Venice is undoubtedly the most famous destination in Europe for its canals and gondola rides. It is an amazing place and it must be on your travel list but people who have been there will agree that Venice is super commercial now and filled with waves of tourists. What about a non-commercial and more natural alternative in northern Europe, there is a small village with no roads near Amsterdam called Giethoorn. This village is a paradise to visit with its lush green scenery, super clean canals, and traditional Dutch houses.
|| TAKE A STROLL ||
You can spend the entire day walking around in the town and explore the beauty of Giethoorn. It is not a very small place and you should take your time to explore the canals, traditional Dutch homes and their decorations outside. There are plenty of photo opportunities at every corner. I will let the pictures speak now.
|| RENT A BOAT ||
You can rent an electric boat at just 15 euro/hr to explore the canals on your own. Initially, it’s a bit tricky to ride if you have never ridden a boat earlier. After some zigzag riding initially, we managed to control the boat and then it was super fun.
|| DAY TRIP OR NIGHT STAY ||
Giethoorn is a very popular day trip from Amsterdam as it is just a 2 hr journey by train. We decided to stay overnight to start early and avoid the day trip tourists. It was actually worth it as we were the only one in the canal at 7-8 am and the crowd started coming only after 10 am.
|| FOOD ||
There are plenty of restaurants in the town where you can stop by and have breakfast or lunch by the canal.
|| WHERE TO STAY ||
All stay options in Giethoorn were super expensive as per our budget, so we decided to stay in the nearby town called Steenwijk (which is actually the nearest train station as well). It is just 10 mins by car or 20 min by bike and itself a great town to explore. There was an Indonesian festival going on with great food and music when we visited Steenwijk.
Please let us know in the comments if this post inspires you to include Giethoorn in your next Euro trip. Also check out other gems of Europe here and subscribe our blog for further notifications.
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.
Thanks Gordon. Every blog post and information mentioned is from our personal experiences. We visited Giethoorn last year during our 90 days backpacking trip in Europe.
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