The 10 best clubs in Groningen, ranked: Vera, Simplon, FIXY, Wolter Wolthers, PALACE and more, with closing times, entry prices, age rules and what to watch for.
The best clubs in Groningen sit within a few streets of each other, and because the city has no regulated closing time, most of them keep going until 05:00. This list ranks ten of them, from Vera, the club for the international pop underground on the Oosterstraat, and the dance nights at Simplon on the Boterdiep, to the disco bar Wolter Wolthers, the vinyl bar and club room at FIXY and PALACE, the biggest club in town.
Groningen does clubbing its own way. Much of the night happens in dance cafés: bars with a DJ and a floor, often free to enter, packed into the Poelestraat and Peperstraat. The ticketed nights are at the music venues. For each pick you get what we could verify: the closing time, the entry price where it is published, the age rule and one honest reason to skip it. Most doors open at 22:00 or 23:00, and Warhol and RGB stay open until 06:00.
We ranked the clubs on five things: sound, crowd, door, late hours and value. Sound means a room built for music rather than background noise. Crowd means people who came for that night, not just for the street. Door means how easy it is to get in and what the venue asks of you, from age rules to bag checks. Late hours matter in a city without a closing time. Value compares what you pay with what you get. Every venue here has a current programme or opening times on its own site or with the city's tourist board, and every price, time and address comes from those sources. We do not sell tickets ourselves.
The club for the international pop underground, founded in 1899, where U2 played to about 180 people in 1980 and more than 200 volunteers keep the doors open. Concerts fill most of the week, and on club nights such as Club VERA the room turns into a dance floor from 23:00 to 03:00 for €5. Skip it if you want a polished club with a big production.
A former canning and jacket factory on the Boterdiep with a 400-capacity main hall and about 200 events a year, from drum and bass to house. Autumn 2026 brings VISION on 9 October and Housequake with Roog and Erick E on 16 October. Skip it if you want a club you can drop into any weekend: it runs on event dates.
KopjeK and the Boilermaker Group turned the old Club Oost building into a vinyl bar, a club room and a rehearsal space. Cocktails and records from the late afternoon, then house, techno and electro until 05:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want chart music or a night out early in the week.
A self-styled disco temple on the Poelestraat, with residents playing disco, house, funk, boogie and 90s records from 23:00 to 05:00, Tuesday to Saturday. It is the most dependable dance floor on the strip, five nights a week. Skip it if you want techno or a big room.
The tourist board calls it the biggest club in Groningen: several floors stacked around a central dance floor, a few steps from the Grote Markt. Thursday is House of Students and Saturday is Club Night, both from 23:00. Skip it if you want a specialist music policy.
A night café in the Papengang, between the Peperstraat and the Oosterstraat, playing alternative rock and pop from 22:00 to 06:00, Monday to Saturday. It is the natural next stop after a gig at Vera, and a partner venue during Eurosonic Noorderslag. Skip it if you came to dance to house or hip-hop.
A beach-club styled dance café on the Grote Markt that calls itself one of the most visited in the north of the Netherlands. DJs, cocktails and shots from 23:00 to 05:00 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. Skip it if you want to talk or hear something specialist.
On the Peperstraat since 2009, with classic hip-hop, R&B, Latin and Motown instead of house or charts, themed nights from Thursday to Saturday and a VIP lounge with table service. It is the one room on the strip for that sound. Skip it if you want electronic music.
A small 18+ club on the Peperstraat with no entrance fee, weekly deals on cocktails, shots and pitchers, and DJs playing hits and classics. It opens from Tuesday and runs until 05:00 from Thursday to Saturday. Skip it if you want a big sound system or a line-up.
A silent disco bar on the Gelkingestraat where three DJs play at once on three headphone channels: red for sing-alongs, blue for techno and house, green for urban. It solves the problem of a group that cannot agree on music. Skip it if you want to feel a sound system or talk at the bar.
Groningen's clubs sit in three clusters, and you can walk between all of them. The dance cafés are on the Poelestraat and Peperstraat: Wolter Wolthers, Donovan's, Sunny Beach, and Warhol in the Papengang. Ocean41 and PALACE are on and by the Grote Markt. Vera, FIXY and RGB are on the Oosterstraat and Gelkingestraat, south of the square. Only Simplon, on the Boterdiep north of the centre, needs a short bike ride.
Plan the night by type, not by distance. Start with a gig at Vera or a dance night at Simplon, which can finish at 02:00 or 03:00, then move on to the dance cafés, which stay open until 05:00, or to Warhol and RGB, which go on until 06:00. Getting home is a walk or a bike ride. Night buses run only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, to towns outside the city, and there are no night trains.
Groningen rewards a simple plan: one ticketed gig or dance night, then the dance cafés until five. Check the programmes at Vera, Simplon and FIXY, bring ID for the 18+ doors, and plan to walk or cycle home. For prices, transport and how a night here runs hour by hour, read our full Groningen nightlife guide. To choose an area first, see Groningen nightlife by neighbourhood. For ticketed nights and events, go to NightFind tickets. For a bigger city on a second weekend, Amsterdam is about two hours away by train.
For gigs and club nights, Vera on the Oosterstraat. For ticketed dance nights, Simplon on the Boterdiep. For electronic music in the centre, FIXY.
There is no regulated closing time. Most dance cafés close at 05:00, Warhol and RGB at 06:00, and Club VERA at 03:00.
Often nothing: Sunny Beach charges no entrance fee, like many dance cafés. Club VERA costs €5 and Housequake at Simplon €24.50.
Sunny Beach and Simplon's night events are 18+, and nobody under 18 is served alcohol. Bring ID.
Thursday is the student night at PALACE and Het Feest. Friday and Saturday are best for FIXY, open until 05:00, and for the dance nights at Vera and Simplon.
