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How to find us?

Department of Human Geography
Thomas van Aquinostraat 3
P.O.Box 9108
NL-6500 HK Nijmegen
Netherlands
Tel: +31-(0)24-361 19 25
Fax: +31-(0)24-361 18 41
eMail: socgeo@fm.ru.nl
www.ru.nl/socgeo

The city of Nijmegen is easily accessible from all parts of the country. Thanks to a well-developed and efficient public transport system, major European cities such as Brussels and Paris are only a few hours away by train. Throughout the Netherlands, whether you travel by tram, metro, or bus, you can use the same tickets ('strippenkaarten') for all bus, tram and metro journeys. Local buses stop on campus in the Philips van Leydenlaan, the Heyendaalseweg, the Kapittelweg and Erasmuslaan. There are several connections from Nijmegen Central Station to these bus stops. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get from the main railway station to the campus (bus 3, 4, 6, 83, get off at busstop ‘Tandheelkunde’ or ask the driver).

To find the Campus within the city of Nijmegen take a look at the map of Nijmegen.
To find the Department of Human Geography look for ‘Thomas van Aquinostraat 3’ on the map of the campus.

Bus

When you travel by tram, metro (Nijmegen has neither), or bus, you can use the same ticket for all the buses, trams and metro’s throughout the country. This ticket is called a strippenkaart. Strippenkaarten can be bought at the bus, tram or metro station, but the cheapest places to buy them are at the post office and the train station. On most buses it is the bus driver who stamps your ticket. Trams and some buses have devices that enable you to stamp the ticket yourself. Before you stamp your ticket, you need to know how many zones you will be crossing. Zone information is given on the information panels at bus, metro and tram stops.

Tickets are valid for a number of travel zones and for a specific time, based on the number of zones crossed. If you expect to be travelling by bus at least four days a week, it might be more economical for you to buy a monthly pass at the NOVIO information desk at Nijmegen central railway station.

Local buses stop on campus in the Philips van Leydenlaan, the Heyendaalseweg, the Kapittelweg and Erasmuslaan. There are several connections from Nijmegen Central Station to these bus stops. Regional buses from Wijchen, Venlo, Grave, Cuijk and Grave stop on campus. For travel information you can check the electronic timetable on the Internet www.9292ov.nl (only in Dutch).

Once you have arrived at Nijmegen Central Station, the easiest way to get to the university is by bus. There are many direct lines from the station to the university:

All locations

  • Bus 10

Comeniuslaan, Aula, Bestuursgebouw, Spinozagebouw and Montessorilaan
Faculties: Social Sciences and Law

  • Bus 3
  • Bus 4
  • Bus 6
  • Bus 83

Erasmuslaan, Erasmusgebouw, Thomas van Aquinostaat, University Library
Faculties: Arts, Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Nijmegen School of Management (Department of Human Geography)

  • Bus 3
  • Bus 4
  • Bus 6
  • Bus 83

Heyendaalseweg, Gymnasion and Erasmusgebouw
Faculties: Arts, Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy

  • Bus 3
  • Bus 4
  • Bus 6

Toernooiveld, Heyendaalseweg, Huygensgebouw, Mercator, Magnetenlab and NCMLS
Faculty: Science

  • Bus 3
  • Bus 6
  • Bus 9

Geert Grooteplein zuid, main entrance UMC St Radboud and Huize Heyendaal
Faculty: Medical Sciences

  • Bus 6
  • Bus 9
  • Bus 83

Train

For nation-wide travel, trains are the best option. The Netherlands is a small country and has never developed a good intercity bus system, partly because of the extensive and efficient Dutch Rail (NS) network, with its frequent service and fast trains. To give an example: it takes only one hour and thirty minutes to travel from Nijmegen to Amsterdam, a distance of 120 kilometres.

If you come to the Netherlands by air, you can take a train from Schiphol Airport to Utrecht (or Amsterdam Central Station), where you change trains. Direct trains from Utrecht (or Amsterdam Central Station) to Nijmegen Central run every thirty minutes. The total journey time from Schiphol is an hour and a half.

For travel information you can check the electronic timetable of the Dutch Railways via the Internet: www.ns.nl (in English) or www.9292ov.nl (only in Dutch). When you travel by tram, metro, or bus, you can use the same ticket for all the buses, trams and metro’s throughout the country. This ticket is called a strippenkaart. Tickets are valid for a number of travel zones and for a specific time, based on the number of zones crossed. You can also buy tickets on the bus; however, a ticket with 15 or 45 strips, available at the railway station or the post office, is much cheaper. If you expect to be travelling by bus at least four days a week, it might be more economical for you to buy a monthly pass at the NOVIO information desk at Nijmegen central railway station.

If you are travelling by train from your own country, one of the following situations will apply:

  • Coming from the south (from Paris, Brussels, etc.), you will need to change trains at Roosendaal, the first station in the Netherlands. You take the intercity train to Zwolle, and get off at Nijmegen. There is a train every thirty minutes, and the journey will take about an hour and a half
  • Coming by boat from overseas (England, Ireland), you will probably arrive at Hoek van Holland. At Hoek van Holland you should take the train to Rotterdam Central station, where you change trains for Breda. In Breda, board the train to Nijmegen. The train journey takes between 2 and a half and 3 hours
  • Coming from the southeast (Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, etc.), the train will take you through Germany along the Rhine until you arrive in Arnhem. Trains between Arnhem and Nijmegen run every 10-15 minutes. It only takes a quarter of an hour to get from Arnhem to Nijmegen
  • Coming from the east (northern Germany, Denmark, boat-trains from Scandinavia, Poland, the New Independent States, etc.), the trains’ itinerary will include cities such as Hanover in Germany. Hengelo is the first station in the Netherlands. Do not get off there, but continue for half an hour until you get to Zutphen, where you change trains for Nijmegen. You should arrive in Nijmegen after approximately 40 minutes

When travelling by train, keep three things in mind:

  • Always check at the railway station (or if possible at home) to confirm that the travel information mentioned above is still correct. To find out about train times, routes and tickets in the Netherlands, please look on www.ns.nl.
  • In the Netherlands, trains do not run all night. If you arrive on a very late international train, it is possible that you will not make it to Nijmegen that day. The latest possible arrival time ranges between 0.30 A.M. and 1.30 A.M.
  • Do not buy a ticket every time you change trains. In most cases you will be able to buy a ticket to Nijmegen in your hometown. If this is not the case, buy a through-ticket to Nijmegen at the first station you arrive at in the Netherlands, regardless of how many times you may have to change trains. This will save you much time (and money).

Car

Nijmegen is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, a mere 6 kilometres from the German border. It is located on the banks of the river Waal, the main branch of the Rhine. With a good road map, Nijmegen should be easy to find.

Paid Parking

All car parks on the campus are equipped with barriers and pay-point terminals. Regular parking costs € 1.00 per hour and a maximum of € 5 per day. After 6 P.M. and during weekends regular parking is free. Within a period of half an hour, one can arrive at and leave a car park without having to pay, for example to deliver goods or to drop off a fellow carpool user. Parking tickets can be paid for with coins at any of the eleven automatic pay-points, but chipknip and credit cards can also be used. Chipknip or credit cards can also be used to pay directly on entering and exiting the car park: they can be used to open the gate at the car park entrance. In this case there is no parking ticket given by the automat and the driver opens the gate at the exit in the same way (the cost being automatically deducted from the card).