Waterpark Belterwiede ****

HOLIDAY HOME

Due to COVID, we cancelled our trip to the mediterranean and decided to book a few short holidays in my home country, the Netherlands. So we looked for a nice house in a good location and and area we have not been before…. Venice.

Venice….? It is so peaceful, so different and has such simple beauty that it hardly seems real – gently gliding along small canals past old but pretty thatched-roof farmhouses. You can turn down a “side street” (another small canal) and drift under a wooden bridge where an elderly resident may be strolling over to see a neighbor. No this is not Venice, or Amsterdam. It is too quiet, too serene and remote. It is so calm that its nickname of the “Dutch Venice” may give a false impression of size and crowds and commercialism.

Here in Holland’s water village of Giethoorn the loudest sound you can normally hear is the quacking of a duck or the noise made by other birds. Giethoorn is in the province of Overijssel in the east of the Netherlands, a green and still area.

The holiday homes of Waterpark Belterwiede have the look of a cosy farmhouse. The park is small (approx. 60 houses, with maybe half available for rent) and the surroundings are delightful. All holiday homes are located on three small peninsulas directly on the water. The houses range from €1.000 - €2.000 per week, depending on the season. The booking site offers the possibility to order a fresh breakfast everyday, you can rent electric bikes and more, direct at the reception or direct with your booking.

As a water fan, you’ll be in your element here. There’s plenty to do by bike too. Picturesque Giethoorn is just around the corner, as well as Steenwijk, Meppel and Zwolle, with its charming old town, all within half an hour drive.

WANNEPERVEEN, OVERIJSSEL, NETHERLANDS