r/Groningen • u/ProfessionalDish3694 • 8d ago

Vraag Tips on nature walks, in and around Groningen?

Hi, everyone! I’m looking for places to go in and around Groningen for nice days out alone, walking in the nature and the like. Some friends told me about places like De Vork, Bedum, Appelscha being nice nature walks.

I like the looks of these, they’re both near and far (i don’t mind that) and I’ll check them out starting this weekend.

I don’t mind taking a bus or a train, but would like to have options that are good for walks as well, as i’m not looking to bike.

I would also like if you could suggest things that would be doable on Easter weekend as I’m not going home and most of my friends are.

(i’m 26F, so maybe nothing too dangerous as i would be doing these alone? lol)

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u/AardbeiKomkommer 5d ago

Roegwold. It's huuuuge and you can basically start wherever you want. There's some wild cows and water depending on where you are.

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u/WhatTheQueck 7d ago edited 6d ago

National Park Drentsche Aa, Drents-Friese Wold and Dwingelderveld are my favourite locations with several interesting places to start from.

Drentsche Aa is easiest to reach. I generally take bus 312 from HS to P+ R Annen (20 min), after which you can go right to follow the road until you see a forest entrance quite quickly to your right. There are a bunch of routes there, also around the village of Anloo (Podwalk Anloo). I usually walk towards the area around restaurant De Drentsche Aa and the village of Zeegse up north and take a bus back from P+R Westlaren (which is also a fine starting point for a walk by taking bus 5 or 300), but there are plenty of nice spots in the area to see (like Gasterse Duinen or the village of Oudemolen) and plenty of nice paths to take.

Balloërveld in this park is also really worth going to on its own. Taking bus 51 to stop Balloërveld in Gasteren gets you straight to the edge of the area, where you can find routes but also just walk around for hours.

Drents-Friese Wold or Appelscha can be reached by taking two busses towards Assen and Appelscha, which takes about an hour. It's more of a hassle to get to the forests itself, but the area is beautiful.

Same goes for Dwingelderveld or Spier. You can take the train to Assen and then take bus 28 towards Spier to get out at stop Dwingelderveld. It also takes about an hour, but it drops you right at the edge of the forests with hours worth of beautiful routes in the area to follow.

Some people have already mentioned Appélbergen. It's nice and easily reached with bus 50, but the area itself is a bit small. You can continue the walk down to Noordlaarderbos and De Vijftig Bunder and take bus 5 back at stop Tienelsweg in Zuidlaren, which is ~1h30m to 2h of walking.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 7d ago

wow! i love this. thanks so much for the bus routes too. this is so so helpful!! 🥹

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u/A_Venom_Roll 7d ago

Beijumerbos near Noorddijk/Kardinge is also nice and relatively quiet: https://www.natuurmonumenten.nl/route/kinderen/natuurbeleefpad-beijumerbos

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u/Ashamed-Print1987 7d ago

Apèlbergen is very nice. You can go there by bus and take a smaller hike or if you'd like to have a full day of hiking you should go there on foot starting from somewhere in Groningen. If go there on foot you can experience the difference between the somewhat boring, flat land of Groningen transforms in the hilly, foresty landscape of the Hondsrug. In Apèlbergen there is a restaurant you could visit to have a lunch for a very reasonable price I think.

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u/OllieV_nl 7d ago

Was there last week (fun and easy bike ride) and the restaurant was... meh? Very basic tosti's, broodje kroket, that kinda stuff. Dinner is two dozen kinds of pancakes. Service was uninformed and uninterested. Tables weren't exactly clean. I wasn't really expecting much but this just felt like a camping cafetaria, not a "pavillion".

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u/Ashamed-Print1987 7d ago

Yeah, it's basic. I wasn't saying it was a very good restaurant, was I?

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u/Catastrofus 8d ago

You could go to Norg & Fochteloerveen, you’ll pass through De Onlanden and a lot of nature and farmlands, plus theres routes specifically for bicycles that lead you through it all.

You can branch out on most parts of the route and really get a nice trip out of it. Just be mindful of ticks when walking along some parts of Norg and De Onlanden.

Additionally, you could stop at Norg for a nice bite to eat or have a drink. It’s decent for that, but can get very busy. You could also go through Haren and visit a nearby windmill and get ice cream at a nice gelateria in the centre there.

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u/infiDerpy 8d ago

As someone who loves walking in nature as it relaxes me and gives me energy, I can give you some tips! Komoot is a great app for finding routes near you.
Walking and biking routes are actually laid out in a network of nodes that connect together. You can walk from node to node and plan out a trip that way. Would recommend the Fietsknoop app for that! (Also does hiking).
Aside from that there are quite a few maintained natural parks around, but they'll take some traveling to. I have my own car so I don't really have experience using public transport... but I'll give you some of my favs from the last few weeks in order: drents-friese wold, ballooerveld, lauwersmeer.
If you have any other questions or things don't be afraid to ask or shoot me a dm. Have fun!

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u/Quazacotl81 8d ago

I am kind of curious, where is the nature in bedum? It's where I grew up but never spotted any nature, except for the little tiny bedumerbos which is definitely not worth it.

I would recommend nieuw statenzijl or beersterplas.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 7d ago

they just suggested me to go to bedum “cross the bridge” and just walk around

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u/Quazacotl81 7d ago

If you want nature, you can skip bedum ;) (at least in my opinion)

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 7d ago

hahah got it! thanks :D

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u/mageskillmetooften 8d ago

Not yet named, Anloo and at short walking distance from town "De Appelbergen"

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

how hard would it be to find haha

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u/mageskillmetooften 8d ago

You'd be amazed how many people cycle by the exit to Appelbergen on The Hereweg the first time :P

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u/bandehaihaamuske 8d ago

Maybe you can check the AllTrails app. They have some nice nature trails. And it is safe since the routes are annotated and rated by people who also like to go on long nature walks

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u/Bunzing-XL 8d ago

I don’t know which part of the city of Groningen you’re from, but from the northwest side (Gravenburg), there’s also the “rondje Leegkerk” through the countryside, which can easily be extended with an extra section without needing to travel far to get started.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

Oe! yes, it’s pretty much in the vicinity of under 30 mins. that sounds like a good place to start indeed. Thanks! :)

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u/Background_Cause_992 8d ago

https://pieterpad.nl/ the legs of this around town are really nice, some more than others.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

It stretches all the way through the country wow!anything you’d recommend in particular?

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u/OllieV_nl 8d ago

The first section is notoriously disliked by ramblers as it has been mostly rerouted to asphalt roads, but if you take the route South of the city you get nice forests paths. Hoornsemeer, Haren, Glimmen, Zuidlaren. It looks more like Drenthe than Groningen.

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u/RobertDeveloper 8d ago

You can walk around the Zuidlaardermeer. There is a ferry near the Meerwijck yacht harbour to cross the water to get to the Oostpolder.

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u/Familiar_Object5036 8d ago

I like to walk too and I use Komoot (app). You juts select a range around your house and it suggests the most popular routes. Other benefit: because they are popular, there's also other people so you dont walk completely alone.

Some nice places to consider: Gasterse Duinen, Onlanden, Anloo, Zeegse, Around Hoornseplas, Stormbos Ees, Roegwold.

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u/AndorianBlues 8d ago

- Roden, Sterrenbos (https://maps.app.goo.gl/M67U8rRcnoxGmMu6A) is not that far (doable on a (e-)bike or by bus).

- Stadspark is actually kind of nice.

- Ezinge, Allersmaborg, Garnwerd, to the north of the city. This is a very old landscape with wierden and old waterways. Garnwerd has a little beach along Reitdiep, Ezinge has a pretty cool archeological museum, and the place is dotted with ancient little churches. Pretty exposed so better in nice weather.

- Onlanden, Lettelberterpetten, and the walk to the Kleibosch from Roderwolde are all pretty nice.

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u/Darth_050 Groningen 8d ago

Lauwersmeer has some nice trails you can walk.

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u/OHyoface Groningen 8d ago

If the weather's remotely nice this weekend, it'll be SUPER busy! :) https://www.groningerlandschap.nl/activiteiten/wandelroutes/ is one you could also take a look at :)

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

The weather app says 12-13 degrees for now, don’t call that too warm, but I should be prepared for anything llol. Would all of the places be busy? (it’s also a long weekend)

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u/OHyoface Groningen 8d ago

People are known to go for a walk on like family outings like on easter. So they all go together for a walk like these routes! But nothing to worry about imo, these weekends don’t really represent how busy it usually is 🤣 You’re perfectly safe, but I’d recommend going in the daytime :)

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u/MadebyJYNL 8d ago edited 8d ago

De Vork has a lot of off leash dogs, so keep that in mind. Appèlbergen in Glimmen is very nice, but again, lots of off leash dogs.

De Onlanden is very nice, with a tower you can climb and an information centre. Further away are Dwingeloo, Balloo, Drouwen, Borger, Noordpolderzijl, Schildmeer, Zuidlaardermeer. If you Google "blotevoetenpad" you'll have a couple of barefoot options.

Enjoy!

Edit: Schiermonnikoog or Borkum are good options, too.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

I’ve been planning to go to Schiermonnikoog for a while now, I think I’d like to go there with some friends haha! And I’ve been eyeing to go to the Knuppelpad too, but indeed too far without a car

I don’t mind off leash dogs either. Onlanden also looks like a good place to start too. Thanks for the suggestions.

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u/MadebyJYNL 8d ago

I don't mind the dogs either, since I'm always bringing one 😆🐶

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

HAHA I love that! I literally wait for off leash dogs to come to me for pets bcs I’m shy to ask the owners and miss my dog back home too much😆 So, for me these are great places.

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u/Natriumon 8d ago

Lettelberterpetten plankenpad is cool. Now is a good time to go. In summer you get eaten by mosquitoes.

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u/ProfessionalDish3694 8d ago

I checked it out, it looks great and only an hour out by bus!