Giethoorn is often referred to as the ‘Dutch Venice’ because it is nestled within about 90 kms of waterways. Although we would say that is the only comparison you can make.
Giethoorn is unique in many ways. A lot of the houses can only be reached by boat, even the postman delivers the mail by punt.
We stayed at the marina http://www.havensweerribbenwieden.nl which cost 12 euros per night and then you could buy electricity, showers, water for a small fee as and when required. We found this to be a great location.
We managed to hire a boat across the road from the marina for 30 euros for two hours. Which was slightly cheaper than walking up to the main strip and also a lot quieter as the queues for boats was quite long.
We were given a map and told the route should take us two hours and off we went. The boats used on the waterways are called whisper boats, they all have electric motors.
As you enter Giethoorn the canal is very narrow and it was all a bit chaotic with people crashing their boats into each other.
There’s a series of bridges that cross the canal and some are so low we both had to lean right down to get under them.
There’s a myriad of canals and the routes are colour coded so you can follow your desired route.
We meandered along and soon left the crowds of other tourists behind.
We had to cross a massive lake, luckily Colin is excellent with working out directions (I’m useless) and we headed straight across the middle of it. Just before we entered the next canal we passed an ice cream seller. It was a bit of a surreal sight to be honest!
Our route took us 3 hours to complete, so we ended up paying an extra 10 euros but had such fun.
If you don’t fancy hiring a boat, there are plenty of cycle routes too. Giethoorn was an extraordinary place and so pretty we had a fabulous time.
