Why spending a day in Giethoorn is like a page out of a fairytale….
Nestled in the beautiful Dutch countryside about 2 hrs from Amsterdam in the province of Overijssel is a quaint, enchanting little village called Giethoorn. It is also commonly referred to as the “Venice of the North” and even the “Venice of Netherlands”.
Getting There: There are 3 options to get you to Giethoorn: (please note that the village is closed on Sundays)
- Using the public transport (train & bus) will take you about 2+ hrs
- You could book a day trip with many a different tour company (tours start from around 90 Euros per person). One of the preferred options since everything is pre-arranged and all you need to do is show up and be prepared to have one of the best trips of your life
- Rent a car and self drive
Whichever option you choose driving through this mesmerising countryside with the wonderful smells of the crisp pure air; carpets of flowers dancing in the fields and beautiful windmills moving in unison with the breeze is an experience in itself.
Once you reach Giethoorn the peace and serenity that hits you as soon as you arrive makes you feel like you are entering a totally different world. One of the reasons is because this idyllic village has no roads hence no cars or buses of any kind. Fresh unpolluted nature at its best. Giethoorn has about 3000 inhabitants living on multiple little islands connected by over 100 rustic wooden bridges with canals meandering and criss crossing all through this beautiful place.
The only way people move around here is by boats on the canal or on foot using the many footpaths and wooden arch bridges. The quaint little thatched roof houses set against clear blue skies in the background with small boats and waterbirds alongside the canal paints a picture perfect memory taken right out of a page of a fairytale.
If you were wondering why the name Giethoorn – it dates back to the early 13th century where the story goes that the original settlers of the then marshlands were a group of farmers who discovered a collection of wild goat horns (gietehorens) thought to have belonged to wild goats who died in the flood of 1170. The words ‘Goat’ and ‘Horn’ were combined and shortened to form the current name of this fairytale village “Giethoorn”
Things to Do:
- Take a cruise on the canal (recommended) – the best way to see all of Giethoorn (costs about 7 Euro and takes about an hour)
- Visit a local museum
- Check out the local cheese factory and sample some of the best Giethoorn Gouda Dutch cheese
- Rent a bicycle and ride around
- Or you could just spend hours walking alongside the canal
If you would like to stay a night or two Giethoorn has a few hotels and B&B’s to choose from.
When its time to leave you realise such pure and simple beauty makes everything about Giethoorn seem unreal at times; so don’t be surprised if you end up pinching yourself just to ensure that you are actually here and all of this is not just a mystical dream. You will return with wonderful unforgettable memories and postcard perfect pictures to add to your travel memoirs.
If there is anything else you would like to know or any more tips you would like to have do drop me a message and I will get back to you. Hope you do get a chance to visit this Fairytale village sometime soon!!