Assen

Assen is a city in The Netherlands and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. Assen is the place to go for Dutch motorsports fans, as it is home to the TT Circuit where the annual Dutch TT Race is held. For a weekend in June, this town turns into a bustling, crowded destination full of partying fans, when the Dutch TT, part of the worldwide MotoGP, is taking place. If you're not a motorcycle aficionado, this city is probably not a particularly interesting city for you, but with some 65,000 inhabitants it's a rather large town and a regional centre for shopping and services. If you do find yourself here, don't miss visiting the Drents Museum, which has a very nice collection on local and general history. Assen is also useful as a transport hub, since many buses to small villages commence their run here and the city is served by fast intercity trains.

Understand
The history of the capital of Drenthe can be traced back to at least 1258. Assen has been designated a city since 1809. After Coevorden, Assen became the second place in Drenthe with city rights, granted by King Louis Napoleon, who had big plans for the village. Around 1900 Assen began to play a more prominent industrial role. After the Second World War, Assen did not have more than 20,000 inhabitants. The Assen TT made the city more widely known. But it was not until the 1950s, with the development of an industrial core, did Assen begin to grow more quickly. The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (Dutch Oil Company) established itself in the city and with that, a trend was set. Nowadays, Assen is a city with 65,000 inhabitants and part of the metropolitan area of Groningen. Although Assen is the capital of Drenthe, the city of Emmen is slightly bigger.

By car or motorcycle
It's easy to get in here by car or motorcycle, as Assen lies on the A28 motorway from Utrecht towards Groningen. Furthermore, Assen is connected via provincial roads in every other direction, like the N33 to Veendam and the Eemshaven port (and towards Germany). Parking in the city centre is simple and not very expensive.

By bus
Many buses traverse the countryside, and Assen is a hub in this network. Most nearby destinations (both large and small) are connected via the city's bus station, which is located next to the railway station.

By plane
Assen is served by Head to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for a much wider selection of destinations.

The regular bus line 50 runs twice per hour from the railway station to the De Punt bus station (in the municipality of Tynaarlo). From De Punt it is a 20-minute walk to the airport, or change to bus line 2 towards Groningen and get off in front of the terminal. This journey takes about 33 minutes and costs €5 one way, tickets at the driver.

By bicycle
It's an excellent place to cycle around and in. The LF9 and LF14 national cycle routes pass near to Assen.

Get around
The city centre of Assen is small enough to get around on foot.

Assen is the capital of the cycling province of Drenthe. It is a wonderful place to cycle. Hire a bicycle and travel around. Various companies provide tours of the area, some English speaking.

See




Eat
There are enough restaurants to choose from, especially on and around the market square.



Buy
As the provincial capital, Assen has the full range of common stores, including many large chain companies. The main shopping streets include the Forum, Gedempte Singel, the renovated Mercuriusplein, the Kleuvenstee, Koopmansplein and Kruisstraat. A large restructure plan for the city centre includes the establishment of a new, covered shopping mall called Cité Assen. Although the full centre plan is still being carried out, the shopping area has opened with several large stores including a supermarket and a large electronics store. Despite its wide choice of shops however, Assen is generally not considered the most "cosy" or fun shopping city around.

On Wednesday and Saturday there is a market. In 2008 this market won the award of "gezelligste markt" in the Netherlands. i.e. the most friendly and pleasant in the country.

Drink
The tourist office tries to market Assen as the regional place to be for a night out. It's not entirely true, but there are a number of pleasant bars in the town centre where you can enjoy a beer and a good conversation, and on a warm summer's night join the locals and kick back on one of the outdoor terraces. The Rolderstraat has a few bars, as well as a shisha lounge. Other good streets to start are the Nieuwe Huizen and the Brinkstraat. On weekends, many of the young people in Assen jump on a late night train to the more trendy university city Groningen, where bars and clubs are open 24/7 and which is a 15-minute train ride. They take the first train back in the morning. If you're not up for staying awake till daylight, there are a few clubs in town.

Connect
Post Office points providing all basic postal services can be found in most supermarkets and several bookshops. They follow the host stores opening hours, which typically means till 18:00 for bookshop and 8pm for supermarkets. The most convenient examples in the city centre are:

Go next

 * Visit Groningen, a lively university city and the largest city in northern Netherlands.
 * The star fort of Bourtange is less than an hour away by car.
 * The nearby village of Westerbork is inseparably linked to the horrors of World War II, as the Germans ran a large transit camp just a few kilometres out of the village centre.
 * Veenhuizen is a former penal colony, now it has museums, cafes, markets and its own brewery, "Maallust"
 * Norg and Roden are pleasant villages.