From Wikitravel

For other places with the same name, see Groningen (disambiguation).

Groningen[1] is a city in The Netherlands with 180.000 inhabitants and is the capital of Groningen. Since 1614 the city has its university: the `Rijksuniversiteit Groningen'. The city Groningen was founded around 1100 A.D. and has a rich history, which can clearly be told from the old medieval buildings in the down town area.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By train

Groningen has three train stations, the Central Station, the Southern Station (Groningen Europapark) and the Northern Station (Groningen Noord). All trains eventually arrive at the Central Station. There is a direct connection from Schiphol airport, and from Utrecht to Groningen (2-2,5 hrs. ride).

[edit] By bus

All buses going to the city of Groningen eventually arrive at the Central Station.

[edit] By car

Driving in the old city is not the best option; parking is not always easy to find, none of it free.

There is a Park & Ride facility to the east of the city, near IKEA. It is clearly marked when driving on the ring road. Parking there is free, and for a euro a regular bus service takes you right to (and from) the Grote Markt, the heart of the city, within a couple of minutes.

[edit] Get around

[edit] By bike

Getting from any place in Groningen to the centre will take at most 20 minutes by bike. This makes the bike a fast, cheap and easy way to travel Groningen. Don't get scared by the overwhelming amount of bicycles. The city houses tens of thousands of students, whose primary means of transportation is the bike. Be advised though; bicycle theft is pretty high so use a good lock.

[edit][add listing] See

Like most cities in The Netherlands, Groningen's city center is surrounded by a canal.

• Groninger Museum[2]. Just opposite train/bus station. Spectacular architecture. Hosts state of the art of contemporary art in the world. One of the five most progressive modern/contemporary art collections in the world.
• Het Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum [3]. The northern museum of water transport. Shows the history and role of transport over water until the 1970's
• Tabaksmuseum [4] 'Roommate' of the scheepvaartmuseum. Collections moderately interesting, but housed in very beautiful, old, authentic ware-houses.
• Der Aa-kerk[5] Beautiful church built in the middle ages.
• The University of Groningen [6] is the second-oldest university of Holland and one of three State Universities of the Netherlands. It was established in 1614. Some university buildings are located on a campus on the outskirts of the city.
• De Grote Markt and De Vismarkt are two large market squares in the center of the city.

[edit][add listing] Do

• Take a guided bike tour [7]: the best way to discover Groningen.
• Climb the Martini tower [8] for a nice view over the city.
• Take a canal cruise [9] around the historical center.
• Walk in het Noorderplantsoen [10] on a sunny day, this is the place to relax after a hard day's work for a lot of students.
• Visit the Noorderzon open-air theatrefestival [11] in the second half of August, art, comedy, dance and theatre in the Noorderplantsoen.
• See a band at Vera underground pop club [12], where Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, the White Stripes and many others performed.
• Visit the annual Eurosonic [13] and/or Noorderslag [14] festivals, where dozens of bands from all over the world perform on various stages spread throughout the city.
• Take a free bus-ride on the National Day of Architecture organised on Saturday around 21st of June by GRAS-platfrom. Buses leave from Stadsschouwburg on Turfsingel from 11.00 hrs. on. Buses will take you to some highlights of newest architecture.

[edit][add listing] Buy

• The city's pedestrian street runs off of De Grote Markt and contains most of the city's everyday shopping needs, including department stores.
• The most pittoresque shopping street is called de Folkingestraat. It has a lot of little shops full of firsthand and secondhand little gifts, intercultural foods and great books.

[edit][add listing] Eat

The centre of Groningen has many nice little cafes or restaurants where you can eat. Groningen is a real university city, so there are plenty of cafe-restaurants where you can eat for about €10.

• Eeterie De Globe, A-Kerkhof 22, 3 different main courses each day (one meat, one fish, one veg.) for 6,50 or 7,50 per course. Many customers eat here several times per week.
• Ugly Duck, Zwanestraat 28, [15]. Main courses including bowl of salad, baked potatoes, vegetables from 10,50. Really good!
• Land van Kokanje on Oude Boteringestraat for big and great lunch-salads (less than 10 euros).
• Humphrey's, Vismarkt 42, [16]. avg. price 3 courses à la carte €18.
• Spring's, Grote Markt 30/33, [17]. avg. price 3 courses à la carte €15.
• De Balk, Thomassen Thuessinklaan 7. Got a prize for "Best Eetcafe".
• Vroom & Dreesmann department store [18], Grote Markt 21, has a cafeteria "La Place" on the top floor with an outdoor terrace.

[edit][add listing] Drink

Groningen's reputation as university town is borne out in its nightlife, which is comprehensive, with numerous options for drinking and clubbing. There are also several places to play pool/billiards. Most bars have the standard Dutch beers, but more and more international, especially Belgian, beers are beginning to have a presence. Bars in the down town area do not have fixed closing hours. Theoretically they can stay open for 24 hours a day, which a few bars do.

• D'Ouwe Brandweer, on Zuiderdiep opposite Pathe-cinema.
• Huis de Beurs, on corner of Vismarkt. Has made a come-back and is very trendy now.
• Cafe Atlantis, on O.K. i.h. Jatstraat opposite Faculty of Law. Dark, narrow place, mainly men, for playing chess and other games. Drinks very cheap.
• De Prinsentuin In summertime there is a nice terrace in a rose garden.
• De Drie Gezusters, (Three Sisters). On the Grote Markt, [19]. Used to be THE place. Lousy coffee!!
• De Kosterij, in a corner of the Grote Markt, next to the Martinitoren, [20]. Family style. Nice terrace in summertime.
• Het Feithhuis, next to the Martini Tower, [21]. "Liberal" atmosphere.
• El Rubio, in Zwanestraat. Owner "Joop" only likes male gay guests.
• Newscafe, on Tussen de Markten. Nice terrace in the summer, good coffee, quite trendy.

[edit] Coffeeshops

Groningen also has a few excellent coffeeshops, where you can buy and smoke cannabis products at a reasonable price.

• The Glory, just off Zuiderdiep at the end of the Steentilstraat, is popular with lots of foreign students, and close to all major busstops on the Zuiderdiep.
• Dees, Donkergang, [22]. Above which is a cool bar, de Zolder (where you can smoke).
• Metamophose, Oude Boteringestraat.
• Driemaster, [23], Nieuweweg. Has the same owner as Dees,
• Dr. Anders, Gelkingestraat.
• Upper 10, Steentilstraat. you can get very nice stuff here!!!
• Oasis, on Meeuwwerderweg (only open till 7PM and not on Sundays) - which has good marijuana but is quite expensive.
• de Vliegende Hollander, on Zuiderdiep opposite the Pathé cinema, [24]. Alcohol is not served in any of the coffeeshops.

• "Da Medley" on Zuiderdiep" Zuiderdiep next to Pathé cinema just opposite to vliegende hollander" A good cheap coffee shop, where at least Dutch & arabic are spoken by the staff. I managed with english too just enough to get what I needed.

This is just a pick up coffee shop.. can´t smoke inside or stay there but it´s quite cheap.. Joints for 2,50 also many kinds of hash (maroc, afgan..)for about 4-5 € & weed/wiet (schneewitje..) for a reasonable price also some better quality stuff*

• The Clown another coffee shop.. didn´t have a very good first impression..at least the customers were some local racists and rude germans inside.. The weed was alright even though not the best in town in my opinion

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• Camping Stadspark is a camping ground in the Stadspark.
• Simplon Youth Hotel, on Boterdiep, [25]. Bunk-beds.
• Hotel de Doelen, extremely central, on Grote Markt.
• NH Hotel De Ville****, Oude Boteringestraat 43, 9712 GD, T: +31 (0)50 3181222, F: +31 (0)50 3181777, E-mail: nhhoteldeville@nh-hotels.com, [26]. Expensive.

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