…or rather ‘What will I do in my free time in Groningen?’ 😉 If you are considering about going to Groningen for an exchange program and wondering about what you’re going to do in Groningen in your spare time, especially if you are from Paris – a very cosmopolitan city with full of places and activities for students, my answer will be: ‘Groningen is a nice student city and you will have a lot of fun here!’. Personally, I’m not someone who goes out a lot. The ‘Vietnamese part of me’ makes me prefer calm evenings with close friends (like old people, lol) rather than big parties with ‘dancing and drinking all night long’ or the impromptu trips. Even though, I can list for you many things that you will like to do in Groningen. But first, let me give you my first description about Groningen.

In short, Groningen is a small, international student city. All the main activities of the city are concentrated at the two schools (Rijkuniversiteit-the research university and Hanze Hogeschool – the university of applied sciences) and the ‘City center’ with the Martini tower, the two open markets (Vismarkt – ‘Fish market’ and Grote Markt- ‘Big market’). In the ‘City center’ (which is 7 minutes by bike from my resident by the way), you can find many restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, etc.

1, Night parties, dancing clubs, bars and beers

To be honest, I don’t know much about night parties and clubs in Groningen and have just gone to few of them. But, as I can see about my resident friends, you can have like twice a week. My resident have one big common room for people who want to organize their birthday or parties. Thus, almost every Friday, and many other Wednesdays, I can see people with nice dress passing by my corridor and hear the music from that room (as my room is quite near). Moreover, people can also invite friends to their room, and sometimes, they are opened to everyone who wants to join. Besides, you also have frequent parties organized by the ESN (Erasmus students network – the organization of international exchange students). Usually, the parties in the resident end at midnight, then people go to the city center, continue their night in a bar or a dancing club. In the city center, there are many nice bars and dancing clubs which are not expensive for students. The favorite drink in the Netherlands is beer: there are many different kinds of beer. Furthermore, you can have bars with bands playing live music for you; and the Dutch DJs are well-known as the best DJs in the world!!!

2, Shopping

In the city center, there are many shops for clothes, cosmetics, house decorations, kitchen tools, books… You have shops from famous brands (Ikea, Zara, H&M, etc.) or smaller unique shops which have each one their own style or the open market: many choices are available for you. Personally, I really enjoy walking the long the little street, discovering different shops and choosing many little and cute stuffs for my family and friends.

Moreover, you also can go to Bremen, a 2-hour-by-bus close German city, where you can find the lovely Christmas market, and the large outlets of famous brands for cheap price. Indeed, it’s one of the u-n-m-i-s-s-a-b-l-e destinations for your Christmas!

3, International foods

It’s true that the Dutch gastronomy can’t be compared with the French one. However, the are some “typically Dutch” foods, for instance the delicious snacks “bitterballen”, “kroketten”, etc. that you can find in automatic food vending machines or in fast food corners. Besides, you can easily find a nice restaurant with candles and have a lovely evening with delicious Italian, Japanese, French, etc. meal with a not expensive price.

But what I prefer the most is walking through the “Grote Market”, the “Vismakt”, tasting the bake-off “kibbeling”, “herring”, other fish/scrimp-based delicacies  and other Italian, Belgium, French pizza, fries, snacks, etc.

Moreover, you can always invite your new friends for an international dinner to disgust, learn to cook new foods, play games and have fun . Please notice that sometimes, it’s a part of your assignments for school: isn’t it cool? Through those dinners, you will discover that there are many future “top chefs” within your friends, try unknown “western foods” beside pizza or spaghetti or “asian foods” beside sushi or nem.

4, Impromptu trips

Being in the center of Europe means having the facility to travel to different places. Furthermore, as this Erasmus occasion brings to you many international friends, you can easily come to visit our new friends’ places or to organize a trips with other exchange students. In the case that you don’t have the habit to plan trips by yourself, the ESN can help you. Don’t even count the number of trips that they organize for students: there are a lot. Thus, just take your baggage and go!

So, these are some suggestions from me about what you can do in your spare time here. Believe me, although Groningen is a small city, unlike Paris for instance, you won’t get bored here but just have fun, in the very “international student” way!