When I first saw images of Giethoorn, I almost immediately fell in love with the place.  Undoubtedly, I wanted to go to this car-free village in Holland.

Yes! It is a car-free village and its waterways make it easier to travel through the village by boat. If you are in Amsterdam and want to be away from hustle and bustle of the city to experience some calm, peaceful and, relaxed outing, Giethoorn is the best bet!

Due to our long journey the previous day and the not-so-ideal weather, we were having a second thought about visiting this village, but the beauty of Giethoorn and the excitement of seeing such an incredible landscape took over our thought. Finally, we took our roadmap and started our day trip to Giethoorn from its neighbor village – Nijeveen. As soon as I entered the village, I was startled by its jaw-dropping beauty!

Giethoorn is a small village in the province of Overijssel, the northeastern part of the Netherlands that has about 3000 inhabitants. After the flood that occurred during the 10th century, hundreds of goat horns were discovered here. Hence the village was once called Geytenhorn originates from the word Gietehorens (goat horns) that later became Giethoorn.

The village has canals where you can sail by boat. Footpaths beside waterways are for those who like to tour the village on foot or by bicycle. Now here is a little fact for you – Giethoorn has about 170 wooden bridges that are connected to the houses on little islands from the mainland.

I assume pictures make more justice than my words so here is a photo essay of our day trip to Giethoorn.

How to get there:

• The Village is not too far from Amsterdam. It takes about 2 hours to reach the village. We had hired a car from Amsterdam and drove there the previous evening. It roughly took us about 1 hour 45 minutes.
• There are also a few tour agencies that conduct day trips to Giethoorn along with a few other tourist attractions.
• If you are traveling by public transport, you can hop on a train from Amsterdam Central to Mappel. After Mappel you should take an intercity train and then a bus to reach here. I wouldn’t recommend this unless you have planned a long Netherland trip and would want to enjoy a long countryside view from your windowpane, as it may take 5-6 hours of journey to reach Giethoorn.

Where to stay:

• We stayed in an Airbnb room in Nijeveen – a neighboring town.
• There are some B&B rooms, Airbnb, resorts available to stay overnight.

When to visit:

We visited Giethoorn during early spring (end of April) when flowers just started to bloom. Nevertheless, you can visit this place throughout the year, because each season is beautiful in its own way. As the summer falls, the village turns vibrant with colorful flowers and during winter you could even enjoy ice skating on the frozen canals.

Things to do in Giethoorn:

Giethoorn is a small village that can be enjoyed on a day trip. Apart from strolling on its walkways and taking a ride in a boat, you can also visit its Museums – Museum De Oude Aarde, Museum Gloria Maris and, Museum Giethoorn ‘t Olde Maat Uus.

“Museum Giethoorn ‘t Olde Maat Uus” has an authentic Dutch farm with a fisherman’s cottage and some boathouses.

Museum Gloria Maris has some brilliant collections of sea world along with beautiful ornaments made of pearl, coral, shell some home decors that are also for sale.

That is it! Now you have a mini guide on Giethoorn 🙂 Go and explore it!