Destinations,  Europe,  Friesland,  The Netherlands

AtoZ Friesland with kids: cuddling cows

Friesland is by far the province of the Netherlands with the biggest number of (melk) cows. Therefore the C of the A to Z of Friesland with kids: cuddling cows.

cuddling cows in Friesland 5
Friesland with kids: cuddling cows

In Friesland you don’t need to look for long in order to find cows. Almost in each meadow you will see some. In fact there’re 281.000 cows and around 647.000 inhabitants, so almost a cow per two persons. We live just at the end of the city and our house is overlooking a meadow. There we have from April to October some four legged neighbors: either cows or sheeps. Honestly we prefer the sheeps, as the cows bring a lot of flies with them 🙁

cuddling cows in Friesland 4
Friesland with kids: cuddling cows

If you are not so lucky and don’t have cows nearby, you can always visit a farm. We often go to the Harmanna Hoeve (Ieslumbuorren 1 in Harlingen) to buy fresh milk and say hello to the cows.

cuddling cows in Friesland

In general farmers in Friesland are really friendly and you can have a look at the cows. There are also “open farm days”, like the one organized by campina. This year the next one is either 6th or 16th of May. You can check the boerderijdagen  web for the adresses.

cuddling cows in Friesland 2

In each farm there’re activities and information for the kids as well as milk and other diary products to taste. Last year Liam had a lot of fun riding a little tractor and he even got a “kiss” from a calf 🙂

cuddling cows in Friesland 3
How much drink and eat a cow?

You could also go to boerderijrecreatie and book a cow cuddling arrangement. We wanted to bring our Spanish friends here, but as it isn’t recommended for pregnant women, we decided to pospone it to the summer.

fotocrecit: https://twitter.com/FamilieHoltrop/status/659368688005591040
fotocredit: https://twitter.com/FamilieHoltrop/status/659368688005591040

Have you ever cuddle a cow? or did you get a kiss fro a cow?

4 Comments

  • emilia

    As a kid I spent every summer vacation on my grandmom’s farm… One year there was a calf born. Very weak… I overheard my uncle saying that he’ll not survive so they will have to do something… I was not waiting to hear what, I ran over and stroke his head, talking to him, trying to get him to eat and drink… Every day I was going to him, spending time there and talking to him.
    He survived that summer, not sure how long, but I have a soft spot for cows and calves since 😉

  • Ann

    I have never kissed or cuddled a cow! What an experience.

    When you wrote about cows having more flies than sheep, I guess it makes sense that most petting zoos I’ve visited have sheep instead of cows. I’m glad I found your site because I’m really looking forward to the A-Zs of Friesland. I miss NL!

  • Rhonda Albom

    I think New Zealand might have more cows than people, but I am not sure. I won’t be cuddling them, they scare me. (I know it’s silly.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *