Groningen Transportation

Because of the fact that Groningen is an university city there are many students who are driving their way to the city with bicycles in all kind of colours.
If you want you can hire a bicycle at:

De Stallingen
Oude Boteringestraat 16
9712 GH Groningen

If you come to Groningen by train you will for sure notice the beauty of our train station. In the 60ties the station was re-styled to modern age but luckily now it is restored to the old grandeur.
The construction of a permanent main train station only was started in 1893 and in 1896 the grand opening took place.
This monument is one of the most beautiful 19th century train stations of The Netherlands.
It was designed by an Amsterdam archtitect named I. Gosschalk in a neo renaissance style with Jugendstil elements.
The frontage is designed in a mixture of 16th century motives and because of it s lively and elegant lines very rare on a building.
The station is supposed to be a festive entrance to the city which can be seen in the higher mid part where main entrance and a large hall are.
A structure attached to the exterior of the building forming a covered entrance to the waitingroom is another unique detail.
In the top stones of the arches of the galery are sculptered heads of a farmer and his wife symbolizing agriculture as source of Groninger prosperity.
Above the entrance to the house of the stationmaster you can see roosters, sign of being alert.
In the framework of the service entrance in the west galery realistic heads of a postman and a conductor.
The roof over the train platforms are moderate and show a clear meaning of use, this in contrast to the main building.

1 more image

Sadly this was a very poor experience. There was no form of refreshment service on the train; the journey was some 2.5 hours from Schipol to Groningen.

The up side was that first class seats were sold for the same as second class - sadly they did not appear to be any different, and the compartment I was in did not have it's heating working.

Punctual service at least.

A Publicexpress bus service runs daily from Oldenburg or Bremen to Groningen and back. I would recommend checking timetables before travel to ensure you return the same day if you wish to. I did not travel by bus but I know people who did and they encountered no problems and found it cheaper than the train. Discounts may apply for university students with valid student and national ID.

Up to October 1st roadworks are taking place on the A28, the road to and from the city of Groningen (Groningen - Assen and vice versa).
One better be prepared for it for on almost any hour of the day one will be delayed.

The way I used to get around in Groningen is by bicylce. And as you can see.... I am not the only one!!! Everywhere in the city you see people on bicycles, parking places for bikes, or bikes just put where ever they like. This is a picture of the "bicycle parking garage" at the central train station.

The center of the city is quite compact (1 or 2 sq. km)
Everything is within walking distance, and you get to spot more hidden secrets that way.

It's by walking around that the same-sex and red light district locations were pointed out to me (not that I ever seemed to see anything interesting so far)

The bus is a good way to get around in the city. I am not so sure if it is the best way to get into the city, as they don't tend to go that often during the evening and weekends. I would prefer taking the train to go to Groningen.

All the busses depart from the central station and most of them have a stop on the "Grote Markt" and "Zuiderdiep" which both are in downtown Groningen.

But you don't need to take a bus to go from the Central Station to downtown. It is is an easy walk to the city center from here. When you get out of the train station, walk to the right along the canal and cross the bridge (alternatively take the first small bridge at the Groninger Museum). Go straight ahead and you are in the city center in a few minutes.