Giethoorn, Ossenzijl and Blokzijl

The Wieden and the Weerribben together form one of the most important wetlands in Europe. With 35 square kilometers of open water, reed beds and swamp forests, De Weerribben is a natural habitat for many bird, mammal and insect species. This polder area has been extensively excavated throughout history due to peat extraction. This has created vast reed fields, flowery hay fields. Water, a lot of water, in the form of gullies, lakes, ponds, canals and fens stimulates the growth of special plants. The swamps are densely vegetated and here you will encounter pine wolf claw, swamp wolf claw, blond sedge and slender woolly grass.

Water lilies, crab shear or water hemlock grow and bloom on the puddles, fens and lakes, but you also see large masses of the carnivorous plant bladderwort floating. In the reed lands, where the soil quickly acidifies, colorful willowherbs, skullcap, bindweed and swamp anthorn stand out well. Where the soil has acidified, heather, peat mosses, sundew and marsh cartel leaf grow and the forests consist largely of alder, birch and mountain ash.

Fish eaters such as the cormorant, the curlew and the black tern get their food from the waters of De Wieden, but other birds of prey also hunt here. The marsh harrier and rare short-eared owl make their prey on the quaking bogs, blue grasslands and moors, and deer, foxes and otters also keep alive with what the Weerribben has to offer them. A wide variety of butterflies and dragonflies flutter from plant to plant in the watery, marshy environment, completing the color palette. For more information, visit the nature activity center De Weerribben, where you can learn more about the area in a fun way. Or climb the lookout tower for breathtaking panoramas.

Giethoorn also assures you of a nice outing. The village, which has less than 3000 inhabitants, is nicknamed'Dutch Venice\\\'. It is known for its picturesque appearance: cute little bridges cross waterways where punts float. The ditches and canals were dug around houses, so that the peat from the area could be properly drained. The peat created ponds and lakes and by digging the waterways, loose islands were created, on which the houses of the inhabitants of Giethoorn were built. The punts, steered and propelled by the punt boom, complete the picture and are very reminiscent of the gondolas that serve as the main mode of transport in Venice.

Mill Giethoorn Molengat is a beautiful polder mill that you can visit in the village. The tjasker was built in 1979 and, despite being a municipal monument, is on private land. The mill can only pump the water from the millhole, the lake from which it takes its name. The mill is almost entirely made of wood, including the rods. They are old-fashioned.

Please note: the ferry in Jonen, between nodes 51 and 52, does not operate between 1 Nov. and March 31.