Quiet Ways Through the Village
Stop-by-stop walks along the Binnenpad and the southern lanes, timed to miss the boats — with the etiquette the village asks of everyone who walks past its front doors.
Giethoorn's old core has no road through it. You walk it — along the Binnenpad, the footpath that runs the length of the village beside the Dorpsgracht canal, over the small wooden bridges that link each thatched house to the path. These walks are built around the one thing the village asks of visitors: the path runs right past people's front doors, so the quiet way through is also the kind way through. They also point you at the hours when the canal isn't full of boats.
When the boats take over
Roughly 11am to 5pm is when the Dorpsgracht is busiest with rental and tour boats; in July and August wider boats are allowed on it between those hours and on holidays. If you're walking, that's the time to take the southern lanes — and if you're boating, the 'Can I Take My Boat Out?' page on this site has the current rules.
Getting here without a car