Leens offers several distinct reasons to stay: estate history and garden art, wildlife, and a walking route. When planning a visit, you can choose your focus based on whether you are especially interested in historical perspectives, plants and animals, or a route on foot. Verhildersum, Landhuis en Parktuin Oosterhouw, DoeZoo and “Rondje Leens” represent different sides of the area. This selection can help you decide whether Leens is a good fit for the kind of discovery trip you are looking for.

Estate, sculpture garden and regional history

The estate around Borg Verhildersum in Leens covers 33 hectares. Verhildersum also has the northernmost sculpture garden in the Netherlands. The estate and sculpture garden have different focuses: one describes the size of the estate, while the other is a distinct attraction centred on sculptures. At the Museum Borg Verhildersum, the history of Groningen on the Wadden coast is presented from the perspectives of the nobility, farmers and agricultural labourers. If you would like to compare different social perspectives during your museum visit, these three groups provide a concrete point of reference.

Garden art at Oosterhouw

Landhuis en Parktuin Oosterhouw in Leens offers a different way to explore cultural history. The park garden covers 10,000 m² and spans three centuries of garden art. This puts both the garden’s size and its longstanding artistic focus centre stage. The estate also features an 11-metre-high viewpoint. These features offer a clear point of comparison with Verhildersum: there, the focus is on the estate, sculpture garden and museum; here, it is on garden art and the park garden. You can therefore decide which focus better suits your interests.

Wildlife and natural history at DoeZoo

DoeZoo is a zoo in the village of Leens that focuses primarily on insects. It also features insectivorous plants and insect-eating animal species. This combination brings the zoo’s central theme to life and sets it apart from the garden and museum attractions. DoeZoo offers an educational tour about its animals. The educational museum displays skeletons and taxidermied animals, and uses the exhibition to explain the anatomy of the animal kingdom. A tour about animals and an exhibition about anatomy are thus presented as two different ways of learning. Admission also includes wildlife golf. DoeZoo is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00; check the opening hours again before your visit.

A walking route starting and ending in Leens

A route description published in 2020 outlines the approximately 12-kilometre walking route “Rondje Leens”, which runs from Leens via Streekje 't Stort and the villages of Houwerzijl and Ulrum, before returning to Leens. Its approximate length and the named stops give you a concrete idea of the route. You can include it in your travel plans as a dedicated walking option. Check the condition of the route before setting out.

Choose your accommodation to suit your stay

When looking for hotels in Leens, first decide which themes you want to shape your stay: cultural history, garden art, wildlife or a walk.

Discover more destinations: Pieterburen, Zuurdijk, Westernieland, Wehe-Den Hoorn, Vierhuizen, Hornhuizen, Eenrum, Houwerzijl.

For the overarching travel overview: De Marne.