Nicknamed the “Venice of the Netherlands,” this small city is dotted with hundreds of canals and centuries-old houses. The only difference between Venice and this picturesque community is that you won’t find a single gasoline engine here. In Giethoorn there are no roads, no need for noisy and disruptive vehicles. It’s just a community that’s comfortable walking and, when necessary, leisurely lounging down the canal. This Danish city seems to come straight out of a fairy tale.

It’s very quiet here in Giethoorn, the loudest noise you hear is usually ducks quacking or birds rustling.

The meditative silence may be due to the fact that the canals’ waters are diesel-free.

All boats here run on electricity.

You can wander down a side street or just down a smaller canal to observe a resident casually strolling through the neighborhood.

You’ll float beneath several elaborate wooden bridges as you gaze upon the intricate thatched roofs of the old farmhouses that make up the community.

In the past, tiled roofs were a sign of wealth because thatched roofs were cheaper. Today, the exact opposite is true.

It’s a lush and quiet town in Giethoorn. You won’t find crowded hallways or disruptive commercialism here.

Due to the lack of roads, most houses were inaccessible by car, so postmen had to deliver mail by boat.

When the canals freeze over in winter, people travel in luxury by ice skating instead of boats.

Today, only about 3,000 people call this community home.

This fairy-tale city is located in the province of Overijssel, in the eastern Netherlands.

There are over 60 miles of canals to explore, making it the number one tourist attraction in Giethoorn boating.

The name Giethoorn means “goat horn”. The first inhabitants discovered hundreds of goat horns on the land where this community now lives.

The city was founded in 1230 by people escaping from the Mediterranean, who then stumbled upon large amounts of peat in the ground.

Peat mining creates lakes and ponds with islands in the middle.

It was on these islands that settlers built houses, and ponds and lakes over time became canals.

Therefore, it was only accessible by bridge or pateros, a narrow boat propelled by a punteraar (long mast).

Giethoorn became locally famous in the 1960s when Dutch filmmaker Bert Haanstra directed the popular comedy Fanfare there.

Since then, the town has become a popular tourist destination for boating, cycling and has many cafes and restaurants.

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If you’ve ever wanted to live in a real-life fairy tale, you might consider moving to the village of Giethoorn. It seems like this is where I live.