Giethoorn

Known as the 'Venice of the Netherlands', a car-free water village of thatched cottages and a hundred-odd wooden footbridges along its canals, bordering Weerribben-Wieden National Park.

Giethoorn lies in the municipality of Steenwijkerland in Overijssel province, in the northeast of the Netherlands, about 115 km from Amsterdam. With almost no roads for cars and everything connected by canals and little wooden bridges, it is known as the 'Venice of the Netherlands'. The village was founded in the 13th century by peat diggers, and the ditches and lakes left behind by peat extraction form today's network of waterways. The old village stretches about 2.5 km along the main Dorpsgracht canal and the Binnenpad footpath, and its thatched farmhouses and some 180 wooden bridges are its signature sights. Giethoorn sits on the edge of Weerribben-Wieden National Park, the largest lowland peat bog in northwestern Europe, and nearby are the old Zuiderzee towns of Blokzijl and Vollenhove, as well as two World Heritage Sites: Schokland and the Colonies of Benevolence. The best season is Apr–Sep, when you can rent an electric 'whisper boat' to cruise the canals and Lake Bovenwijde, with flowers and greenery at their peak in May–Jun; in Jul–Aug and at midday on weekends, crowds are huge and the canals jam with boats, so stay overnight and explore in the early morning and evening. Winters are cold and shops keep shorter hours, but in very cold years the canals freeze over for skating. Areas to explore: ① the old village canals and two small museums, half a day; ② cycling or boating to Dwarsgracht, Kalenberg and Ossenzijl to experience the national park wetlands, half a day to a full day; ③ driving to the old towns and polder routes of Blokzijl, Vollenhove and Schokland, half a day to a full day. Getting there: take the train from Amsterdam or Utrecht to Steenwijk (about 1.5–2 hours), then bus 70 for about 15 minutes to Giethoorn Centrum; by car it's about 1.5 hours, with paid parking outside the village. In the village, getting around is mostly by rented boat, bike or on foot. Allow 1–2 days. Please respect residents' privacy, and keep to the right when boating.

Top sights

• Giethoorn Village Canals (Dorpsgracht) – The heart of Giethoorn: a car-free water village of thatched cottages, small wooden bridges and narrow canals, where renting a battery-powe…
• Museum Giethoorn 't Olde Maat Uus – A preserved old farmhouse museum showing the traditional life of the Giethoorn waterway village, where people dug peat, wove reeds, and pol…
• Museum De Oude Aarde – A private mineral and gem museum by the canal, displaying geodes, fossils and gemstones from around the world, with a gem shop on site.
• Bovenwijde – A wide, shallow lake east of Giethoorn, where boats leave the narrow canals for open water, a stretch that every boat tour route passes thr…
• Dwarsgracht – A small village west of Giethoorn, with the same canals, wooden bridges and thatched farmhouses but far fewer visitors, ideal for a quiet r…
• Weerribben-Wieden National Park – The largest lowland peat bog in northwestern Europe, where reed beds, lakes and canals intertwine; you can kayak, cycle and birdwatch, and…
• Ossenzijl & De Weerribben Visitor Centre – The northern gateway village of the national park, where the visitor centre explains peat bog ecology and boat trips and canoe rentals take…
• Kalenberg – A linear waterside village in the heart of the national park, its houses lined along a single canal; reachable only by bike, on foot or by…
• De Wieden Visitor Centre & Laarzenpad – The southern visitor centre of the national park, where the most popular draw is the Laarzenpad “boot path”, a walk through peat bog in rub…
• Blokzijl – A 17th-century harbour town on the Zuiderzee, with a circular harbour basin, a lock and Golden Age merchant houses preserved intact, the fi…
• Vollenhove – An ancient Zuiderzee town that was once the seat of the Bishop of Utrecht's castle, where the harbour, churches and noble estates form a pe…
• Steenwijk – Giethoorn's railway gateway, with its star-shaped fortress ramparts and cathedral preserved; a worthwhile hour to explore while changing tr…
• Schokland – An island once swallowed by the Zuiderzee, now an “island on land” after land reclamation, and the Netherlands' first UNESCO World Heritage…
• Colonies of Benevolence – Frederiksoord – The birthplace of the Netherlands' 19th-century poverty relief experiment, with tree-lined avenues, colonists' cottages and a museum formin…
• Hunebed D53 Havelte – The second-largest prehistoric dolmen in the Netherlands, a roughly 5,000-year-old Funnel Beaker culture tomb nestled among heather and woo…
• Giethoorn – A “Venice of the Netherlands” with no roads for cars, thatched farmhouses lining the canals, and a village explored by small electric boat.

Where to eat

• De Lindenhof – A two-Michelin-star restaurant in a thatched farmhouse, holding two stars since 2005, surrounded by an English-style ga…
• De Rietstulp – An affordable Dutch pancake and home-style restaurant on the canal, using organic local ingredients, right next to the…
• T'Achterhuus – A cozy Dutch eatery with wooden interiors, serving pancakes during the day and fish set menus in the evening at good pr…
• De Grachthof – A family-run restaurant by the main canal that also rents boats, with a south-facing terrace overlooking passing boats.

Itineraries

• Hoge Veluwe, Hanseatic Towns & Giethoorn Tour – Head north from Arnhem through the national park and Hanseatic towns along the IJssel River to the water village of Gie…
• Grand Netherlands Loop Self-Drive Tour – A comprehensive loop around the Netherlands, from canal cities to islands, northern water towns, the Hoge Veluwe, and h…