Groningen

Martinitoren on Saturday, the Noorderplantsoen on Sunday

Spend Saturday on the Grote Markt, climbing the Martinitoren before the crowds for the view over red roofs and flat fields, then browse the Vismarkt and give the afternoon to the Groninger Museum opposite the station. On Sunday, rent a bike and ride through the Noorderplantsoen, a winding park just outside the centre.

Come down to the Vismarkt next door, which is at its busiest on market days, with cheese, fish and flower stalls in front of the Korenbeurs, the old grain exchange. Walk down Oosterstraat to Kaashandel van der Ley and buy a wedge of farm cheese, then loop round to the Prinsenhof garden for a quiet half hour among the herb beds and hedges.

Give the afternoon to the Groninger Museum across the canal from the station; its building, a stack of clashing shapes in yellow, silver and pink, is half the show. In the evening, eat somewhere in the centre and move on to the bars on Poelestraat and Peperstraat, which stay busy late every night of the week thanks to the students.

On Sunday, rent a bike and ride through the Noorderplantsoen, a winding park just north of the centre, then out along the canals into the countryside, which starts sooner than you expect. Back in town, take the lifts to the top of the Forum for its rooftop terrace and a last look across the city. If you have energy for one more stop, the Der Aa-kerk and the old warehouses along the Hoge der A and Lage der A canals make a fine short walk before the train south.

Groninger worst, local cheese and late student cafés

Groningen's specialities come from a farming province with long winters. Buy Groninger worst, a raw minced-pork sausage air-dried until firm and sliced thin, from any butcher, and pick up local cheese at Kaashandel van der Ley on Oosterstraat. As a student city, Groningen eats cheaply and late around the Grote Markt.

At snack bars, look for the eierbal, the local answer to the Dutch croquette: a breaded ball of veal ragout wrapped around a whole boiled egg, then deep-fried. On cold days, cafes serve mosterdsoep, a creamy mustard soup often finished with bacon, and bakers sell Groninger koek, a dark, spiced rye cake eaten sliced with butter.

Cheese is the other thing to buy. Kaashandel van der Ley on Oosterstraat is the shop most locals send you to, with organic farm cheeses and crumbly boerenbrokkelkaas (farmers' crumble cheese); the Groninger Kaasboetiek on the Astraat is a smaller alternative. On market days the Vismarkt and Grote Markt fill with stalls, a good place for smoked fish and fresh stroopwafels.

The streets around the Grote Markt and the Folkingestraat have plenty of small international places, while the bars along Poelestraat and Peperstraat do a busy trade in Dutch and Belgian beers. Restaurants here are mostly mid-range, which suits a weekend of grazing.

Mudflats and salt marsh on the Wadden coast near Pieterburen

Give Groningen an extra day for the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO-listed tidal area of mudflats, salt marsh and sandbanks at the province's northern edge. Regional buses run from the city, the villages around Pieterburen are the base for wadlopen, guided mudflat walking, and the countryside is dotted with wierden, ancient flood mounds.

Regional buses run from the city to Lauwersoog, where ferries cross to Schiermonnikoog, a car-free island of dunes, long empty beaches and a single village. Bikes are the way to get round the island; hire one near the ferry or in the village.

Closer to the city, the coastal villages around Pieterburen are the base for wadlopen, guided mudflat walks that cross the seabed at low tide, sometimes all the way to an island. They run only in the warmer months and only with licensed guides; never try it alone, as the tide returns fast and the channels are deeper than they look. Expect to wade through mud to the knee, and bring clothes you do not mind ruining.

Inland, the countryside is dotted with wierden, ancient mounds raised against floods, each crowned with a brick church and a ring of farms. A regional train to Uithuizen leads to the Menkemaborg, a moated manor house with formal gardens, an easy half-day. Pack for wind even in July: the coast is open and exposed. A day trip gives you a taste, but a night on Schiermonnikoog, when the day visitors have gone, is far better if you can manage it.