Clancy Tucker's Blog: 5 September 2020 - FAIRYTALE VILLAGE WITHOUT ROADS IN THE NETHERLANDS

FAIRYTALE VILLAGE

WITHOUT ROADS

IN THE NETHERLANDS

G'day folks,

You are going to love this place. Nicknamed “Venice of the Netherlands”, this small town is littered with hundreds of canals and century old houses.

The only difference between Venice and this quaint community is that you will not find a single gasoline engine here. There are no roads in Giethoorn, there isn’t a need for loud and disruptive cars. It is just a laid back community that travels on foot and when needed leisurely floats down the canal. This town is straight out of a fairy tale.

It is very quiet here in Giethoorn, the loudest noise heard is often a quacking duck or rustling bird, and all boats here are powered by electricity. You can drift down a side street, or rather just a smaller canal, to observe a resident casually strolling through the neighborhood.

You will float underneath several delicate wooden bridges as you observe the intricate thatched roofs of the old farm houses that make up the community. In earlier times, tiled roofs were a sign of wealth due to thatched roofs being cheaper. Today, the exact opposite is true.Due to the lack of roads, most homes not accessible by car so the post man delivers mail via boat.

When the canals freeze over in the winter, residents gracefully travel by ice skating in place of their dinghies.

This fairy tale like town is located in the province of Overijssel, positioned in the east of the Netherlands. There are more than 60 miles of canals to explore making the number one tourist attraction in Giethoorn boating.