Giethoorn

Giethoorn is a village of a few thousand people in the peat country of north-western Overijssel, laid out along water rather than road, which is why it is so often called the Dutch Venice. The lakes around it were dug out for peat, and in the old part of the village there were no roads at all; everything moved by boat, traditionally the flat-bottomed punter, pushed along with a pole. There are a hundred and seventy-six bridges. It became famous across the country after Bert Haanstra filmed his comedy Fanfare here in 1958. Early morning and late evening are when it belongs to itself again.