Giethoorn and De Weerribben National Park

A day trip to Giethoorn guarantees a special outing. The village, which has less than 3,000 inhabitants, is nicknamed 'Dutch Venice'. It is known for its picturesque appearance: cute bridges run over waterways where punts float. The ditches and canals were dug around houses, so that the peat from the area could be properly removed. The peat extraction created ponds and lakes and the digging of the waterways created individual islands on which the houses of the residents of Giethoorn were built. The punts, which are controlled and propelled by the punt boom, complete the picture and are strongly reminiscent of the gondolas that serve as the main means of transport in Venice. You can park your car for free at TOP Giethoorn.

Cycling through the watery area full of streams, canals, ditches and waterways, you will see the Giethoorn Molengat mill. The polder mill was built in 1979 and is located on the property of a private individual. This municipal monument can only pump the water from the mill hole, the small lake from which it takes its name. The tjasker is almost entirely made of wood, including the rods, which are fenced in the old Dutch way.

A little further on you will see the Giethoorn Noord mill. The paaltjasker from 1970 was used to drain the polder. Because the mill is built in on all sides, it is hardly noticeable and blends in naturally with the landscape.

It is not without reason that De Weerribben won the title 'Most Beautiful Place in the Netherlands' in 2004. The Weerribben are covered with beautiful plants and a variety of special animal species live in this area. The carnivorous bladderwort often floats in large masses on the fens, lakes and ponds, but crabgrass, water lilies and water hemlock also thrive here. In the reed land you will encounter cheerful colors of wild herbs, including fireweed, skullcap, marsh buckthorn and bindweed, while grasses, heath, peat moss, sundew and marsh sera leaf grow on acidifying reed land.