GIETHOORN – Around Giethoorn lies the largest lowland peat bog area in north-western Europe: Weerribben-Wieden National Park. This vast wetland landscape covers about 12,000 hectares of reed beds, peat pits, narrow waterways and quiet lakes. Exploring this area by canoe is one of the best ways to experience it.

From Giethoorn many multi-day canoe trips start into the Wieden and the Weerribben. Along the way you can stay overnight at campsites with your own tent or in trekking huts. This allows you to experience the landscape in a peaceful and natural way. The water is clean and suitable for swimming.

Canoeing through a unique water landscape

The landscape around Giethoorn developed through centuries of peat cutting. The old peat pits gradually filled with water and formed a network of lakes and narrow canals that today make up an extensive canoe route system.

During a canoe trip you pass old peat cuttings now slowly overgrown with water lilies and aquatic plants. You paddle through quiet channels, past meadows with birds and through marshlands rich in dragonflies, reed birds and wild orchids. With a bit of luck you may spot deer, a grass snake, an osprey or even an otter. Small villages such as Dwarsgracht, Muggenbeet, Nederland and Kalenberg, as well as the historic town of Blokzijl, give the route its special character.

Canoe trekking trips

During a multi-day canoe trip you carry your luggage in waterproof barrels or bags. Before departure you receive instructions, route descriptions, maps and life jackets. Most trips last from three days to a week. The routes are designed in a figure-eight pattern, allowing you to explore a new part of the national park every day.

Canoeing from Giethoorn

Giethoorn lies on the eastern edge of the national park and forms a natural starting point for canoe trips. From the centre of the village you paddle under small wooden bridges and past traditional thatched farmhouses before entering the quiet wetlands of the Wieden.

• Multi-day canoe trip
https://kanoweekend.nl/nederland/

Explore Giethoorn by boat as well

Visiting Giethoorn for a day? Many visitors choose to first rent an electric whisper boat and explore the Dorpsgracht and the national park by themselves.

• Rent a boat in Giethoorn
https://fluisterboot.nl/en/boat-rental/rent-a-whisper-boat-online/