Groningen

Worth seeing in and around Groningen

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   University of Groningen

   The University of Groningen is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is the second oldest in the country.

   300 m · university in the Netherlands · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Euroborg

   Euroborg x]) is the stadium in Groningen, Netherlands. It is the home ground of football club FC Groningen, with a capacity of 22,550.

   2.1 km · football stadium in Groningen, Netherlands · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Groninger Museum

   The Groninger Museum is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists.

   800 m · art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Space Research Organisation Netherlands

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands is the Dutch national institute for space research. It focuses on astrophysics, Earth observation, and exoplanetary research.

   3.2 km · national institute for space research in the Netherlands · Wikipedia
5. 05
   St. Joseph Cathedral, Groningen

   The St. Joseph Cathedral is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands.

   600 m · church in Groningen, Netherlands · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Martiniplaza

   MartiniPlaza is an indoor arena located in Groningen, Netherlands. It is used as an exhibition complex, theater and sports arena.

   1.9 km · indoor arena in Groningen, Netherlands · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Der Aa-kerk

   The Aa-kerk is a historic former parish church in the centre of Groningen, and a dominant feature in the skyline of the city together with the nearby Martinitoren.

   400 m · church in Groningen, Netherlands · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Hortus Haren

   Hortus Haren is a botanical garden in Haren, Groningen, Netherlands. First created in 1626 by the pharmacist Henricus Munting, it was then situated between Grote Rozenstraat and Grote Kruisstraat in Groningen.

   4.8 km · botanical garden in Groningen · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Oosterpark Stadion

   Oosterpark Stadion k ˈstaːdijɔn]) was the stadium of football club FC Groningen until December 2005. The all-seater stadium in Groningen's Oosterpark neighbourhood was inaugurated on 30 September 1933 and renovated in 1960, 1984 and 1987/88.

   1.2 km · football stadium · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Leekstermeer

    The Leekstermeer is a lake in the Netherlands. It is the biggest lake of the province of Drenthe.

    9.8 km · lake in the Netherlands · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

Downtown Groningen is pleasant and interesting. The city centre provides plenty of cultural heritage and a laid-back atmosphere. Together with the excellent Groninger Museum, it forms the main attraction for visitors. Like many cities in the Netherlands, the centre is surrounded by a canal. Several historic canals have been "gedempt", or filled, however, and turned into streets.

1. 01
   Bureau Gemeentewerken at Gedempte Zuiderdiep 96

   There are a number of special architectural skyscrapers.

2. 02
   Dot

   Originally known as Infoversum, this remarkable structure was built as the only full-dome 3D theatre in the Netherlands, before it was turned in a modern restaurant and cultural center.

3. 03
   Wall House II

   The Wall House II is a building in the south of the city located on the banks of Hoornsemeer lake.

4. 04
   Reitdiep

   You may know these Scandinavian looking colourful terraced houses from Pinterest or Instagram.

5. 05
   Forum Groningen

   Contains the main public library of the city, two restaurants, cinema (5 screens, mostly arthouse films), exhibition spaces, the Storyworld museum (see Museums below), rooftop bar and more.

From Wikivoyage: Groningen, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Football: FC Groningen were promoted in 2024 so they play soccer in Eredivisie, the top tier. Their home ground Euroborg (capacity 22,500) is 2 km southeast of city centre. Groningen is a cycling city par excellence. The inhabitants of Groningen possess an average of 1.4 bikes per person. The city features the highest cycling rate for anywhere on the planet; almost 60% of journeys are by bike.

From Wikivoyage: Groningen, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

A typical 'Groninger' specialty is Groninger worst, a sausage made from raw minced pork which is then air dried. You can buy this sausage in every supermarket and butchery. When visiting a snackbar, you should try a eierbal. The eierbal is a ball-shaped croquette, filled with veal and a whole egg. The eierbal is seen as the Groninger variant of the Dutch croquette. The Netherlands is known for its cheese.

From Wikivoyage: Groningen, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Groningen

Airports

Groningen Eelde (GRQ), 11 km · Münster Osnabrück (FMO), 142 km · Bremen (BRE), 149 km

Stations

Groningen railway station, 1 km · Groningen Noord railway station, 1.4 km · Groningen Europapark railway station, 1.9 km · Haren railway station, 5.9 km · Sauwerd railway station, 8.2 km

• Amsterdam → Groningen

  147 km · quickest by road, 3h 8m · €19–26
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• Rotterdam → Groningen

  202 km · quickest by road, 3h 59m · €25–35
  GuideToday
• Eindhoven → Groningen

  211 km · quickest by road, 4h 7m · €25–35
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• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Groningen

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Groningen. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Groningen – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.