Groningen Favorites

Favorite thing: .

Tourist Info (Dutch)

City Counsil page

Groningen-Eelde Airport

Dutch Groningen multi-link page

Groningen for Groningers

Favorite thing: You can get good food at generally cheap prices. Look for sandwich shops and follow the students for good, local dishes. The students know where to go.

Fondest memory: I love the Frites Met (fries with Mayo) in Groningen. Of course, you can get these with ketchup or even Sate, but why not try the local version. There are great places to get these. My favorite place for a quick snack after going to Discos with friend was a busy place off the of the main square close to the "Dree Zusters" (the biggest bar in Europe with lots of hidden rooms and passageways). Similar to a large vending machine, you can put change into a slot and open a small glass door to get the item you have purchased. Or, you can opt for the take-away window for a fresher snack, however, expect to wait. The college students are hungry!

Favorite thing:
This page has come to an end, but before I do I want to show you one more photo. This is the stadsschouwburg / city theatre with its striking soft pink colour. This building is located on the "Turfsingel" and dates back to 1883.

I hope you enjoyed my tour around Groningen and got a bit of an idea what this city is like. And maybe you even got inspired to visit Groningen some day :-))) There is so much more to show you though, but that's for a next time! :-)) I am already making plans for another trip back 'home' and without a doubt I will visit Groningen again. So stay tuned for more 'beautiful Groningen' on this page some time in the future :-)

Favorite thing:
Zooming in with my camera on the Provinciehuis I spotted a nice detail. On the left side of the tower you can see the coat of arms of the Province of Groningen. That this coat of arms decorates this building is not very surprising as "Provinciehuis" (freely translated to English) means "House of the Province". So literally it means that the government of the Province of Groningen is seated here.

Favorite thing:
Behind the Martinikerk / St.Martin's Church you can see the "Provinciehuis". In the photo you can actually see the newer part of this building that dates back to 1916 and is build in a neo-renaissance style. I think it is a beautiful building, especially on a sunny day like this :-)

When you turn left behind the church and just in front of the Provinciehuis you come to a lovely place. It is called the "Martini kerkhof". "Kerkhof" means graveyard in Dutch, hahaha, so this might not sound so very appealing. But nothing reminds here of a graveyard anymore; it is now a lovely enclosed area. It is so nice and quiet here in this busy heart of town. The grass field, the old trees, the old houses..... It's the perfect spot to sit on a bench underneath one of the old trees to enjoy the peace and quiet in the sun.

From the "Martini kerkhof" you have a wonderful view over the Martini church, tower and the "Provinciehuis".

Favorite thing:
Almost next to the Febo you can see a few famous pubs in Groningen. During sunny days you can sit outside on the terraces, when it is a less weather go inside and have a drink here. They are lovely old pubs and nice places to make a stop while exploring Groningen. These pubs (De drie Gezusters, Groote Griet and Kleine Griet) are also beautiful buildings to see from the outside :-)

Favorite thing:
A weird thing you might come across in The Netherlands is that people eat of the wall. There are snack machines in the major cities where you can get your fast-food out of the wall. The most famous one is the Febo.... and there is one of those on the market square of the "Grote Markt". Being back in The Netherlands for a few days I HAD to eat some of these typical Dutch and totally unhealthy snacks :-)) Hahaha, who needs a hamburger and MacD if they sell "delicious" frikadel at the Febo! LOL :-)) Okay.... you probably won't agree with me on the "delicious" part, hahaha, I guess you just have to see this snack as a 'local' thing that only the 'crazy locals' do enjoy ;-))

Favorite thing:
On top of the old "Provinciehuis" you can see this little statue. I have no clue who it is, I just thought it looked nice against the wonderful blue sky. I enjoy looking at little details and this "Provinciehuis" has lots of them! The statue however looked extra special against the blue sky, so I had to take a photo of it.