Giethoorn: The Dutch Venice
This May, my mom and twin sister visited me in Europe, and I got a chance to show them a slice of my life here. Their visit was the perfect excuse to explore some new places together. As if I’d ever miss out on an adventure like that!
Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love planning trips. After researching the best travel options and checking the weather, I chalked out a very thorough plan of their visit. It was my sister’s first time in this part of Europe, and I wanted her first impression to be flawless! In a nutshell, I did everything I could to convince her to move here for a few years. I love my life here, but it would be so much better with my sister just around the corner :)
To achieve my ulterior motive, I took them to one of my favorite cities in Europe: Amsterdam! And while I knew that these Mumbai ladies would not be very impressed with big cities with excellent public transport, I had planned something exciting. A visit to a little Dutch car-free village of Giethoorn hopefully did the trick and definitely made me fall in love with Europe all over again!
Giethoorn can be best reached by boat, so I had booked a guided tour to this little paradise. Our guide picked us up from Amsterdam, and we drove through the scenic Dutch countryside, spotting more windmills than we could count. Finally, we hopped on a boat that took us to Giethoorn. The guide was super informative and fun, and our group was made up of fellow women traveling solo or with their moms, which was a nice coincidence. The weather was dancing between sunny and drizzly, but hey, that’s all part of the Dutch experience :)
After spending a few days in the busy city of Amsterdam, the fresh, cannabis-free air of Giethoorn was a refreshing change. The village is made up entirely of little canals, with beautiful houses lining the sides. We got to explore the village by boat before the crowds arrived, and the peace was just perfect. We quietly sailed past charming thatched houses, lovingly maintained (and sometimes tended by robotic lawn mowers). The canals were way cleaner than Amsterdam’s, and the houses along one side were only accessible via cute little bridges, many of which had gates to keep tourists away. While we absolutely loved being tourists in Giethoorn, I can imagine it might get a bit annoying to live there with all those tourists peering into your home!
The boat ride was nostalgic, and reminded me of our family trip to Alappuzha (India). It was fascinating to see how different villages look in Europe! Once our boat left the canals of Giethoorn, we were sailing on a beautiful lake. This was the most peaceful I had felt in a little while, and the silence of the lake was a perfect break before heading back to the now bustling village.
There’s something very charming about a slow-paced life: where people take the time to stop and smell the roses, and maybe even buy some for their loved ones. In Giethoorn, apart from its picturesque beauty, I felt the urge to slow down and smell the roses. Perhaps that’s why I love European villages—they remind you to slow down once in a while, or life will rush by too fast.
We spent the afternoon exploring the village on our own and relaxing in beautiful cafes. From spending the day with strangers to bumping into one of our neighbors from Mumbai, Giethoorn was full of surprises. I wouldn’t recommend visiting in peak summer, and if our guide hadn’t known how to avoid the crowds, we might not have had such a great day. This trip was a wonderful break from reality, and it reminded me how much I enjoy exploring the small towns of Europe. I hope my mom and sister also had a lovely time. Over the next few years, I’ll find out if I managed to convince my sister to join me on my European dream. Stay tuned, because this summer, I’m planning to explore another canal village, this time with my fiancé!