The second-biggest city in the Netherlands is the place to go when you love interesting architecture, visiting museums and good food.
Whereas Amsterdam is known for its canals and historical buildings, one goes to Rotterdam to see modern architecture. That is not to say Rotterdam doesn’t have historical buildings, on the contrary: you just won’t find them in the direct city center. This is because the city center was bombed during the Second World War and was rebuilt after. With a great variety of building styles (hit or miss).
In the neighborhoods and harbors around the city center you will find the historical buildings, for example in the Scheepskwartier neighborhood that the Euromast is located in.
Read on for the places you can’t miss in Rotterdam. You can see most of them in one day!
Blaak
The area around the Blaak subway and train station is home to some of the most interesting buildings in Rotterdam. The architecture is simply astonishing. And best of all: you can see all these buildings from the same square.
Breakfast at the Market Hall (Markthal)
Where to have breakfast? At one of the stalls in the Market Hall. You can’t go wrong here!
The Markthal is one of the newest additions to Rotterdam’s interesting buildings list. This building in the form of a horseshoe has many apartments and offices and was built on top of a Market Hall. Two big glass walls separate the market hall from the world outside, keeping the temperature inside pleasant.
While the outside of the building is grey, the inside was decorated with a colorful artwork called ‘Hoorn des overvloeds’ (‘Horn of plenty’) by Arno Coenen. 3D techniques were used to print the artwork on the aluminum panels.
The market inside is also very interesting: it is part food court and part shops. Here you can taste many Dutch specialties but also food from other countries.
From inside the hall you can see the Cube Houses, Blaak Tower and Rotterdam Central Library.
Location: Dominee Jan Scharpstraat 298, 3011 GZ Rotterdam
Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen)
These houses are probably the most photographed houses in Rotterdam (at least until the Market Hall opened its doors in 2014). The 38 cube houses represent a village within a city. You can see it as a forest of houses, with each house being a tree. The idea is to optimize the space inside with enough space on the ground level. Or as the Dutch architect Piet Blom calls it ‘living as an urban roof’.
You can enter one of the houses to look inside and even stay in one for the night. To me living inside one seems very impractical space-wise but I might be mistaken about that.
Location: Overblaak 70, 3011 MH Rotterdam
Blaak Tower (Blaaktoren)
Also called ‘Het Potlood’ (‘The Pencil’), because it looks like one. For a long time I actually thought Potlood was the official name. It does sound more exciting, doesn’t it?
The Blaak Tower is a residential tower right next to the Cube Houses. The architect of both complexes is the same. Every floor is divided into six equal parts, starting with a narrow part at the center to a wider part near the outside wall. Five of these are used as residences, with the last part covering the utilities. The pointy top is only for the show.
Location: Kolk 90, 3011 MD Rotterdam
Blaak Library (Centrale Bibliotheek)
Another intriguing building that reminds me of a ship (and others of Centre Pompidou in Paris). This building was designed by Jaap Bakema and Hans Boot and is also called ‘the glass waterfall’. The most eye-catching part of the building is the yellow pipes that follow the building from top to bottom.
On the wall you can read a quote from Erasmus: ‘Heel de wereld is mijn vaderland’ (‘Home is everywhere’ or ‘The whole world is my home country’). This is a reply to the quote from Lucebert on another building bordering the Blaak square ‘Alles van waarde is weerloos’ (‘Everything of worth is vulnerable’).
Location: Hoogstraat 110, 3011 PV Rotterdam
Watching art at the Museumpark
Heading to a different part of Rotterdam you can visit the Museumpark. The Museumpark is a unique part of Rotterdam in the Netherlands: it houses many museums, some of them in monumental villas, and is surrounded by green.
The most famous museum, Boijmans van Beuningen, closed its doors in 2019 for renovation. But not to worry: until the big art storage facility opens its doors in 2021, you can watch part of the collection as exhibitions in other museums. And living up to Rotterdam’s reputation, the art storage facility holds its own among the other architecture daredevils in this city, as it looks like a giant rotated ship or mirror silo. In the mirrors you can see the skyline of Rotterdam reflected.
Location Boijmans van Beuningen storage: Melkkoppad 15, 3015 CR Rotterdam
At the Museumpark, you can visit:
Tea with lunch at The Tea Lab
The Tea Lab at the Nieuwe Binnenweg is great for breakfast or lunch. They offer a wide variety of teas, coffee and cake (homemade and from local bakeries). Their lunch menu uses lots of healthy ingredients, many of them bio. The Tea Lab is also a great place to bring your laptop and do some work alone or with a colleague.
The Nieuwe Binnenweg is a street in a more downtown part of the city at only a five to ten minutes’ walk from the Museumpark. This is also where you can see more historical buildings.
For the insiders, this street is also home to a new landmark: the work of art in front of the pub Jules Deelder frequented. Jules Deelder, who died in 2019, was nicknamed the ‘Night Mayor’ of Rotterdam. An unofficial title that was given to him because of his black attire and link to the city. His gloomy poems can either make or break your day. I quite like some of them (all in Dutch unfortunately as he actively supported the use of the Dutch language).
Location The Tea Lab: Nieuwe Binnenweg 178A, 3015 BJ Rotterdam
Location statue: WF78+V9 Rotterdam
Shopping at the Koopgoot (‘Shopping gutter’)
The not very chic name of this shopping area belies the shopping experience you can have here. Inside and above the gutter is where many big stores are clustered. This street and the ‘Lijnbaan’ form the heart of Rotterdam’s shopping district.
Location: Beursplein, 3011 Rotterdam
Apple pie at Cafe Dudok
The Dudok apple pie is the standard all other apple pies are measured by in the Rotterdam area. Go try it for yourself.
Location: Meent 88, 3011 JP Rotterdam
A drink at the Witte de Withstraat
This street is the place to be at night. The whole street is lined with cafes and restaurants (and coffee shops) that will fill itself with people enjoying after-work drinks with friends or colleagues. In the streets leading to the Witte de Withstraat you can spot mural art and other artistic expressions.
This street is also home to the TENT Museum with insightful exhibitions telling a story about the world.
Location: Witte de Withstraat 50, 3012 BR Rotterdam
Erasmusbrug
On your way to the southern part of the city you cross another very iconic landmark of Rotterdam, namely the Erasmusbrug (the ‘Swan Bridge’). You will see the image of this bridge in pretty much every marketing folder of Rotterdam. These same folders won’t tell you it is quite a challenge to cross this bridge when the weather is stormy.
Location: WF5P+JR Rotterdam
Hotel New York was originally the headquarters of the ‘Holland-Amerika lijn’, a company that operated ships between Rotterdam and New York. Later it became what it is now: a hotel and restaurant with a beautiful view of the Rotterdam harbor. An iconic location then and now.
Location: Koninginnenhoofd 1, 3072 AD Rotterdam
Where to have dinner
BEET Rotterdam
BEET Rotterdam is a restaurant near the Koopgoot specialized in fish. It is powered by Schmidt Zeevis, which supplies most of the restaurants (and also my home) in the Rotterdam area with fish. Tip: on Sunday’s oysters are only 1 euro as long as the stock lasts.
Location: Rodezand 21, 3011 AM Rotterdam
Antichic
Antichic has only one main course on the menu: their signature Pappardelle with wild mushrooms and truffle. You can probably imagine how good it must be… The other courses change regularly, depending on the fresh ingredients that day. They offer 3, 4, 5 and 6-course dinner arrangements. For drinks you can order a la carte or go for a wine or juice arrangement that goes very well with the food.
Location: Soetensteeg 1, 3011 GR Rotterdam
Hotel New York
At Hotel New York you can choose from a wide range of dishes from the international kitchen. They also have a specialized oyster menu that is very good. From the terrace you can see the skyline of Rotterdam.
Location: Koninginnenhoofd 1, 3072 AD Rotterdam
How to get to Rotterdam
You can reach the city center of Rotterdam in less than forty minutes by train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Easy right? Alternatively, you can join a walking tour or bike tour with a local guide showing you around.
