De Vliegende Hollander

Have frequented this coffeeshop many, many times since 1987. It was always a decent score. But several years ago they renovated and now have a great appearance and roomy sales 'desk' (as spacious and long as any hotel check-in desk area). No attitude, no pretences, arguably the largest and best selection in town. Quality and varied menu at all times. Easy access from the train station (short 8 minute walk). I occasionally peruse a couple other shops in town, but rarely buy anything. Just seeing where they rate in comparison to the Vliegende Hollander. For my taste, others do not come close. In 2018, there is no reason to operate as a dumpy, dark, thematic hole-in-the-wall. I usually avoid easy-to-find, close to the train station coffeeshops in a line of tourist restaurants, etc (like those close to Centraal Station in A'dam, especially the tourist traps like Bulldog, Grasshopper). But this place is not a tourist trap. They are a genuine and knowledgeable bunch with: * Excellent, fresh supplies; * Competitive prices; * Knowledgeable, experienced staff; * No cheating on the weight! * Smoking area, etc. and, most of all, they clean and weigh your order right in front of you. No pre-packaged, dried-out products here (as is common in so many c'shops these days). Hadn't been here in about 5 months, visited yesterday, and felt I should report back to those cruising the 'net for info. If you're in or near Groningen, it's worth a short train ride.

Newly renovated, this shop now breaks the Groninger tradition of pre-bagged weed with tupperware boxes which you may ask to see and smell, and you can buy by the gram, or for a certain amount of money (5€ minimum). The weed is then weighed and bagged up for you. Nice selection from budget outdoor weed to top-quality Amnesia Haze, and some decent Ice-o-lator hash as well. A 20€ buy gets you a token, and five tokens are good for a free 5€ bag of any weed. Much better than it was before, highly recommended!

Buy and go these days, unless you want to sit in tiny glass cages. Good hash joint.

The shop is O.K. A little commercial, not much place to sit, but I wouldn't if I could probably. They got some nice weed every now and then, but nothing special. Pre-rolled joints for 3 euro's, I would get them somewhere else (cheaper and nicer).

This shop had some really great Purple weed at slightly above 4e a gram. I wish I picked up a few more grams of it, but I only bought one because it was the last shop of the trip and I had already spent so much. I also picked up some Snow White which is really nice quality at just above 7 euro a gram and two space cakes. I felt comfortable enough to sit in this shop and smoke a joint before catching the last train home. On the train I ate about half of a space cake and felt pretty good the rest of the night. The next day I spent the remaining 1 and a half spacecake with my friend, who proceeded to get even more outrageously high than myself. These nicely potent cakes were more than a bargain at 2,50 euro. The dealer looked like he was concerned we were going to overdose on them when I insisted on buying two, but I tested out half of one first. While this was a pretty low dose for me 2/3rds of a cake was nearly too much for my friend who was incapacitated all night.