Giethoorn
village

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Meet Giethoorn

We would like to introduce Giethoorn to you as locals. This authentic Dutch place is located in the Northeastern part of the Netherlands. It is 85 minutes drive by car from Amsterdam to Giethoorn. Amsterdam is our capital city of the Netherlands. Yearly 1 million people from all over the world are visiting Giethoorn. Therefore, it is ranked in the top 10 of cities being visited in the Netherlands. The village is well known in the Netherlands but also far beyond. In conclusion, it is hard to name a country where nobody from that country has visited Giethoorn. Giethoorn has many nicknames. For example: 'Venice of the North', 'Dutch village without roads' or 'Dutch Venice'. The part of Giethoorn that most foreign tourists will see when they visit Giethoorn is called: 'Giethoorn village'. This part of Giethoorn contains all little islands which are connected by 176 bridges to the mainland. In fact, on all these islands in Giethoorn village there are houses (farmhouses) which are built in the 18th and 19th centuries. A walking/cycling path named: 'Binnenpad' runs right trough this area. Tourist shops and restaurants (which are well represented) are interspersed with typical Dutch houses with thatched roofs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Dutch village without roads

No roads can be found in this  Giethoorn village  area. Therefore, we can speak of a car-free zone. That's unique in the Netherlands. However, this area is also referred to the commercial heart of Giethoorn. For instance, Places where you can  rent whisper boats, board a guided cruise, enter a restaurant or visit a museum are all in this area. This cycling/foot path ''reffered as'' (Binnenpad) is like walking on a film set. We live in a social media era. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to wait for your turn to get that  perfect picture  of that roof thatched house. Above all, your social friends must of course be impressed by your holiday photos.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Dutch fairy tale

All these roof thatched houses are often surrounded by deep green well-kept lawns with beautiful flowering hydrangeas. So, in combination with the many waterways with rows of weeping willows along the canals and the 176 bridges you imagine yourself in a romantic fairy tale. However, Giethoorn in the Netherlands is one of the top-10 tourist locations in the Netherlands. In other words, you are never alone when you visit Giethoorn.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   History of Giethoorn

The village was created 800 years ago by manually searching for peat. In fact, the locals at that time dug by hand and created a complete channel system. In conclusion, with all this  digging all islands were  created. After that, these islands have been connected  by 176 walking / cycling bridges and the current thatched houses were built on those islands. After that, the cars arrived in the Netherlands. But, the old village was not suitable for cars and car traffic. In fact, the locals voted to preserve the old. Therefore, the decision was made to leave the village intact. So, this created the famous car-free zone of the Dutch village. In conclusion, it is not that the locals of Giethoorn cannot afford a car but that they simply cannot park in front of their door. Tips for parking in Giethoorn. Our ancestors probably never expected that all this digging would eventually be the basis for 1 of the bussiest tourist hot spots in the Netherlands.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Roof thatched houses

About 100-200 years ago there was poverty in Giethoorn. so, if you had little money at the time you had your house covered with reeds. In fact, it's the other way around now. In other words, placing roof tiles on a house is now cheaper than having it covered with thatch. However, residents of Giethoorn village are happy to stick to the tradition of the roof thatched houses. Therefore, they renew their roofs every 40 years.

Bigger cities like: Zwolle, Steenwijk, Heerenveen and Meppel  are located near Giethoorn.