Meppel, Koekange, Nijeveen

Meppel is called the Amsterdam of the north. Not only because they have a Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and Heerengracht, where the Grachtenfestival is held at the beginning of June, but also because of the large Jewish community that lived there before the Second World War. People from Meppel are also called 'mosquitoes', because of the folktale that the inhabitants thought that the tower of the Grote- or Mariakerk was on fire. It turned out to be a swarm of mosquitoes...

Koekange literally means: Pays de Cocagne. Unfortunately, the reality was different in the time that the village came into being. The workers in the peat extraction industry suffered from great poverty. If you are in Koekange in early spring, drive over the Dokter Larijweg. Over a length of 7 kilometres there are about a thousand pear trees that are in full bloom in that period. The village of Nijeveen was originally a ribbon village with a lot of cattle breeding, but has been expanding since the seventies. Maybe it's just for fun: the village has an annual party week, a sing-along festival, a cycling tour, the NK inline skating, the NK water polo in natural water and a whole list of other sporting and recreational activities.