The land of fairy tales in the Netherlands: The village of Giethoorn!

With its canals, centuries-old historic houses and increasing tourist density in recent years, the village of Giethoorn in the Dutch province of Overijssel allows you to experience Venice without having to travel to Italy.

Visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, the village is famous for its 176 wooden bridges, narrow passages, historic houses, lush nature and colorful flowers, canals, boats and houses reminiscent of the old hobbit village.

Giethoorn full day tourist cruise

Throughout the day, tourist boat trips are organized in the canals around the square where the village is located, where the historic houses are located and where about 2,600 people live. Dozens of boats roam the village's canals, most of which are frequented by Chinese tourists during the summer months.

Though considered a museum by many tourists, most of the native houses are on the island but are accessed via wooden bridges owned by their owners. Cars are forbidden in the village and most of the traffic consists of boats. There is only one narrow road from north to south, these are sidewalks and bike lanes.

Most historic houses in the village have two doors. The side door of the house was used routinely, while the front door was used only to enter the house during marriage and to remove the burial after death.

Giethoorn aka carob

It is said that the first settlers of the village "Giethoorn", which means carob, gave their village that name when they discovered hundreds of carob trees when exploring the area. For the fourth consecutive year, Giethoorn is among the 22 Monopoly World Cities games including Monopoly World Cities, Istanbul.

Blog Categories

Popular Blogs