Most tourists 1 come for a day in Giethoorn, a weekend or a whole week to the beautiful Dutch Venice. No matter how long you want to stay there, Giethoorn has a lot to offer, so you won’t be bored for a moment! In this article you can read how to enjoy a day in the picturesque water village in the Kop van Overijssel and what Giethoorn has to offer.

Prepare yourself

Well prepared on the road is half the battle. Preparation is the key to make it an day you will never forget. It can be useful if you delve a little into what activities Giethoorn has to offer in advance and what can be seen and experienced. Then you can plan what to do in Giethoorn. And so you can make it an unforgettable day. There’s something for everyone.

What kind of day do you want?

Do you want to make it an active or sporting day, or more cultural or culinary? Do you go with children to Giethoorn or with a girlfriend group or a day of Giethoorn for 2 people? Decide in advance what a day of Giethoorn should look like for you or you. If you don’t want to plan in advance, you can always let us surprise you! Read the Giethoorn tips at the end of this blog anyway.

You can find a lot of information, articles and tips for your day of Giethoorn on this website. So here you have a good and complete overview of what to do in Giethoorn and surroundings. This way you can easily look at and decide what you certainly don’t want to skip while visiting the beautiful water village in Overijssel. Do you miss certain information or do you have any questions about anything? Send us an email, we’d love to help you!

Transportation to Giethoorn

A lot of travel information can you read in the article How do I get in Giethoorn? It describes the possibilities of – public – transport to Giethoorn and where you can park in Giethoorn. Take advantage of it.

What you definitely have to do in Giethoorn

What you definitely have to do when you come to Giethoorn is spend time on the water! When the weather conditions are good it is wonderful to stay on one of the lakes in Giethoorn. You also get a beautiful sight of the village sailing under the bridges. You can rent a boat and choose from different shipping routes. If you don’t have much time, you can take a boat trip for about two hours. That’s a minimum of time what you should stay on the water! If you have a bit more time, you can opt for a longer sailing route in Giethoorn, sail a bit calmer or build on a nice spot on the way or at a waterfront terrace in Giethoorn.

If you don’t like to sail yourself in Giethoorn (admittedly it can be a challenge, if you’ve neverdoneit before) then you can also take a canal cruise. Get on board with one of the experienced sailing masters on a tour boat in Giethoorn. You will hear beautiful stories and hear everything about the history of Giethoorn village. In the meantime, you can look around.

Giethoorn’s nickname is Venice of the North and the village is also called Dutch Venice. Read also which nicknames the village has even more.

If you want to rent a boat in Giethoorn, you can do that in a lot of places. All motorized rental boats, the so-called whisper boats, sail with an electric, silent engine. You can also choose to rent a Gieterse punt. This is a boat of wood or polyester that pushes you and sends you with a punt tree. It does require some practice, but it is the way what have been used to move around in Giethoorn. In this overview you will find all the possibilities to sail in Giethoorn. Do you want to be sure of a boat? Book one online.

Walking in Giethoorn

The city center of Giethoorn is only accessible on foot and by bike. A nice walk through the village is a real must-do. Walking along the Inner Path, the Langesteeg and the Zuiderpad you can take beautiful pictures of Giethoorn. There are cute thatched houses on both sides of the village canal. Very typical of the village are the finders and the tall wooden bridges. Also catering and museums are not lacking in the centre of Giethoorn.

All inclusive

You can also visit the village by booking a fully catered day trip (or several days) or a Giethoorn package. You will then travel by luxury coach or by your own transport to Overijssel. There are all kinds of fun activities to do in Giethoorn, whether or not in combination with food and drink. With some packages you do have ‘time’ because activities start at an centrain time. You’ll have to take that into account. We’ve mentioned it before, it’s just what you want: relaxed, active or sporty. For example, play at a climbing park or an escape room. And if you can do it, of course you’re going to sail in Giethoorn. There are packages where renting a boat in Giethoorn is included. Curious or gaining inspiration? Check here all the possibilities

Food in Giethoorn

In Giethoorn you will find enough restaurants and cafes to have a bite to eat or have a drink and sit comfortably. On a terrace while enjoying a glass of wine or fresh or a cappuccino you can see ‘people watching’ and watching the boats sail through the canal. Most restaurants in Giethoorn are directly at the water, so you always have first-grade places! The prices of the food in Giethoorn are good, especially compared to other tourist attractions such as Amsterdam, the Zaanse Schans, Maastricht, Utrecht or Eindhoven. For a three-course menu you pay around twenty euros in Giethoorn. Here, too, it’s just what you want. Extensive dining, french fries or a pizza or pancake. Everything about food and drink in Giethoorn can be found in this article.

Example of a day of Giethoorn

What can a day of Giethoorn look like for you? Well, that could just be this day…

Imagine staying in Amsterdam and visiting Giethoorn is the plan for the next day. From Central Station Amsterdam it is an hour and a half of travel to Steenwijk Station by train or car. The distance Steenwijk – Giethoorn is about 10 kilometers. From Station Steenwijk you can take the bus to Giethoorn. This is line 70 towards Zwolle, or line 270: the Giethoorn Express. The centre is the fastest to reach when you get off at the Hylkemaweg bus stop, centre Giethoorn.

Get the most out of your day

Of course you left on time and it is smart to start a walk through the village when it still sleeping. You take some pictures, enjoy the weather and the wind plays with your hair. After the walk, grab a terrace at one of the many spans to have a cup of coffee with cakes and chill a little.

At the end of the morning, when the sun is broken, you step into the whisper boat that you havereservedthe night before via our website. Also from the water you can shoot perfect pictures of the surroundings, the thatched farms, of each other and of the typical bridges over the canal/

Swimming in Giethoorn

By boat you then sail to one of the many quiet places that only the inhabitants of Giethoorn know. In the boat you also eat your lunch, pure joy! You can already wear your bikini or swimwear and the towels brought are useful when you dip into the water. In this lake in Giethoorn you can stand almost everywhere (the same counts for the canals). Nice swimming, cool down and dry up and enjoy when you are boating. After these fine hours on the water it is time to set course to the boat rental company to bring the rental boat back.

Going out of dinner and calling it a day

In the meantime, you’ve got hungry again. Time for a good supper in one of the many catering establishments in Giethoorn. As we report here before, you can make it as expensive as you want. After dinner, you walk through the village and enjoy the sunset. And then it’s time to go back to Amsterdam. There you go after a last drink, tired but satisfied and a beautiful experience richer afterdreaming about your perfect day in Giethoorn.

Tips when you are one day in Giethoorn

• Come on time when you go to Giethoorn. Between 11:00 a.m. and 4 p.m. it’s pretty busy. Before and after, it’s quieter.

• Do you want to sail? Book a boat here, then you can be sure that your boat trip will continue and that you will pay the same price as with the boat rental in Giethoorn. On the day itself it is difficult to rent another boat.

• There are many catering establishments (cafes and restaurants) in Giethoorn and surroundings, but these are not all accessible by boat. So if you spend a whole day on the water, it is wise to bring some food and drink by yourselves. You can also do some shopping in the supermarket in Giethoorn.

• If you come on a hot day, don’t forget to bring sunscreen. Put enough sunscreen on your body to be sure you don’t get sunburned. This because you are easier sunburned on the water. A hat, parasol or umbrella is also a good idea to bring with you.

• Giethoorn is not a museum! You can’t see the houses inside, people live there. Respect the properties of the inhabitants of Giethoorn and do not just enter their bridge, garden or house.