A picturesque car-free village in the Netherlands is being overrun by tourists and 'nuisance perpetrators'

Brittany Chang

Sep 27, 2019, 20:48 IST

Tourists have been clogging the picturesque canals with boats.

Giethoorn is a car-free village in the Netherlands, about 75 miles away from Amsterdam.
The main form of transportation is by bicycle or foot on the roughly 180 wooden foot arch bridges, or by boat on the over 55 miles of canals, according to Condé Nast Traveler.
However, some residents have been complaining about the onslaught of tourists that have been damaging bridges and private property and causing traffic in the otherwise picturesque canals.
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Giethoorn is a picturesque, idyllic car-free village in the Netherlands that looks like its straight out of a storybook.

The village, about 75 miles away from Amsterdam, doesn't have any roads, which means tourists and its about 2,600 residents can only get around by bicycle, foot, or boat, according to National Geographic and World Atlas.

Visiting tourists have the option to rent boats and explore the waterways. However, locals of the "Venice of the Netherlands" have had complaints about the tourists and their behavior in the village. The residents even wrote a letter to the municipal council demanding immediate action against "nuisance perpetrators in the picturesque canals," regional publication RTV Oo st reported.

The tourists have reportedly been sailing too fast, some under the influence of alcohol, and others without proper permits. Other boat renters have been too young or sailing in the wrong direction.

"Because water safety is at stake and because the municipality simply has a duty to act when someone breaks the rules," the residents wrote in the letter.

In May, the village started repairing the damaged bridges, RTV Oost reported, and all homeowners who owned bridges along the parts of the canals frequented by tourists were eligible for collision protection.Take a look at the one peaceful, but now overcrowded, canals:

Giethoorn is a car-free village in the Netherlands, about 75 miles away from Amsterdam.

The car road-free restriction means that tourists and its roughly 2,600 residents get around by bicycle, foot, or boat, according to National Geographic and World Atlas.

There are more than 55 miles of canals and over 180 wooden foot arch bridges to aid in travel, according to Condé Nast Traveler.

The idyllic, picturesque village has caught the attention of tourists who have been flocking to the canal-filled “Venice of the Netherlands.”

Tourists can rent boats to explore the waterways.

"The downside to this is of course that you’ll be sharing the water [with a] million boats steered by clueless unlicensed boaters," Christina Guan of Happy to Wander wrote in a blog post about her visit to Giethoorn.

"I can’t lie to you, I saw a lot of awkward collisions," she wrote.

These tourists have been causing congestion in the waterways that locals need to use as a form of transportation.

They have also been damaging parts of the bridges and boats in collisions.

Village residents started complaining, even writing a letter to the municipal council demanding immediate action against “nuisance perpetrators in the picturesque canals," reported the regional publication RTC Oost.

Locals stated that visitors were sailing too fast, some under the influence of alcohol and some without the proper permits. Other drivers were too young, and some sailed in the wrong direction.

"Because water safety is at stake and because the municipality simply has a duty to act when someone breaks the rules," the residents wrote in the letter.

In May, the village started repairing the damaged bridges, RTV Oost reported.

All homeowners who owned bridges along the parts of the canals frequented by tourists were eligible for collision protection.

Villagers reportedly have a “love-hate relationship” with the tourists, NOS reported. While tourism helps the local economy, they also walk through the residents’ private property.

Additional steps have been taken to guard against the stream of tourists which shows no signs of stopping. Extra posts with crossbars were installed to strengthen the bridge from boat blows.

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