Most travellers walk straight past it, but the Groningen Centraal building is worth a careful look. Designed by Isaac Gosschalk and completed in 1896, it is one of the richest pieces of late 19th-century railway architecture in the country — red brick laced with sandstone, an asymmetric façade with two towers, ornate tile work, and a ceremonial waiting room that was reserved for first-class passengers and visiting dignitaries.
Restored in the 1990s, the building now houses the regular ticket halls and a café in the old royal waiting room. Look up at the ceiling: it is covered in painted scenes of Dutch trade and industry. The Groninger Museum sits directly across the canal in front.