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.

Contents 1 Get in 1.1 By train 1.2 By bus 1.3 By car 2 Get around 2.1 By bike 3 See 4 Do 5 Buy 6 Eat 7 Drink 8 Coffeeshops 9 Sleep

Get in

By train

Groningen has two train stations, the central station (Centraal Station) and the northern station (Station Noord). Most trains arrive at the central station. There is a direct connection from Amsterdam and from Schiphol airport to Groningen. The direct train ride from Schiphol/Amsterdam takes about 2:30 hours. Utrecht - Groningen city takes exactly 2 hours by train and puts you in the middle of the city.

By bus

All buses going to Groningen go directly to the central Station. So only a bus that is going to another direction does not go the the central station.

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 P&R facility to the east of the city, near the sports fields/hall. It is clearly marked when driving on the ring road. Parking there is free, and for a couple of euros a regular bus service takes you right to (and from) the Grote Markt, the heart of the city, within a couple of minutes.

Get around

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.

See

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

• Het Groninger Museum. (The museum of Groningen).
• Het Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum. The northern museum of water transport. Shows the history and role of transport over water until the 1970's.
• Tabaksmusuem 'Roommate' of the scheepvaartmuseum.
• De AA Kerk Beautiful church built in the middle ages.
• The University of Groningen is one of the oldest Dutch universities and one of three Royal Universities of The Netherlands. It was established in 1614. Most of the academic space of the university is located on a newer campus on the outskirts of the city, but there are several pleasant historic buildings still in the city center.
• De Grote Markt en De Vismarkt are two large marketsqauares in the center of the city.

Do

• Climb the Martini tower for a nice view over the city.

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.

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 less than €10,-.

• Pizzeria Contini on the Hereweg to the south of the city is one of the better Italian restaurants in town, but far superior and more authentic is Sa Capanna in the neighbouring town of Haren, just a 5-minute bus ride away.
• A trendy city restaurant is Humphrey's which is at The Vismarkt.

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, especiall 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.

• de Prinsentuin' In summer, there is a nice terrace in a rose garden.

• The Drie Gezusters (Three Sisters). On the Grote Markt. The largest pub in the Netherlands. Actually three adjacent buildings connected on the inside and containing dozens of smaller spaces and bars on three levels, each a different theme.

• The Kostery is located in a corner of the Grote Markt, next to the Martinitoren and serves drinks and light meals and snacks.

• Het Feithhuis is next to the Martini Tower and is popular place to go for lunch or dinner.

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, Dee's (Donkergang), above which is a cool bar, de zolder (where you can smoke) and Oasis on Meeuwwerderweg (only open till 7pm and not on Sundays) - the best shop in town and also check out de vliegende hollander on Zuiderdiep opposite the cinema. Alcohol is not served in any of the coffeeshops.

Sleep

Camping Stadspark is a camping ground in the Stadspark.

NH Hotel De Ville****, Oude Boteringestraat 43, 9712 GD GRONINGEN, T: +31 (0)50 3181222, F: +31 (0)50 3181777, E-mail: nhhoteldeville@nh-hotels.com, Url: www.deville.nl

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