The Dutch Venice, the village without roads… These are names for a Giethoorn place in my beloved province of Overijssel. Despite the fact that the village is quite far from Amsterdam, many tourists still come here. What is so special about it?
Photo by piotr ilowiecki
The cost of the tour, including a cruise along the channels of Giethhoorn, costs 75 euros for adults, they also offer a 50% discount for kids. It is a good price because a bus ticket from Amsterdam to Giethhoorn will cost you almost 50 euros.
Now, let’s talk about Giethhoorn… Here you are surrounded by water, channels, pretty houses, harmony, and coziness! No cars, no buses, no roads… Well, there are no roads only in the old part of Giethhoorn. So you can come by car but you will have to leave it at a parking space, and walk or take a bike from there. Or go boat, of course!
In the old, central part of the village (to tell the truth, the territory of the village is large, and I always wanted to call it a “city”) the streets look exactly as I imagined. Water is instead of a pavement. There is a small wooden bridge in front of almost each house. And if some bridges are part of the street, others are part of an entrance to a private house with nice mini-gates.
Perhaps, the first thing you will like about Giethhoorn is its perfect lawns and absence of fences. I have been thinking for two years by now: who are they, those invisible fairies or gnomes? Do they cut the lawns at night? Lawns, flowerbeds, shrubs are always in a perfect condition. Besides, you won’t notice a person cutting the grass or watering flowers during the day here. If you are seeing someone, this is the best way to surprise your date (I meant a trip to Giethhoorn). In case if you are single right now or have just met someone on a dating travel site, think about Giethhoorn as a perfect first date venue!
In the center of Giethhoorn, the landscape looks different. Everything is just as beautiful as in a fairytale but quite crowded. Not only people but also dogs are enjoying a water trip here (the tour is pet-friendly)!
You can have a sit in a small café and have a lunch or drink some coffee under the warm sun (if you’re lucky!). I went to the Grand Cafe Fanfare, named after a movie, which by the way made Giethhoorn so popular. Well, in 1958 the Dutch director (Bert Hanstra) shot the “Fanfare” comedy here! Here you can go to the gift shop and buy something to remember the tour and the place.
Houses here, by the way, are made with completely different tastes and in different styles. There is a hotel with lux suites and a Michelin-starred restaurant; there are also B & B hotels. And you can rent a whole house or farm and spend there not just a weekend, but a whole vacation in the province of Overijssel! To tell the truth, I would love to come back and spend my vacation there.
It is possible that you will like it in Githhorn so that you want to buy a house here. Judging by the statistics of Yandex search queries, the Russian-speaking audience has a surprisingly high interest in this topic 🙂 This house, for example, costs 387,500 euros.
By the way, I do not know if you have already paid attention – quite many houses in Githhorn have a roof made of reeds. I already told in a post about our bike tours in the province of Overijssel, that such roofs are typical for this region.
