Thursday, February 7, 2013
Which cities in Netherlands out of these three are the best to live in, Groningen, Utrecht or Rotterdam?
Which cities in Netherlands out of these three are the best to live in, Groningen, Utrecht or Rotterdam?
I need a bit of advice as to which city i should live in when i move to Netherlands. Im planning to do student exchange with University next year, where you move and study in another country and have a choice of three places in the Netherlands - Groningen, Utrecht or Rotterdam. I've heard a mix of things from each city and have read into each but am totally stuck to and dont know which to choose. From what i've read Groningen and Utrecht seem heaps more fun that Rotterdam (is this true?) Basically i wanna go to a city where i can have a lot of fun, but at the same time be able to be mobile and travel around (hopingthe city isnt far from everything and that theres easy transportation within Netherlands and Europe). Im looking for a place where the nightlife and social life is really alive, fun, vibrant and out there out of these three cities but to also have heaps of interesting thing to do during the day and sites to see. I love the busy lifestyle and want to meet heaps of new people and friends. cheers - ramey :) also which city would be most affordable to live in?
Netherlands - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
The first answer is just pulled from Wikipedia for one city so I wouldn't place much weight on this alone Groningen is a great city and a city of many students. I have a friend who lives there now (working for the IB groep) and he loves the lifestyle there, but it is a very Dutch orientated city. Being a foreign student is a lot different that being a Dutch student and I guess it depends on how quickly and to what extent you wish to learn the language. If you want to really take onboard the Dutch student lifestyle then this is definately a great city to live in If however you want a more typical foreign student experience and international friends then you should look more towards Utrecht and Rotterdam. Personally I am not a lover of Rotterdam. I have never really socialised there so can't say much for the nightlife, but I just don't warm to the city. It is modern and has a large student population, but every time I visit I am not really encouraged to spend a lot of time there. It's purely personal :0) Utrecht on the other hand I really like and have spent some great days and even better evenings in :0) It is a big city but a very warm city, great nightlife, lots of restaurants and bars. It's a history with beautiful (old) architecture and built around a network of canals like Amsterdam. It has a lot of foreign students and a busy city feel but a really nice place So given the preference I would choose Utrecht or Groningen. However I would also say that this is quite a major decision, so if it is possible (time & finances) then come over for a week or so, visit the cities, chat to people there and get a feel for each of the cities to see what suits you Regarding living costs, you are not looking at much difference to be honest. Maybe Groningen would be slightly cheaper (just on the basis of my friend's comments and experience of living in Amsterdam and not Groningen but it is a negligible difference) Concerning getting around, to be honest it doesn't make much difference but of course Groningen is in the north of the country. Public transport here is great and so you can get around by train/tram/bus really easily (and of course if you are studying then you have to get a bike as well!)
2 :
I would say Groningen
3 :
I would not choose Rotterdam, Then you have the choice between Groningen en Utrecht. Utrecht is bigger, closer to other cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. Relatively speaking, there are more students in Groningen than in Utrecht, Groningen is a very nice city and so I have heard a good city for living and studying. For living in the city, Groningen might be the best for you. However, Groningen is that far from the rest of the bigger cities, that I would prefer Utrecht. Utrecht is also very nice. Bigger, less dominated by students, with festivals. Groningen might be a bit cheaper. I have studied in Amsterdam, so I can only give the impression from what I have heard from others.
4 :
For me personally I would never want to live in Rotterdam, Its a very large, modern and industrial city with no historical carm (not trying to offend anybody) I lived in Groningen myself. Groningen is a lovely city. For a student city it is easy to get a student room and they are affordable. 1 in every 4 inhabitants of Groningen are student, so there usually is a good buzz. Groningen is pretty small for a Dutch city, No matter where you live in groningen city, its alway less than 20 minutes cycle to the main square. If you are a foreigner I think Groningen would be a good choice because it quite small, a big city might be a bit overwhelming. Groningen is more of a town than a city. it is lterally a city in the middle of the country side (so about at least 1.5 hr by train to get anywhere) Utrecht is bigger, more vibrant (more chaotic), larger, very expensive, hard chance getting a place to live in, or even near the City. BUT - Culturally there is more to do in Utrecht, there will be more foreign students so it might be easier to make friends, Utrecht is in the center of the Netherlands, you can get basically anywhere (except Groningen) within an hour by train. So it all depends on what you are looking for/
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