Transportation

The City of Groningen has excellent connections to all main airports and railway stations in the Netherlands. It is located in the northeast of the Netherlands, approximately 200 km from Amsterdam and 250 km from Bremen in Germany.

Getting to Groningen

There are several ways to get to Groningen: you can rent a car, by taxi, take a train or the bus. Below shows the easiest way to get to Groningen from Schiphol (Amsterdam) or Bremen.

Schiphol - Groningen
You will probably arrive in the Netherlands at Schiphol, Amsterdam International Airport. The easiest way to travel to Groningen is to take the train. The underground train station is located near Schiphol Plaza, within several minutes walking distance from the luggage claim. The Dutch railway system is run by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and known as NS. You will recognize it by its yellow and blue colours. Look out for the yellow illuminated signs that direct you ‘To the trains’. Don't forget to buy a train ticket (one way Schiphol - Groningen costs approx. € 25,80,- 2nd class and €43,90,- 1st class) or a public transport chip card (OV-chipkaart), see below.

There is a direct hourly train service to Groningen from Schiphol Airport. Additional connections every hour involve just one change of trains. Make sure that you board one of the carriages marked with the destination Groningen (the other part of the train travels to Leeuwarden). The journey from Amsterdam or Schiphol Airport to Groningen takes a little over 2 hours.
Copenhagen (Kastrup) - Groningen Airport (Eelde)
When you are traveling from or through Kastrup there are direct flights available to Groningen Airport (Eelde).

Bremen - Groningen
Another way to arrive in the Netherlands is via Bremen Airport. The cheapest and easiest way to travel from Bremen to Groningen is to take the FLiXBUS. This will take you from Bremen airport to Groningen in about 2,5 hours and costs 11 to 25 euro (one way), depending on the time you travel. You can book your ticket online or buy one directly from the driver. The buses run several times a day.

Did you know RyanAir flies to Bremen? This is often cheaper than flying to Schiphol!

Tickets

It is important that you purchase a train ticket to Groningen before you board the train. Passengers travelling without a valid ticket will be fined. There are two ways of purchasing a ticket: at the ticket office where you can purchase a ticket from a railway officer in person, and at the yellow and blue ticket-vending machines that you will find in the luggage claim hall and by every entrance to the train terminal. You can purchase tickets from the machines only by using your credit card or a debit card with the Maestro logo. You can buy either a first-class ticket (approximately € 45) or a second-class ticket (approximately € 25).

Transportation within Groningen

Buses

Within the city of Groningen several bus lines connect the outer districts with the city center and the railway station. There are two direct bus lines from and to the Zernike campus, which are lines 11 and 15. A OV-chipkaart (public transport chip card) has to be purchased for bus rides, see below.

You can use this Journeyplanner for all Dutch public transport.

Public Transport Chip Card System

Except for the trainsystem, which still has paper tickets you can buy, the other public transportation in The Netherlands uses the OV-chipkaart (Public Transport Chip Card). In some parts of the Netherlands you can still purchase your ticket from the busdriver, but we advise you to purchase an anonymous Ov-chip card, as this is usually cheaper.

If you want to buy an anonymous OV-chip card you can get one at the following points of sales: desks of railway companies (such as the NS Service Desk), ticket vending machines on train stations, several tobacco shops (such as Primera), supermarkets (Albert Heijn and C1000) and some Bruna bookshops. At Schiphol Airport you can buy the anonymous OV-chip card at the NS Service Desks or the AKO bookshop, located at Schiphol Plaza.

Further information about the OV-chip card system can be found on http://www.ov-chipkaart.nl and through Travelling with the OV-chipkaart.