Groningen, Netherlands

Groningen is a city in the Netherlands and is the capital of the northern province of Groningen. Groningen was founded around 1100 A.D. and has a rich history, which can clearly be seen from the old medieval buildings in the down town area. The city is a university town with a high student population, and has had a university since 1614.

Like most cities in the Netherlands, Groningen's historic city center is surrounded by a canal, the diepenring. Most of the sights are within this area, and the Central Station is 50m outside it. The most important and most famous museum in Groningen is the Groninger Museum. With the construction of its current building, designed by Alessandro Mendini, the museum has been transformed into one of the most modern and innovative of its kind in the Netherlands. In addition, the city also has a maritime museum, a university museum, a comics museum, a graphical museum and a tobacco museum.

Things to See & Do

* Groninger Museum
* Grote Markt (great market)
* Climb the Martini tower
* Take a canal cruise
* Museums

General Information

Cruise Season – March - Nov
Currency – Euro (€) (EUR)
Language – Dutch
Land Area – 79.59 km²
Population – 190,170 approx
Electricity – 2 round pins European style
Time – GMT plus one hour
International Country Telephone Code – +31

Transport Links – Groningen has three train stations, the central station (Station Groningen), Groningen Europapark and Groningen Noord. All trains eventually arrive at the central station; only a few trains stop at the smaller stations. There are direct trains from Schiphol airport, Utrecht and Rotterdam to Groningen (2.5 hours) and Amsterdam Centraal can be reached with one change (2h20m). A regional line runs west to Leeuwarden.

The main bus station is right next to the central train station. There is a direct buslink to Bremen and Oldenburg.