Welcome to Giethoorn: a paradise bathed in silence, water and nature

Venice has nothing to envy to its northern twin. Spread on the canals with the bucolic reflections of Giethoorn, a hidden Dutch paradise.

There are on Earth, some places similar to paradise shrines fallen from heaven. These are small ends of our world, immersed in a fairy atmosphere and out of time. They offer onirical parentheses and invite a quasi mystical fullness. They are often surrounded by silence and nestled with a flourishing nature. These are confidential havens of peace, but fortunately some let themselves appear and discover through some walks. One of them nests in the Netherlands and takes the form of a small village. Giethoorn is a hamlet nestled by the water and flooded with greenery, where no path is accessible by car. A real one Venice The Netherlands.

At the sound of a few quiet steps on the paved, a few horns of vintage bikes or a few clapotis of waves failing on the hulls of boats, life flows quietly. Seen from above, the gold-roofed roofs stain the emerald and hauled landscape of canals. The flower parterres perlent in rainbow and embalming the aisles. Visitors then stroll through bridges into bridges and let themselves go to an endless dream.

You also immerse yourself in the magical universe of Giethoorn.

Giethoorn, where the horizon is confused between heaven and earth

In the 13th century, Europe continues to write its story. The Crusades beat their full, the wars of independence broke out, kings were fallen, borders drew, civilizations stormed, the cantons sealed alliances and in all this tumult, a small Dutch village broke between the pages. He receives his official name: Geytenhorn, meaning goat horn . The peasants and farmers of the time discover the horns of wild goats, surely drowned in the great flood of 1170. Over the years, the hamlet took the short name of Giethoorn.

It gradually becomes a peat colony. The extraction of the peat led to the formation of lakes and ponds. This fossil material originated from the decomposition of organic matter in water saturated environments. From the 17th century, the inhabitants raised houses on the islands of farmland with the roofs of chaume. Habitats where lawn and flower beds run today. They also built bridges between each of them. The typical boats, led by a long perch, were leaving the village at the edge of a submerged city. Thus, the water continued to shape Giethoorn and flow slowly at the foot of the homes.

Under a carpet of water and greenery, the Dutch Venice calls you

If the joyous brouha of cities, the permanent animation, the amoncellements of shops and crowded intersections can have their charm, sometimes we just want to unravel our head and catapult for miles. We dream of putting our tympans to the diet, waking up in a hanse of nature and crossing a magical little being and singing around the corner of the street. Fortunately, there is, almost, such a place on Earth. His name also seems straight out of a Tolkien: Giethoorn.

The Dutch people love to live and slip through the water. Like the Venetians, the two thousand six hundred inhabitants of Giethoorn flourished in a typical lake village in the heart of the province of Orverijssel. This labyrinth of wooden bridges and enchanted gateways brings you through ponds, reeds and glowing channels.

The first thing to do when you arrive in this village straight out of a fairy tale, it’s probably a walk. As romantic as a bucolic, when you are touched by the charm of Giethoorn, time is figurative. At the turn of old houses and farms: silence, sometimes just shattered by the cancanoe song of the ducks, light waving on the streams of water, the frontiers picked with greenery. Then all at all, roses that gently plant in the softness of the lagoon, birds that fly through a boat and lovers who take their hand under a weeping willow.

At nightfall, a wind of voluptuousness and tenderness blows in high herbs and awakens the lights. The lights of the centenary houses dance on the dark waters.

In the early morning, the sun gently pierced the slippery mist and warmed the trays. The photographers rush on the banks, on foot, by bicycle or by boat, they follow the Binnenpad Canal. The bridges and houses of the village then feature their most beautiful faces.

What to do in Giethoorn?

Moreover, nothing is worth the sweetness of a boat ride on the canals, says Polders. You will discover the sparkling landscapes and the picturesque setting from the most exceptional point of view. You slide on the water, always without the sound of an engine. There are only the songs of the birds and the fish dives to disturb your nap. Or you'll get a little more... Once aboard your Dutch gondola, you may want to extend your ride to the edges of the surrounding lakes.

In winter, when the cold and immaculate snow fall on the Venice of the Netherlands, the canals become open ice rinks.

At the Olde Maat Uus Museum, this old restored farmhouse, like the time frames, contains the secrets of the village. You will find yourself in an authentic antique scenery, dotted with historical objects and containing some nests of stork.

If you are lucky to be in Giethoorn the first and last Saturday of August, you can attend Gondelvaart Festival . The canals of the village then host a parade of magnificent boats. The boats relate to bright lights and garlands. Bridges and gardens are also illuminated and Giethoorn becomes even more enchanted than usual.

Rest assured, throughout the summer, Giethoorn vibrates and overflows with gaiety. The docks live at the rhythm of outdoor concerts and festive evenings that went out at night.

When hunger tickles your stomach, sit in a small restaurant on the edge of a canal. You can also spend the night by the water, in a friendly lodging or a hotel.

Getting to Giethoorn

What better time to discover Dutch Venice?

Giethoorn is in the Netherlands. Winters are cold and rainy. So we have to wait for the months of April or May to find milder temperatures as well as sun rays. It is also in the spring, when nature is reborn and buds dare to wake up in the great day, that the bucolic show is the most intoxicating.

The months July and August enjoy an ideal time and sunshine, but suffer from tourist affluence. September is a good alternative, where the influx slows down and where the leaves explode in gold and red.

How do I come to Giethoorn?

You surely feel that to fall on Giethoorn, you must run straight to a wall and be aspired between the bricks, to land in a wonderful world. Or you will have to open the doors of a magic closet to land in an dream world. It's not wrong! But in case you are not inspired by these methods, you are invited to some more... common detours.

• If you go to Giethoorn in car, useless to specify that you will have to leave your car at the entrance of the village.
• Otherwise, this charming hamlet is easily accessible in train and bus. Especially since it is only one hundred and eighty kilometers from Amsterdam.
• In addition, many tours offer one-day trips from the Dutch capital.

Around Giethoorn

The campaign ofHollande

At the edge of Giethoorn, the National Park Weeribben-Wieden invites nature lovers to discover the dazzling Dutch fauna and flora. The air is soft, the deer with velvet woods come out of the gills, the otters gently slide on the water and the birds veer in following the currents of the breeze.

• The boats and canoe wait patiently to take you on a walk on the marshes and through the reeds. The itinerary Stille Kirsche Wijde-route Snake through the plains picked with wings of mills.
• On foot or by bike, you can observe all the eco-system of Europe’s largest bas-marais.

One of the best moments to visit the Dutch countryside is undoubtedly at dawn or sunsets . When the sky explodes and dyes with fire all the water plans.

Amsterdam

The tourist and economic capital of the Netherlands is one of the most sought-after European capitals. Amateurs of CityTrip Love to spend a few days there and the occupations are not missing.

Between her flower canals , the choreographies of his bicycles, his old mills that tournament far away, his houses hung up all in height and sacked one another, his hymns to the great painters and his stroopwafels Sweet, Amsterdam has an indisputable charm!