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Tuesday 19 May 2026 • 4 minutes reading time
The Netherlands has one of the best cycling infrastructures in the world. Nowhere in the world do relatively more people cycle than in Groningen. We have a long cycling tradition in Groningen, which keeps the city vital, accessible and healthy. As a cyclist Groningen is just the perfect place to be, but for new cyclists in Groningen the streets and rules might seem a bit overwhelming. That is why we gathered some information for you to make cycling in Groningen less frightening.
With the growing number of inhabitants of the city, the number of cyclists is also increasing. In addition, new developments, such as the e-bike, are creating more crowded cycling paths.
No less than sixty percent of all traffic movements take place on bicycles.
That is why the government tries its best to help make cycling safer and more enjoyable. One of the measurements was the Verkeers Circulatie Plan from 1977. With this new plan cars often have to take a detour from point A to point B, the cyclists on the other hand can just take the direct route (e.g. through the city centre). Keep reading to find out more about cycling in Groningen.
The city of Groningen currently has about 232.000 inhabitants. In this city (like in most of the Netherlands) everyone grows up using a bike. On average people cycle 1.4 times per day. When it comes to means of transportation on a daily basis 61% of the people travel by bike, 36% use the car and only 3% use public transport. The most used bicycle route in Groningen is the “Zernike Route”, with almost 20 thousand daily cyclists using it.
There are a few rules to consider when cycling in Groningen. Make sure to stop at the red bicycle stop sign. Sometimes you are allowed to cycle anyway, but only if you are going to the right (“rechtsaf voor fietsers vrij”).
When the traffic lights turn green be careful: Groningen is the only place in which ALL bicycles can cycle at the same time. That means at a crossroad, if you want to cycle straight on, you have to wait until the cyclists coming from your right pass, before you can continue on.
If you pass a pedestrian crosswalk, be careful to let the pedestrians go first. If a part of the bicycle path is blue (like at the Groningen Central Station) it is a warning for cyclists to be more careful. There are a lot of pedestrians and some might not be concentrated on cyclists to let them pass.
If the so-called “Haaientanden” are pointing at you, watch out for other traffic. They have the right of way.
Watch out for certain signs saying “Geen fietsen plaatsen”. You are not allowed to park your bike there.
In Groningen you have several options to get a bike. Where to get it and how much to pay also depends on how long you need the bike. You could simply buy a bike. There are a lot of options for that. You can buy it second-hand or new. You can also rent a bike. Some companies rent the bike per month, others per day. Make sure to check what suits your needs best.
Since the bike is used by so many and there are so many bikes (about 1.5 bikes per inhabitant) it might be hard to find a parking spot in Groningen. But the city is always evolving and adding more so-called “Fietsenstalling”. You can find an overview of all bike parkings here.
Bikes are often stolen, not just in Groningen, but in the Netherlands in general. So make sure to always lock your bike, with two locks if possible. The best is to even lock it to something like a lamp post or bike rack.
Are you cycling while it’s raining? The traffic lights are on your side! They have rain sensors, which means the cyclists won’t have to wait as long as usual to continue their journey.
Lastly we can mention the Cycling Café Spaak. Here you can drink a nice coffee while getting your bike fixed. They also arrange weekly cycling group rides on Saturdays and Sundays.
Now only one thing is missing: Get on your bike and have fun cycling around the city. With all this new knowledge you are good to go and ready to be a real Groningen cyclist!
Ines studies Linguistics and Spanish in Bremen. She enjoys writing, researching and photography. The passion for those three things and her studies brought her to Groningen.
