Groningen

Customs / Culture
Groningen is a true festival city and also a treat for friends of the theater; in January the pop festival Noorderslag is on, in June/July the music festival Swingin’ Groningen and in August the festival for performing arts (music and theater) Noorderzon. You don’t need to be in Groningen during these festivals, because every day there are performances in Drama, Dance, Music and Cabaret.
The festivals and performances are not the only thing in Groningen; there are many music cafés and 4 Clubs providing for entertainment during the day or late at night.

Traditions

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• Gronings Ontzet: A celebration that can be seen in the whole city and of course, because the Dutch love them so much, there are fireworks.
  
• Sint Maarten: Somewhat comparable to Halloween. Just before it gets dark, children go out on the street with lanterns. They go from door to door and sing the Sint Maarten song. After that they get candy.
  
• Flower Market on Good Friday.
  
• At fairs there are always stands full to the brim with candy and other sweet foods.
  

Religion
Religion in Groningen is shown by two buildings; the community church and the Saint Joseph Cathedral. There are two Groups representing religion in Groningen. The “Groninger Studentenplatform voor Levensbeschowing”, the students there discuss religion and philosophy related to modern society. The other is the International Christian Church Groningen.

Airports / Car rental
Groningen Airport Eelde is located approximately 15 kilometers from the city of Groningen. The airport is easily accessible by car via the A28 (Groningen-Assen).
Car rental is offered by the three car rental companies Avis, Hertz and Europcar. You can rent a car either at the counter, by filling out this form or by calling one of the companies (listed here).

Public transport
The city and province of Groningen have a dense network of public transport. Most places are accessible by bus or by train. Other means of transport in the city and province are the 'City Bus' and the 'Regio Taxi'.

Parking & Citybus
Park your car in on one of the four P + R locations. These large car parks are located on Sontweg, Peizerweg and Transferium Kardinge. From there, take you the P + R Citybus to the center and back again comfortably. Parking is free.
Bus tickets for up to five people cost € 3, - resolve (return included). The Citybus runs Mondays to Saturdays and on business Sundays.

Taxis / Infrastructure
For taxi transfer you can refer to one of the taxi companies of Groningen.
There are normal taxi companies represented in Groningen, all with fair prices. But there are also specialized taxi services available.
Taxi Onderneming Groningen offers first class taxi service in a mercedes S-Class. For drives to or from the airport there are fixed prices, so there wont be any unpleasant surprises afterwards. Telephone: +31646109725
Taxi Nuis is a taxi service for holiday or business trips with it’s spacious cabs or even small buses. Telephone: +31594549999
Comfortabel Personen Vervoer F.J. van der Molen en D.W. Elzinga is specialized for special conditions, like sitting sick transport, transport of board members, transport to the harbor or transport of the elderly. Telephone: +31598395052 (after 6pm) oder mobile phones +31612864936 or +31625067113

Events

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• Groninger WelVaart: an event where historic river boats fill the center of Groningen.
  
• World Press Photo: an international contest where the best press photos of the previous year are shown. Flower market on Good Friday
  
• Sinterklaas
  
• Stichting Fotographie Noorderlicht: A festival with Galleries showing the consequences of urbanization and the effect of war-zones on dispatched soldiers.
  Noorderzon: a festival for the performing arts in music and theater.
  
• Winter City: From 3rd Dec. to 3rd Jan. the city turn winter when the ice skating rink is installed and everything around turns into a market.
  

Lifestyle
Dutch lifestyle is characterized by their friendliness and by the way they ride their bikes. To enjoy the lifestyle on the bike many of the hotels in Groningen offer a bike when booking a room. This certainly makes it much easier to get around in the pedestrian zone and it’s fun.

Sights
Historic sights:
The martini church/tower
The landmark of Groningen is of course the Martini Church tower, it the oldest building forming the skyline of Groningen.
The main station
Fully restored to its old glamour the main station of Groningen built in 1896 is the first thing you’ll see when arriving by train.
The Goudkantoor
Originally a provincial tax office built in 1635, it was renamed to the Goudkantoor when the department for gold and silver verification moved there in the 19th century. Today it is a café/restaurant.
The Prinsenhof
The Prinsenhof used to be a cloister. Accompanied with it, the Prinsenhoftuin; a garden typical for the Dutch Renaissance. Until recently, this building used to be a radio station but it moved to another location. The garden can be visited from 10am till sundown from the beginning of April to mid-October.