful!
Discover more about this beautiful place!
More Friesland tips
- Also see: Itinerary for a week in North-West Friesland
- Also see: Tips for Leeuwarden.
Photo credits: Iris Boersma (main image), Geartsje Rienks (ice creams), Martijn Heemstra (cottage), Lucas Kemper (room).
