Okay! So I have been putting off writing this for a loooong time, but finally I have sat down to write my Official Groningen Guide, so you can avoid going to the shit places and have an epic time in Groningen!
Alright I will go through it in sections to give you a brief all-round overview of things that I consider relevant to your overseas student life. Oh, also I would recommend viewing this in Google Chrome, as a lot of hyperlinks I have included take you to the website in Dutch so its quite handy having Google Chrome to translate it for ya.
COFFEE/ LUNCH:
Once I discovered Black and Bloom, all other attempts at Flat Whites I had experienced in the city couldn’t even compete. This is the BEST STUFF AROUND, and the owner really knows what he is talking about when it comes to coffee (if you get him started talking, he will tell you about all his experiences overseas in coffee competitions and what not). The food is ok, but the coffee is a real winner and the atmosphere of the cafe is also just darn pleasant. So nice to just come in and sit and read a book or something when its snowing outside. Also really close to Kroy Vintage, which is a great little vintage shop packed to the brim of well-priced vintage goodness (if you have time to hunt through everything, that is).
Bagels and Beans is also a really great place to pop into for a cheap and delicious lunch; lots of great tasting bagels to choose from and all pretty healthy too. The coffee isn’t the best in my opinion, but the bagels are definitely more than enough of a reason to visit here. It’s always pretty busy too, so I guess I’m not the only one to think its a place worth visiting.
Puur! Natural Food was conveniently right around the corner from my house, so I would sometimes come here to utilise the free wifi to do my uni work and munch on one of their delicious sandwiches. Their coffee is relatively ok, just make sure you ask for a double shot and you’ll be fine.
SHOPPING:
Sostrene Grene was a new shop that opened when I was there, and I was well glad it did. Great place for presents, cheap homewares, random stuff that you have never considered a necessity until you have laid eyes upon it in Sostrene Grene.
Star Dust is a cute little shop in Groningen with both new and second-hand wares on sale. It is relatively well priced, which is something pretty essential as a student. The shop has a cool vibe, whenever I went there great music was playing and I was always surrounded by well-dressed shoppers. The shop has now moved since when I was in Groningen, but I’m sure it will still be just as great if not better in its new location.
Mama Mini was the BEST ever shop in existence when I first arrived in Groningen. Although the flat I moved into was ‘furnished’, there were still essentials from home that I felt were missing – things as simple as a dish rack, a bedside table, a toaster, etc. All of these I got from Mama Mini for dirt cheap prices, it was amazing. The only issue was transport, I managed to go back and forwards a few times on my bike/ walking because I didn’t live too far away, but I do know they have bikes available for free with big carts on the front that you are able to borrow (there just aren’t many though, as they were all in use when I was there, so a good idea would be to go to Mama Mini maybe early in the morning when there aren’t many other people needing to borrow it at the same time).
GROCERIES:
Luckily I lived right next to the Vismarkt, so mostly every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday I would head here to get some fresh vegetables, fish, cheese, bread or pasta. A lot of the time produce is cheaper here than it is at Albert Heijn (the main supermarket chain in the Netherlands), and there are also quite a few organic stalls here if you are into that kinda thing. Definitely recommend coming earlier in the morning when it is less busy and you have a fuller range of produce to choose from.
Jumbo is a supermarket chain in the Netherlands that is not quite as common as the more prevalent competitive chain, Albert Heijn. Although the Jumbo supermarkets are situated more on the periphery of the city, a lot of the produce on offer is cheaper than at Albert Heijn, so if you are living near enough to one then I would definitely recommend it as your supermarket of choice.
Aldi is also a cheaper supermarket worth looking into to getting all sorts of basic groceries, toiletries etc. at a much cheaper price than AH. This is mostly because they don’t put the products onto a shelf, they just cut open the boxes and stack them on top of each other. Sure, not the most ‘appealingly merchandised’ supermarket, but a great place to keep in mind if you are living in Groningen on a budget.
NIGHTLIFE:
OK, so quick disclaimer – a large proportion of Groningen student night life occurs in the multiple beach-themed or snow-themed clubs that play top 40 on repeat or atrocious ‘remixes’ which mainly consist of the DJ turning down the music and shouting “yeah!” into a microphone, BUT that is why I am here – to hopefully guide you away from this misery and into some of the more interesting venues in town.
Warhol was probably one of the places I frequented the most, and as you can imagine some of the decor reflects the iconic American pop artist the bar was named after. A wide mix of tunes played here, mostly alternative but sometimes more mainstream; I did notice some nights that the set lists of tracks were totally at random (think 90’s rock immediately after a funk track, or something) but thats just me being nit-picky and clearly not drunk enough if I was busy analysing the music playing. Mostly nights at Warhol would pick up at around 2 or 3am, and would only really taper off around 5 or even 6am (for Kiwis reading this, thats pretty normal for most of European night life; they stay out LATE man), so yeah don’t bother heading in at midnight because chances are you’ll be the only one on the dance floor.
Another place I would highly recommend for something a bit different was De Spieghel. Unfortunately I didn’t go here as much as I would have liked to, because I discovered it kind of late in my exchange, however the few times I did go here I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s just a really great place to come and have a drink with a group of friends with awesome music (often live) playing in the background, mostly with an awesome funky jazz vibe (genres vary though, so if you are specific about your music taste then I would check their Facebook page).
Even though it isn’t directly ‘nightlife’, I think I should probably mention Eurosonic Noorderslag, which is a massive music conference and festival that happens in Groningen every January for 4 days. Unfortunately I was a bit slow on the uptake for this one so ended up on missing out on tickets to see some artists I liked, so if you are on an exchange during this time its definitely a good idea to check out the schedule well in advance. Oh and also tickets sell out pretty quick (I think it was a matter of hours this year) so if you are interested in going then make sure you are at a computer as soon as they go on sale to avoid missing out.
RESTAURANTS:
I went to Hemingway’s when my mum came and visited me in Groningen, and yep, you probably guessed correctly who it is named after. The Cuban-style cuisine is in reference to Ernest Hemingway’s travels to Cuba, as are the many pictures decorating the walls. Good place to come to if you are a fan of sharing lots of small dishes with friends, and its not overly expensive either.
Napoli is probably the best pizza Groningen has to offer. Not the most authentic, and their policy in regard to water is not the greatest (I think last time I went there you were only allowed a glass of water if you had bought a glass of wine or beer, so I sat there pretty fuming with my coke and taking secret sips of water out of my drink bottle), BUT also pretty inexpensive so a good place to head if you want a cheap meal.
De Kleine Moghul was definitely my favourite restaurant in Groningen, we went there a few times to enjoy a variety of their different delicious curries on offer. Not overly fatty and greasy, and also pretty huge so if you got a curry to share and maybe a few sides or starters then that would be ample for 2 people.
I don’t know why I only went to Thai Jasmine once, because that one time we went it was certainly not disappointing. We had really delicious fish cakes and also some nice Thai curries. Wasn’t the cheapest meal I’d had in Groningen, but definitely a nice venue with super delicious food on offer.
TRAVEL:
Ok so I can probably say a few brief things about travel here – number one, if you are keen on travelling in the weekends and semester breaks, then I would definitely check Ryanair and Easyjet regularly for deals (I went to Milan one weekend from the Groningen airport for something as ridiculously low as 30 euro). Skyscanner is also a good price comparison website, but sometimes not all the deals come up here so definitely good to not solely rely on browsing here.
Piece of important advice number two – traveling on trains in the Netherlands is super expensive for international students, as sadly it is only domestic students that get to ride for free and international students instead have to pay a full adult rate. HOWEVER something that might ease this financial stress is regularly checking some of the main chain retailers, such as Kruidvat, Blokker and Hema, who often have special deals on cheap train tickets you can buy. What I did was stock up on ones from Hema, and managed to use them all before I went. If you don’t use them all though, don’t fret – they are quite easy to sell online before they expire (further details down below in ‘helpful websites’ section).
OTHER STUFF:
Ok so here are a few other miscellaneous things I think I should mention. I’m not your biggest, err, weed connoisseur, however when I did feel like a bit of the bud I went around the corner to The Clown, who sell cheap and quite strong pre-rolled joints for about 4 euro.
Also, because I’m a bit of a freak I decided I wanted to keep up with my extra curricular activities whilst I was over there, namely being running and having flute lessons. The Muziek School set me up with a fantastic flute teacher over the period of time I was there, and I also got in touch with the middle distance coach at Vitalis and ended up training with them a couple of times a week. So yes if you have strange extracurricular desires similar to mine when you are over there, those are a few starting points I guess!
HELPFUL WEBSITES:
Finally I thought I would put a few links to helpful Facebook pages and websites I used often when I was over there:
Free Housing Announcements:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/162781577095263/?fref=ts
For Sale in Groningen:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/203402449673669/?fref=ts
Daytickets Groningen (where you can buy and sell cheap train tickets):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/263316833791525
Secondhand bikes in Groningen:
https://www.facebook.com/secondhandbikes.groningen
Studybooks in Groningen:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/305416326155705
Also a really helpful website that answers a few FAQ’s about living in Groningen:
http://www.justletmeknow.info/facilities/
And also an online shop where I got a toaster and a few textbooks from quite cheaply:
http://www.bol.com/nl/index.html
Anyway I hope this was somewhat helpful if you are about to go on your exchange. Or, if you are random reading this, then I hope you are able to take something from this other than laughing at this slightly odd account of my Groningen discoveries last year! Thanks for reading!
Ximena's Travels 
Enjoyed it.. Brought back a few memories