Groningen nightlife runs on two things: students and the absence of a closing time. About a quarter of the city's 245,000 people study here, and bars and clubs have no regulated closing hour, so the dance cafés on the Poelestraat and Peperstraat go on until 05:00 and Warhol until 06:00. Almost everything is a short walk from the Grote Markt: free dance cafés, gigs at Vera on the Oosterstraat, vinyl and electro at FIXY, disco at Wolter Wolthers. Simplon, on the Boterdiep, is a few minutes north by bike. Ticketed nights cost €5–25. Worth knowing: night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and only to towns outside the city, so most people walk or cycle home.
Ranked by popularity. Tap a card for opening hours, door tips, getting there and tickets.
For the drinks before and after. Hours, prices and the best nights are on each page.
There is no closing time, and the night is built around that. Groningen does not regulate when its bars and clubs close. Most dance cafés on the Poelestraat and Peperstraat shut at 05:00, Warhol and RGB at 06:00, and the snack bars stay open with them. In 2025 the city council had the effect of a closing time added to research into a safer nightlife, but the doors still close late.
It is a student city, and Thursday is a real night out. About a quarter of the population studies: the University of Groningen has 32,500 students and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences more than 28,000. PALACE runs House of Students on Thursday, Het Feest has its student night the same evening, and several dance cafés open from Monday or Tuesday.
Everything is a walk from the Grote Markt. The square itself, the Poelestraat and Peperstraat and the Oosterstraat hold almost every bar and club in this guide. Only Simplon, on the Boterdiep, and De Oosterpoort, south-east of the centre, need a longer walk or a bike. Entry to the dance cafés is often free; you pay for gigs and club nights at Vera and Simplon.
House of Students at PALACE on Thursday, free dance cafés and Club VERA for €5.
No regulated closing time. Most dance cafés close at 05:00, Warhol and RGB at 06:00.
Vera, where U2 played in 1980, Simplon on the Boterdiep and the two halls of De Oosterpoort. In January, Eurosonic Noorderslag fills the venues.
Wolter Wolthers under its mirror ball, the turning draaibar at Het Feest and five karaoke booths at De Drie Gezusters.
30 taps at De Pintelier, the city's first Belgian café, and ten taps of Dutch beer at Proeflokaal Mout.
RGB's silent disco puts three DJs on three channels: sing-alongs, techno and house, and urban.
Not for you if you want a big techno warehouse every weekend. The largest rooms here are mainstream, Paradigm runs events rather than a weekly club, and the specialist nights at Simplon and FIXY need checking in advance.
De Pintelier opens its taps, from 15:00 on Friday and Saturday. Proeflokaal Mout opens at 15:00 from Thursday.
Gigs start at Vera, Simplon and De Oosterpoort. Cocktails at The Stockroom or Mr. Mofongo.
The first dance cafés open: Sunny Beach, RGB and Warhol.
PALACE, Ocean41 and Wolter Wolthers open their doors, and Club VERA starts.
Club VERA and De Drie Gezusters finish. The Poelestraat and Peperstraat carry on.
Most dance cafés close. Warhol and RGB keep going until 06:00.
The club for the international pop underground turns into a DJ night from 23:00 to 03:00, in the room where U2 played in 1980.
The old factory on the Boterdiep runs about 200 events a year. Housequake with Roog and Erick E on 16 October 2026 costs €24.50.
Mirror ball, disco, funk and boogie on the Poelestraat, Tuesday to Saturday from 23:00 to 05:00.
Cocktails in the vinyl bar from the late afternoon, then house, techno and electro until 05:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Three DJs, three headphone channels and one room on the Gelkingestraat, Thursday to Saturday until 06:00.
From 13 to 16 January 2027 the festival and conference brings new European acts to the city's venues, with Noorderslag at De Oosterpoort.
Two streets running east from the Grote Markt with the densest run of bars and clubs in the city. Wolter Wolthers and Het Concerthuis are on the Poelestraat; Sunny Beach, Donovan's and Het Feest on the Peperstraat; Warhol in the Papengang alley.
Ocean41 and De Drie Gezusters face the Grote Markt, and PALACE, the biggest club in town, is at the top of the Gelkingestraat. De Pintelier and Mr. Mofongo are a short walk away.
The Oosterstraat runs south from the Grote Markt to the Gedempte Zuiderdiep, with Vera, FIXY and The Stockroom on it. RGB is on the Gelkingestraat, Proeflokaal Mout on the Zuiderdiep, and night buses stop at Zuiderdiep.
Just north of the centre. Simplon, in an old factory on the Boterdiep canal, is the reason to come: gigs and dance nights, about 200 events a year.
De Oosterpoort's two halls on the Trompsingel host big pop concerts and, every January, Noorderslag. Walk back into the centre for the late part of the night.
The dance cafés are walk-in, and many do not charge entry. Bring ID: Sunny Beach is 18+, Simplon's night events are 18+, and nobody under 18 is served alcohol. At Simplon staff may check your bag, and filming needs permission. PALACE opens to the public only on Thursday and Saturday.
Often nothing. Sunny Beach charges no entrance fee, and the university's own guide for new students calls free entrance standard. You pay for gigs and club nights: €5 for Club VERA and €24.50 for Housequake at Simplon. A pils at De Pintelier costs €3.80, a cocktail at The Stockroom €13–16.50.
Walk or cycle: almost everything is in the centre, and around 57% of residents cycle for everyday trips. Night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, to towns in the province such as Assen, Drachten and Delfzijl. Since 2 July 2026 they stop at Zuiderdiep in the centre as well as at the Hoofdstation; you pay the normal fare by bank card or OV-chipkaart. There are no night trains from Groningen. A taxi costs at most €4.31 plus €3.17 a kilometre and €0.52 a minute.
| Club entry | Free–€25 |
| Pils in a café | €3.80 |
| Belgian beer on tap | €5.90–6.80 |
| Cocktail | €13–16.50 |
| Club VERA | €5 |
| Dance night at Simplon | €24.50 |
| Night bus | Normal fare |
| Taxi, 3 km at night | Up to €19 |
A free dance café on the Peperstraat, five pils at €3.80 and the walk home.
Two Belgian beers at De Pintelier, Club VERA at €5, five more beers and the bike home.
Two cocktails at The Stockroom, a Simplon dance night at €24.50, drinks until late and a taxi home.
It runs only Thursday to Saturday nights and only to towns outside the city. Walk or cycle home.
PALACE runs House of Students, Het Feest has its student night and the dance cafés are open.
Reservations are taken between 13:00 and 20:00, and bookings close at 21:00.
Popular shows sell out: Drink The Sea at Vera and Snelle at De Oosterpoort were both sold out in October 2026.
The specialist dance nights move around the calendar, and Simplon's night events are 18+.
Eurosonic Noorderslag runs from 13 to 16 January 2027. Paradigm holds its festival in August at the old sugar factory site, ten minutes by bike from the centre, and an annual Joris Voorn night on 28 November.
It was founded in 1899 as a reformed student club whose code frowned on drinking and music. The name comes from the Latin Veri Et Recti Amici.
The band played Vera in 1980 to an audience of around 180. Joy Division and Simple Minds also played there.
The building on the Boterdiep was a canning factory and later a jacket factory in the early twentieth century, before it became a music venue in the early 1970s.
The University of Groningen is the second oldest in the Netherlands, and students now make up about a quarter of the city's population.
There is no regulated closing time. Most dance cafés close at 05:00, including Wolter Wolthers, Ocean41 and, at the weekend, Sunny Beach, while Warhol and RGB stay open until 06:00.
The Poelestraat and Peperstraat, east of the Grote Markt, for dance cafés and late bars. The Oosterstraat for Vera and FIXY, and the Grote Markt for PALACE and Ocean41.
Vera for gigs and Club VERA, Simplon for dance nights, FIXY for electronic music, Wolter Wolthers for disco and PALACE, the biggest club in town, for a mainstream night.
Often nothing: many dance cafés, such as Sunny Beach, charge no entrance fee. Club VERA costs €5 and big dance nights at Simplon about €25.
Walk or cycle. Night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, to towns outside the city, from the Hoofdstation and Zuiderdiep. There are no night trains.
Yes. About a quarter of the population studies, Thursday is a big night at PALACE and Het Feest, and many dance cafés are free to enter.
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