Come visit the far north of the Netherlands
First of all: what is Groningen? Groningen is the name of both the province and of the provincial capital in the far north of the Netherlands.
This website contains information of both the city and of the northern part of this province. This region is not a world renowned tourist destination
but it has a couple of very attractive features. Why would
you spend your holiday in the North of Groningen? First of all: you could explore the historic city that has a population of about 200 thousand
and boasts some museums, pittoresque historic quarters around the docks and in the city centre and two fine landscaped parks. Secondly: there
is the countryside, flat country where you can cycle all sorts of long or short routes. The Netherlands is een country of cyclists and the infrastructure
for cycling overall is excellent, especially here in the less crowded north where you can use cycle paths but also ride on relatively quiet roads.
Also, the thing that marks out the North of Groningen is it's number of medieval churches. Many of these can be found on so called 'wierden', manmade
hills (up tot 10 metres) that were built in and after the Roman Period. There is no region in Western Europe where the density of medieval churches
is so high as here. Compare it with the county of Norfolk in England. A thing that should be comfortable for you as a foreigner is that many Dutch
people speak English to a certain extent. Finding yourself in a position where you can't communicate at all is very unlikely.
The countryside of Groningen is flat with the exception of the wierden I just
mentioned and of course the dykes that protect the land from the sea. These barriers protect the entire northern coastline. There are paths for walkers
and cyclists along these dykes, sometimes even on them. The land is mostly cultivated: in the northern parts of the North of Groningen you will
find mostly arable lands and further south (closer to the city) a lot more pastures with grazing livestock like cows and sheep. There are a number of
lovely villages as well, two of them were recently voted as most beautiful in the entire country.
This website is written in Dutch, this particular page is one of the three exceptions. Luckily for you the site
contains a lot of photos, interactive maps with interesting locations and the walkingroutes and cycleroutes can be viewed on map as well.
For instance: go to Bestemmingen to find possible destinations, to Overnachten to find and book hotels or other types of accommodations,
to Wandelroutes to view walking routes and to Fietsroutes to study cycling routes.
Do you live in Great Britain or Norway? In that case, check these links and read further:
Read in English?