Dutch ancestry tour: Friesland

Jaap was everything one could hope for. Before the tour he communicated frequently and easily. Our plans to meet were straightforward and flexible. For instance, we were traveling with our young adult sons and didn't want the day to be too long, so we modified the tour to fit our needs. The day of the tour we found him to be so friendly and kind. His knowledge of the Groningen area is unmatched. He put together a tour for us that was so thorough, interesting, and fun. But most of all, we were so impressed with the historical and genealogical work he did to supplement and complement our existing information. What a great tour and what a great man.

Jaap was more than amazing at arranging our tour. Very detailed and special entrances to buildings the general public would not have access to. It was magical!

Our family had a spectacular tour with Jaap as our tour guide. My kids said that it was one of the best experiences, not just of our trip to the Netherlands, but out of all of our family trips. We learned so much about Friesan history and our own family. One really remarkable aspect is we were able to see houses and buildings that connected to family history to the 1800s...I think this is something very special as in many places in the world the buildings would have been torn down or there wouldn't be enough detailed records. Jaap also put together a binder that contained well-researched, fascinating information on our family in the Netherlands. If you have Friesan ancestry I would highly recommend as a way to learn more about your family and understand more the emigrants from this part of the world.

We had a wonderful day with Jaap showing us around Friesland! He showed us several houses (from the outside) where our ancestors lived and we found a couple of their graves, and churches where they likely would have worshipped, all of which was very meaningful. In addition, I feel like we got a much better understanding of Friesland in general, which also made me feel more connected to my roots. All of that plus a soft binder full of information he had gathered about our family for us to take with us and read over later meant we came away feeling we had learned so much. Thanks for such a rewarding day!

The tour and genealogy report provided by Jaap de Boer were nothing less than fabulous. The research that he did on my family was amazing. I learnt so much about my family that I did not know. He did the research that I would have liked to do but was unable to do because of language and time constraints. Mr. de Boer was timely, courteous, knowledgeable, and kind. I feel like I won the lottery in regards to this tour and the information provided. I cannot praise or recommend Mr. de Boer enough!

My wife and I recently returned from a month long visit to the Netherlands and several Scandinavian countries. We spent 2 days in the Frisian Area of the Netherlands on an ancestry tour with Jaap de Boer. It was the highlight of our visit! The preparation and detail that Jaap provided exceeded our expectations. He spent two entire days with us and was flexible, entertaining, informative, and very thorough. He even left us with two notebooks with family history, copies of documents, and wonderful photos. We would highly recommend him and would like to thank you for such an enjoyable and memorable experience.