Welcome
Rotterdam, one of the coolest cities in the world with Europe's biggest port.
Rotterdam (abbreviated as Rdam) is the second largest city in the Netherlands, only an hour away from Amsterdam. Cities like Delft, The Hague and Leiden are situated between the two. Head South and you'll find yourself in Belgium, with Antwerp also being only an hour away from Rotterdam. Rotterdam itself is an exciting city full of surprises for visitors, so make sure to spend some time in Rotterdam and discovering everything it has to offer.
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The place where a lot of people will start their visit to Rotterdam is the Central Station. Since 2014 is this the new station building which offers more space for larger numbers of travellers. The tip of the roof points to the city centre whitch is just a short walk away. In the main entrance of the station you can find a tourist office desk for information or to buy the Rotterdam Welcome Card for 1, 2 or 3 day unlimited use of public transport in Rotterdam plus many discounts. | |||
| Coming from Central Station, you see to the left the Weena with 600 meters further, the Hofplein. It's a very busy traffic square with Fountain. (TIP: To the right at Weena 705 you'll find a shop where you can rent bikes.) |  |
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The Hofplein Fountain from 1955 by J.R.A. Koops. In this picture you see two giraffes standing in front of the fountain to celebrate 150 years Rotterdam Zoo. Before the bombing of Rotterdam in 1940, the Hofplein was located a little further down the road where you find now artwork 'New Delftse Poort'. | |||
| This is the New Delftsche Poort (1993). Art shaped like the real Delftsche Poort that was built in 1764, the only remaining city gate in Rotterdam. It was destroyed in the second world war by the German bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May 1940. |  |
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The Lawrence Church (Laurenskerk). The only remaining medieval structure of Rotterdam city centre. The church from the end of the fifteenth century
narrowly survived the 1940 bombing. In fact, only the outer walls and the tower remained. After the war the restoration work began and was completed in 1968.
The tower of the church can be climbed (April to October) on Wednesdays at 14:00 and on Saturdays at 12:00 or 13:30.
Learn more about the bombing of Rotterdam by searching for Rotterdam Blitz or watch this VIDEO with explanation in English or VIDEO 2 with some Dutch text. |
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| Blaak Station, actually it's the roof of the station because the Train and Metro station is underground. Behind the station you see the Market Hall. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, there is a large outdoor market here. Close by are the Cube Houses, Old Harbour, the Library, Laurens Church and Koopgoot. |  |
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The Cube Houses on the Blaak. The houses are shaped like trees, so this area is also called the Blaakse Bos (Blaak Forest) One of them (the Kijk-Kubus) can be viewed inside by paying an entrance fee or stay in the hostel Stayokay. | |||
| This particular area is called the Old Harbour. It was the first harbour of Rotterdam, built in 1328. You will find here the White House, Marines Museum, a couple of bar-restaurants and historic shipyard Koningspoort, where they maintain and repair historic ships. |  |
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This building was at the time (1898) one of the highest building in Europe. Rotterdam's first "skyscraper". It's called the White House. It has a facade of white glazed bricks, decorated with Art Nouveau mosaics and statues. The White House is one of the few buildings in Rotterdam city centre that survived the bombing in World War II. | |||
| The famous sculpture 'The Devastated City' by Ossip Zadkine. This sculpture symbolizes the dramatic destruction of Rotterdam city centre by the Nazi's in the Second World War. A man with hands in the sky in despair when the bombs fall down and a hole in the body to show the city centre was bombed out of the city. |  |
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The high bridge you see here is the Hef. It's a lifting bridge that was in use by the train until 1993. Because the train runs underground now, the bridge is no longer in use. But the Hef remains one of the city's icons. | |||
| View of the Boompjes with the Willemswerf building, where Jackie Chan slide down from the roof in the movie "Who Am I". Watch the video on YouTube. To the right in this photo, you see the north part of the Willems Bridge. |  |
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Also on the Boompjes, 3 apartment buildings. Here, the Nehalennia moors, a classic passenger ship from 1908, she offers a 2 hour boat tour through the harbour. A little further "under" the Erasmus Bridge, you will find the Spido. The Spido offers a 75 minutes harbour cruise. The Port of Rotterdam is actually too big for a short tour. The Port with a length of more than 40 km reaches all the way to the North Sea, so it takes a day trip to the Maasvlakte to really see the entire Port. | |||
| The Erasmus Bridge. It is one of the three bridges in Rotterdam over the river 'Nieuwe Maas'. The Erasmus bridge has become one of the landmarks of Rotterdam. From here you have a nice view at the Cruise Terminal where the cruise ships dock. |  |
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This is the Water Taxi. They can bring you to different locations along the river, like Delfshaven, Hotel New-York, Steamship SS-Rotterdam, the Euromast, the Veerhaven, the Old Harbour, the Water Tower, soccer stadium Feyenoord (The Kuip), restaurant Zalmhuis or just to the other side of the river. | |||
| The former arrival and departure hall of the Holland-America Line is now days the Cruise Terminal of Rotterdam. The building next to the terminal is 'The Rotterdam', the biggest (but not the tallest) building of the Netherlands. Besides offices and apartments it also includes Hotel Nhow with 285 rooms. Their "Sunset Rooms" have a beautiful view on the Erasmus Bridge, the river and Rotterdam city centre. |  |
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Here you see what was once the head office of the Holland-America Line (HAL), today it's a hotel with the name New York. Between 1880 and 1925, almost one million emigrants departed from here to America. HAL was founded in Rotterdam and from 1872 to 1989, it operated as a Dutch shipping line between the Netherlands and North America. In 1989 it was taken over by Carnival Cruises and moved to the USA. Visit the Unofficial Holland America Line website for more about the history of HAL. | |||
| The former ocean liner and cruise ship of Holland-America Line SS Rotterdam, built for HAL in Rotterdam 1959 is now a museum, hotel and restaurant. Located at the south side of Rotterdam. A visit to this steamship is one of the things to do in Rotterdam or stay in one of the hotelrooms. |  |
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Observation tower the Euromast has a fantastic panoramic view over Rotterdam and a brasserie halfway up the tower. From the observation deck, you can take the Euroscope that takes you to the top of the tower at 185 metre. Abseiling from 100 metres high to the ground is also possible. On the picture directly to the right of the tower, you can see the ventilation building of the Maastunnel. There you will also find a small building with the entrance to go down into the tunnel and cross the river on foot or by bike. | |||
| Flour Windmill 'Distilleerketel' is located in a small historic part of Rotterdam called Delfshaven. Nearby you can also find the Pinball Museum. Near to Historic Delfshaven at Metro Station Coolhaven (under the bridge) you'll find Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 about Rotterdam in the years of World War 2. |  |
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Also in Delfshaven, the Pilgrim Fathers Church. This is where the Pilgrim Fathers left on the ship Speedwell for their journey to North America. To the left of the church is brewery and restaurant 'De Pelgrim'. You can make an appointment for a brewery tour. | |||
| Depot and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. The silver flowerpot in the photo is the world’s first fully accessible art storage facility, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. Here you can browse through a collection of 151,000 works of art that are stored in this Depot. The museum itself is closed for renovation until 2028. |  |
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You have to search them, but there are 7 windmills in Rotterdam. (See the map) 2 of them are at Lake Kralingen and the one on this picture is the Prinsenmolen, located in the Prinsemolenpark in Rotterdam-Hillegersberg. Close to Rotterdam, there's also a nice windmill area called Kinderdijk. There you will find 19 windmills not far from each other and two of them are open for visitors. | |||
| Rotterdam Airport is located at the northern edge of Rotterdam. Local known as Airport Zestienhoven and today the official name is 'Rotterdam The Hague Airport' because the airport is also not far from The Hague. The airport has flights to about 50 destinations in Europe. |  |
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Photo Gallery Rotterdam
View all the locations in and near to Rotterdam on the map!
