The Enchanting Town Without Streets

Known in the Netherlands as the “Venice of the North,” the picturesque Giethoorn is a town with nary a road to be found. Instead, over four miles of canals run through the Overijssel province’s rural village.






First settled by Franciscan monks in the thirteenth century, Giethoorn initially served as part of a large nature reserve. The monks had the canals dug for transporting peat and are only about one meter deep.