Groningen: The perfect place for young Travellers

Holland: Groningen

Good place to go for Students and Young Travellers.

Many young travellers when visiting Holland go to Amsterdam. In April I decided to book Groningen for 4 days for a little break. Being a student I wanted to find somewhere that had a decent night life, was cheap and was student friendly. Groningen ticked all 3 boxes.

Below is a first-hand account of my time in this beautiful city.

I arrived at Manchester Airport and swiftly got through check in and security. The flight was only 50 minutes and I landed at Amsterdam airport. Amsterdam airport has a train station underground so it was ideal as it was in the same building. The train to Groningen took 2 hours but as it was a double decker train there was plenty of space to relax and spread out. I arrived at the hostel called ‘Bud Gett’ which I highly recommend staying as it had free WIFI in rooms and breakfast was included.

After getting unpacked I decided to explore Groningen and get some food from McDonald's. The town is easy to navigate and it became apparent that the most popular place to go students was called ‘3 sisters’. Inside the place was massive as it was 3 Weather-spoon style pubs all interconnected with no walls separating them so you could walk freely between them. I met some students from Hanze University which is Groningen’s local University. We went to a local place called Mesacosa which is their student bar and one word to describe it was ‘madness’. It was about 10pm when I arrived and everyone was playing drinking games on the dance floor such as beer pong, German Boat Races and other games. Students outside the bar was openly smoking cannabis as it is not illegal in Groningen. The drinking games finished about 12am and the space used to play them turned into a dance floor. I left at 1am as I was still tired from travelling and headed back to the hostel I was staying in.

On the Tuesday I had the chance to watch the Groningen vs Roda football match at the stadium in which Groningen won 1-0. The stadium is a short 20 minute bus ride from the main centre and I managed to pay 4 euro for a return ticket. The atmosphere was electric with rival fans chanting songs which I still don’t know what they was about. Getting back to the city centre was hectic as the interlink buses were crammed with loud football fans. I decided to try a local takeaway across the road from my Hostel. Honestly it was the best kebab I ever tasted and would recommended it. I spent the rest of the evening watching live football matches at the 3 sisters before heading back to the Hostel at 11pm.

The next day the town was really hectic. It turned out the 4th April in Groningen was national cannabis day. The coffee shops where full of people getting high and relaxing with their friends. I met up with my Dutch friends from the first night as they were going to a local coffee shop so I tagged along. As soon as opened the door the smell was pungent of cannabis. People were sat down eating cake and coffee whilst smoking joint. This was a complete culture shock compared to the UK and I really liked that the Dutch culture is laid back compared to England. I only ordered a hot chocolate whilst my Dutch friends ordered already rolled joints. After finishing my drink I decided to leave as I was feeling spaced out because of the fumes in the air. As it was my last night they decided that they would take me out clubbing as it was Groningen’s student night and I agreed to meet them in Mesacosa at 8pm.

I decided to wear skinny jeans and a smart t-shirt for the last night and headed to the student bar. As soon as I walked in the place I felt under dressed. The majority of the lads had full tuxedos on and was looked really smart. In England they would look out of place but in Groningen I looked out of place wearing what I normally wear in England for a night out. We did the routine of playing drinking games in which I joined in the beer pong. The atmosphere was the best I had ever witnessed; everyone one was friendly, everyone was encouraged to get involved and it was highly competitive when taking part in team games. We headed to the Ocean 41 night club which plays chart music and Dutch songs. The clubbing experience is completely different to the UK and you need to experience it to know what it’s like. I got a taxi home at 3am. This wasn’t your standard taxi; it was a push bike with a carriage attached to it where you could sit down. The next day I packed my things and headed to the train station to start my journey home.

Short Video on the city of Groningen