Giethoorn,
where the roads run out.
The village that traded its streets for water: thatched farmhouses on small islands, wooden footbridges instead of pavements, and no railway station anywhere near. The drive is therefore the one part of the day you can actually plan, and it is the part we take care of.
Giethoorn, without the parking, the meter or the wait.
Giethoorn lies in the peat country of north-west Overijssel, in the municipality of Steenwijkerland. The canals are what is left of centuries of peat digging: the ground was carried away and the water stayed, leaving a ribbon of farmhouses on islands linked by high wooden bridges. The old village is reached on foot or by boat — the through road keeps to one side of it — which is why the phrase people repeat about the Venice of the North is, for once, a fair description rather than a slogan.
Getting there is the whole question. There is no station in Giethoorn; the nearest railheads are Steenwijk, with Meppel and Zwolle behind it, and from any of them the last stretch still needs a car. From Amsterdam and Schiphol the drive runs north-east across the reclaimed land of Flevoland on the A6 to Emmeloord, then east on regional roads through the polder. It is roughly 91 minutes from the airport with the road clear, and there is very little in between to make the journey pass more quickly.
That distance shapes who we drive here. Visitors staying in Amsterdam hotels who want one day in the countryside and want it to start early. International guests — a great many of them travelling from Asia — for whom this village is the single Dutch place they have come to see. Families who would rather be at the boat hire when it opens than after three coaches have arrived. And travellers working their way north, taking Giethoorn on the way to Zwolle, Leeuwarden or Groningen. Around the village lies Nationaal Park Weerribben-Wieden, the reed marsh and open water of De Wieden and De Weerribben, which is the reason to stay longer than an afternoon.
Giethoorn to Schiphol and back at one fixed price — flight tracked, chauffeur in arrivals with a name sign, sixty minutes of free waiting.
A car and chauffeur that stay with you in Giethoorn: meetings, dinners and days that refuse to keep a schedule, from €65 per hour.
Point-to-point chauffeured car service in and around Giethoorn — booked online, quoted upfront, driven in a black Mercedes.
First-class sedans and the Mercedes-Maybach for the occasions in Giethoorn that ask for more than a taxi.
Giethoorn to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels or Düsseldorf in one seat — one fixed quote, door to door, stops on request.
The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, by arrangement, for the days when first class is not the brief.
From Giethoorn to Schiphol by motorway — your chauffeur plans the departure around traffic on the day.
About 91 minutes on a clear run. For departures we suggest booking at least three hours before your flight.
Giethoorn to Schiphol in Business Class, one fixed all-in price. Van Class €577, First Class €883.
Prices are fixed when you book and include taxes and normal waiting. Hourly hire in Giethoorn starts at €65 per hour (minimum 2 hours, 40 km per hour included).
The old ribbon of thatched farmhouses along the main canal, reached on foot over the wooden bridges — cars stop at the edge and the last stretch is walked.
Where the punts and whisper boats are taken out, and where most of our guests want to be set down first thing rather than after a long walk.
The old farmhouse museum on the footpath, showing how the peat diggers lived on these islands before the visitors arrived.
The lake behind the village where the canals widen out, and the reason the boats are worth the time they take.
The reed marsh and shallow lakes of De Wieden and De Weerribben around the village, best reached by car from one entrance and left from another.
The nearest town with a railway station, on the road in from the west — our usual meeting point for guests who take the train part of the way.
The everyday workhorse: sedans for one to three passengers.
Room for groups, families and luggage, with up to seven seats.
Flagship saloons for executives and VIP arrivals.
The pinnacle: Mercedes-Maybach, by request only.
Giethoorn to Schiphol and back at one fixed price — flight tracked, chauffeur in arrivals with a name sign, sixty minutes of free waiting.
A car and chauffeur that stay with you in Giethoorn: meetings, dinners and days that refuse to keep a schedule, from €65 per hour.
Point-to-point chauffeured car service in and around Giethoorn — booked online, quoted upfront, driven in a black Mercedes.
First-class sedans and the Mercedes-Maybach for the occasions in Giethoorn that ask for more than a taxi.
Private chauffeur, airport transfers and hourly hire in Zwolle, Overijssel.
Private chauffeur, airport transfers and hourly hire in Leeuwarden, Friesland.
About 130 kilometres, and roughly 91 minutes when the road is clear. The route runs north-east on the A6 across Flevoland to Emmeloord and then east on regional roads. Your chauffeur allows for the evening peak around Almere on the way back, which is the only place the journey usually slows.
Schiphol to Giethoorn is a fixed €445 in Business Class, €577 in Van Class and €883 in First Class — per car, taxes included, and identical in both directions. A full day out from Amsterdam with waiting time is quoted as one fixed amount for the whole itinerary instead.
You give dispatch the pickup address, the hour you want to leave and roughly how long you want in the village. We return one fixed quote covering the drive out, the waiting, any stop on the way and the ride home. Hourly hire is not used for this, because an hourly booking has to begin and end in the same city.
No, and that is the practical reason a car is worth it here. Steenwijk is the nearest station, with Meppel and Zwolle further out, and each of them leaves you a ride short of the canals. We are happy to collect from any of the three if you would rather take the train for the long leg.
Yes. Boats — punts and the quiet electric whisper boats the village is known for — take as long as they take, and the car simply waits. Tell us roughly how long you expect to be on the water and the waiting is priced into the quote rather than added to it afterwards.