Ameland

Ameland is one of the West Frisian Islands islands in the Netherlands.

Understand
About 3600 people live on Ameland permanently, many of them working for the tourism industry on the island. There are four main villages: Ballum, the official main settlement in terms of administration, Nes, where the ferry arrives, Hollum and Buren. Furthermore there are several small hamlets.

Get in
A ferry service runs from Holwerd, Friesland at least 6 times per day, but double as often in high season. It's operated by Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten and costs €12/14 in low/high season. The trip to Ameland takes 45 minutes and the ferry arrives in the harbour of Nes.

To get to Holwerd, you can make use of a bus service from train station Leeuwarden to the ferry dock. If you're travelling by car, you can best leave it at the parking space in Holwerd as you will not really need it at the island and the ferry ride will cost up to €95 for the car alone.

Get around
The island has three bus lines, of which one only operates in the peak season. The two lines that operate all year will take you to all four villages. The bus lines are operated by Arriva.

There are many bike rental companies in the villages, that can provide all sorts of bikes. Most of the hotels have bike rental services too.

Do
Ameland has a small airfield near Ballum. Aero Service Ameland provides tours and lessons from there. A tour of all villages on the island starts at €90.

The Strandexpress (only Dutch) takes you to the far east of the island over the beach. There is a stop and short walk about halfway where the driver explains a lot about the island, the dunes, animal and plant life and the sea. From the far east Schiermonnikoog is clearly visible.



Buy
There are plenty of shops to provide for daily needs and a good range of souvenirs. Nes, Hollum and Ballum all have a supermarket and there are several bookshops around.

Eat
All villages have many restaurants, offering all sorts of food.

On the west side of the Island in Holum there is Cantina Dolores. A Mexican restaurant/tapasbar/steakhouse; well worth a visit! Take a look at their menu.

Drink
A definite must is a taste of Nobeltje. This punch is sold at Cafe-Hotel-Restaurant-Liquor-Store Nobel in Ballum. Nobeltje can be served in combination with coffee (Amelander Koffie), served on ice, but is also good on top of pancakes. As Nobeltje is mainly (but not only) sold in Ameland, tourists, especially those coming to Ameland with their own boat, are known to buy large quantities of Nobeltje in order to have a stock large enough to survive until they are able to return to Ameland.

There are some other liquors which are only sold on Ameland: Torentje is sold in the C1000 in Hollum, Amelander Kruidendrank and Commandeurtje are sold in the Gall & Gall in Nes.

Sleep
There are several hotels in Ameland, many in Nes. You can also rent houses or apartments from private owners, often through the tourist office. As on all the islands, prices for accommodation rise in high season, sometimes quite steeply, and are often also higher on weekends.



Go next
If you're up for more island life, you may want to hop over to one of the other West Frisian Islands, with Texel being the most popular one. Alternatively, explore the Northern Netherlands after your return to Holwerd, including nearby places like Franeker, Drachten, Leeuwarden and Groningen.