Dates and deadlines

• The workshop takes place from July 1-5, 2019.
• The scientific program begins on Monday morning and ends Friday before lunch time.
• Recommended arrival and departure are on Sunday, June 30, 2019 and Friday, July 5, 2019. There will be a free bus and ferry transfer between Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the Hotel van der Werff.
• The deadline for submission of titles and abstracts is April 30, 2019 for talks and May 30, 2019 for posters.
• There is limited financial support for junior participants available. PhD students and postdocs can apply for free lodging for the duration of the workshop (see registration form). The deadline for application has passed.

Location and accommodation

• The venue of the workshop is Schiermonnikoog, one of the Frisian Islands in the northern Netherlands.
• The workshop takes place at the local community center (Dorpshuis Schiermonnikoog).
• All invited speakers  will be accommodated at Hotel van der Werff. Other participants are kindly requested to make their own reservations at Hotel van der Werff or alternatively at the neighboring Hotel Graaf Bernstorff.

Travel information (Courtesy of Martin Bright)

The island of Schiermonnikoog can only be reached by boat, from the port of Lauwersoog. A scheduled ferry service sails several times a day between Lauwersoog and Schiermonnikoog. We suggest that you take the ferry times into account when booking your travel.

For information on rail and bus travel in the Netherlands, see the NS website (in English). There are no reservations on Dutch trains, and no special fares for buying in advance. Whatever type of ticket you are using, you need to check in at the beginning of your journey and check out at the end. You can buy a ticket online in advance and either print it out or use the mobile app. Single tickets are also available from ticket machines, though you will pay €1.00 extra for the privilege of using a physical ticket. Most locals travel using an “OV-chipcard”, which you can buy for €7.50 and then load up with cash. The chipcard is valid on all trains and buses in the Netherlands.

For information on all public transport in the Netherlands, including the buses to Lauwersoog, see the 9292 website. The OV-chipcard is also valid on buses. In many cities you cannot pay the driver in cash anymore.

If you’re coming from elsewhere in Europe and don’t want to fly, check out The Man in Seat 61 for train information. There are two direct Eurostar trains per day from London to Amsterdam, and as of June 2019 even three per day. (Unfortunately, they do not yet run direct in the opposite direction.)

Getting to Lauwersoog

Lauwersoog is connected by bus to both Groningen and Leeuwarden, which are connected to the Dutch rail network and are each a little over two hours by train from Schiphol airport. There is not much to choose between the two routes, though if you have some time to waste then Groningen probably has more to offer. (Update: in 2018 Leeuwarden, together with the rest of Friesland, was European capital of culture.)

Via Groningen:

On arrival at Groningen, the quickest way to the bus stop is to walk towards the back of the train and go up the stairs to the footbridge. This will bring you straight to bus stop Z, from where the number 163 bus leaves for Lauwersoog. (If you leave the station by the front entrance, don’t worry, just walk past all the other bus stops until you get to stop Z.) Get off at bus stop “Haven” in Lauwersoog.

Take the footbridge to the bus stop

Bus 163 to Lauwersoog departs Groningen from stop Z

Via Leeuwarden:

On arrival at Leeuwarden, walk out of the front of the station and turn left. Bus number 155 to Lauwersoog leaves from bus stop C. Get off at bus stop “Haven” in Lauwersoog, which is the final stop.

Bus 155 to Lauwersoog departs Leeuwarden from stop C

The ferry from Lauwersoog

The ferry from Lauwersoog to Schiermonnikoog is operated by Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten, and full information is available on their website. Ferries leave four times a day, at 9:30, 12:30, 15:30 and 18:30, with an extra ferry at 6:30 on weekdays. (From Schiermonnikoog to Lauwersoog the time schedule is: 10:30, 13:30, 16:30 and 19:30, with an extra ferry at 7:30 on weekdays.) The crossing takes 45 minutes, and there is a (rather basic) cafeteria on board. You can buy a ticket at the ferry terminal in Lauwersoog; the price is €16.25 for a return ticket (which is the only type of ticket they sell). There is a baggage car into which you can load your baggage before you board the boat, so that you don’t have to carry it around with you on board.

The ferry terminal in Lauwersoog

Boarding the ferry in Lauwersoog

For those arriving too late to catch the 18:30 ferry, there is also a “water taxi” operated by the same company; see their website for details. The water taxi carries a maximum of 12 passengers. It is very expensive for one person, but becomes more reasonable as the number of passengers increases.

For those staying in the Hotel van der Werff, the hotel runs a shuttle bus from the ferry terminal on Schiermonnikoog to the hotel. There are several buses waiting when the ferry arrives; the correct bus has the name of the hotel on the side. Alternatively, Arriva bus number 2 will also take you from the ferry terminal to the centre of the village (€4.00 return or €2,20 single ride or €2,00 with the OV-chipcard). See here for further local bus information (in Dutch). If you prefer, you can walk it in about 40 minutes.

The hotel shuttle bus waiting as the ferry arrives on Schiermonnikoog