Exploring Rotterdam: Amsterdam’s Quirky Modern Cousin

If you’ve been to the Netherlands, then chances are you’ve only ever visited Amsterdam. If you take a short trip to Europe, it’s unlikely that you explore any further than the picturesque canals of the capital city during your time in the Netherlands. If you’re in a time crunch, it’s understandable. But the Dutch have more to offer than just Amsterdam. If you travel just an hour and a half southwest, you’ll find yourself in a vastly different city. An ultra modern and somewhat eccentric city. A place where you’ll find people surfing in canals and living in apartments shaped like three dimensional cubes. And that city is Rotterdam.

An Introduction to Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands, behind Amsterdam. It is notable for its ultra-modern buildings and prevalence of the shipping industry. The city was almost entirely destroyed by the Luftwaffe in World War II. The only medieval building that survived was St. Lawrence church. Afterwards, the government made the decision to demolish most of what remained and build the city from scratch. This is one of the main contributing factors to why Rotterdam is such a modern city today. Instead of looking to the past, Rotterdam chose to pave the way forward and focus on building a city for the future.

Where is Rotterdam?

Rotterdam is located in southwestern portion of the Netherlands, on the mouth of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta, not far from the North Sea. This strategic location has contributed to Rotterdam’s position as the largest seaport in Europe and the largest seaport in the world outside of Asia. To reach Rotterdam, it takes an hour and a half from Amsterdam or thirty minutes from the Hague by train.

My Thoughts on the City

I was not expecting to be a huge fan of Rotterdam. I’m not usually very fond of stark cities with modern architecture. However, I really enjoyed Rotterdam. Behind the cold and initially uninviting façade, you’ll find a city full of life that has chosen to embrace its modern roots. Instead of seeing a bunch of tall glass buildings, built just for the sake of moving forward, Rotterdam took the time to experiment with its architecture.

Here you’ll find buildings shaped like three dimensional cubes and ones that appear to be wearing sunglasses and a wizard’s hat! And the uniqueness doesn’t just apply to the buildings. It encompasses the activities, the events, the food scene, and the atmosphere of the city.

If you can just fully accept what they’re going for, and use a bit of your imagination, you’ll have a blast! And if you need a fix of history and more traditional Dutch culture, you can take a half day trip to the Kinderdijk windmills, which are just 30 minutes away by ferry. So let’s get into the things there are to do in Rotterdam.

What to do in Rotterdam

The Depot (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen)

Price: €20 – Purchase a ticket and time slot online in advance. Inside you have to use a digital kiosk to do the same thing so this will save you time

The Depot is essentially an art storage facility that opened to the public in 2021. It’s actually the first publicly accessible art storage facility in the world. Sounds pretty neat, right? Well, like I’ve said before, as long as you accept it for what it is, then you may enjoy it. Don’t be mistaken, this is NOT an art museum. You won’t see very many works of art on display, even though it contains over 155,000 of them. Instead, the Depot is a place where all different kinds of artworks are housed and taken care of. Visiting here essentially allows you to get a behind the scenes look at how a museum stores its artworks that aren’t currently on display.

Inside you will see rows and rows of large paintings stacked side by side on vertical racks. A few on the ends are visible to see more clearly. There are working areas where you can watch art conservators restoring artworks. It’s an interesting concept if you want to learn a bit more about how art storage facilities are run. However, if you’re an art lover hoping to spend time looking at pieces of art, you might be disappointed.

Personally, I think the price is a little steep for what you get to see. But at the very least, I recommend taking a stroll to look at the building itself. It looks like a giant reflective bowl with trees on the top. At night time, from sunset onwards daily, there is a lights display right outside of the depot. The colorful designs are projected onto the ground and reflect off of the building itself. It’s worth checking out!

Erasmus Bridge

The Erasmus bridge was completed in 1996 and connects the northern and southern parts of the city. It’s a major symbol of Rotterdam and you’ll often hear it referred to as ‘the Swan’. It has a huge white bow shaped pylon on one end and cables that connect to the rest of the bridge. You have to use your imagination a little bit to see the so-called swan figure, but that’s how a lot of the buildings in Rotterdam are.

Erasmus Bridge is located not too far from the city center area. You can easily walk from the city center, or if you’d prefer you can take the metro or streetcar to Leuvehaven station. From the station it’s about a five minute walk to the start of the bridge. The bridge itself is about 800 meters long and has a pedestrian area that you can use to walk across.

Markthal & Binnenrotte Markt

If you’re visiting the Markthal, make sure to come hungry! This food hall features eats from around the world, with over 100 food spots for you to check out. The Markthal is pretty hard to miss; it’s the large silver horseshoe shaped building. It’s almost like a giant tunnel with both ends made of glass. This allows you to see inside where the ceiling and side walls are covered in a colorful floral design.

Inside you’ll find a wide array of restaurants and stalls selling everything from Dutch to Asian to Middle Eastern and Caribbean foods. The restaurants are mostly located on the edges of the building, and the stalls create a maze of delicious aromas in the center. So just follow your nose and you’re sure to find something delicious! There are options for all sorts of dietary restrictions, and I was able to find plenty of vegan options. Given the location and popularity, it’s not the cheapest place to eat in town. But it’s a great choice for lunch or a mid afternoon snack!

On Tuesdays and Saturdays, right outside of Markthal, there is an open air market called Binnenrotte Markt. There’s all sorts of hustle and bustle with local stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, flowers, and other goods.

Cube Houses (Kijk-Kubus Museum)

Price: €3 – bring cash, exact change recommended

One of the most iconic architectural features in the city is the bright yellow cube houses. This community was built in 1984 by architect Piet Blom. Each house consists of one yellow shaped cube tilted on its corner. These cube houses laid side by side create a feast for the eyes and the mind as you wonder what the layout of the inside is. How exactly does someone live there? Well, if you’d like those questions answered, you can take a tour of the inside of one. It’s free to observe the houses and community from the outside area, but if you want to get a closer look you can stand in a short line to walk through one. The price is very reasonable and you get to see how those who live here must optimize their space and use their creativity to make the space work.

Delfshaven

Delfshaven is a historic area in Rotterdam that stands in stark contrast to the ultra modern city center. Since it’s located a little bit further away from the center of Rotterdam, it survived bombings by the Nazis in 1940. Being here is like walking into a Rotterdam of the past.

The quaint area is located on the bank of the river Nieuwe Maas. It has rows of beautiful old Dutch style houses along the harbor where boats are docked. There is even a large windmill. It’s a wonderful area to stroll around, visit a cafe, and enjoy the calm old city.

Oude Kerk / Pelgrimvaderskerk (Pilgrim Fathers Church)

While you’re in Delfshaven, you might want to check out the Oude Kerk. This church was built in 1417 and has a rich history. In 1620, a group of English dissenters who had fled to the Netherlands decided to make the voyage to America. This group of pilgrims boarded their ship called the Speedwell, and ended up transferring to the Mayflower due to leakage, to make their way to the New World. They reportedly made their final prayers before the start of their journey at this church.

The hours of the church are very limited and not exactly reliable. So unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit the inside. If you want to try and visit, here is the website (in Dutch) which states the hours.

Fun Fact: If you’ve ever visited the Capitol building in Washington DC, there is a large painting in the rotunda called the Embarkation of the Pilgrims. It depicts these very pilgrims who left from Delfshaven on the Speedwell.

Dutch Pinball Museum

Price: €17 for 2 hours, €30 for a day pass

Remember how before I said that the Depot isn’t a museum so don’t expect it to be like one. Well the Dutch Pinball Museum actually is a museum, but I will give you the same advice: don’t expect it to be like one. It’s so much better! When you first enter the museum, there is a room that has information on the history of pinball and a number of historic machines that you can look at (not play). That’s the extent of the museum. So from here onwards, it’s four floors of pinball playing fun!

All of the machines, over 100 of them, are free to play. They have older machines, from the fifties and sixties, to brand new machines made today. There’s something for everyone’s tastes. The workers are very knowledgeable and walk around to answer questions or help if a machine is stuck or broken. There are so many machines to try out that even when it’s busy, you don’t need to wait to play a machine.

The Dutch Pinball Museum is often listed as one of the top pinball museums in Europe. It was one of my favorite things that I did in Rotterdam, so if you’re even a little bit intrigued, I recommend visiting!

Note that the museum is only open on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. You have to book a time slot so you need to purchase your tickets online in advance here.

Het Park & Euromast Tower

Euromast Price: €17.50 (€12.50 when purchased online)

If you want to enjoy a little nature in the city, look no further than Het Park. Located slightly southwest of the city center, this park is easily findable by looking up for the Euromast tower. It’s pretty hard to miss. Het Park is a large green space with lots of trees, ponds, windy walking paths, and lawns. It’s a great place to escape for a stroll or a mid-day picnic. It was especially nice in the fall, when I visited, with the leaves changing color.

While you’re here, you might be interested in checking out Euromast Tower. This is an observation tower with a platform that rotates so that you can get 360° views of Rotterdam and beyond. I personally opted out of this attraction but if towers are your thing then maybe you’d enjoy this. And if you’re looking for a little extra rush of adrenaline, you can actually abseil down the tower, which is 100 meters tall.

St Lawrence Church (Sint-Laurenskerk)

Price: €4

This church is the only remaining late Gothic building in Rotterdam. It was first completed in 1525 and quickly became a protestant church during the Reformation. While heavily damaged by German bombings in 1940, the tower and some walls survived. Afterwards, instead of demolishing it like most of the rest of the city, the Dutch queen at the time decided to save and restore it. This makes it one of the very few pre-WWII buildings, and one of the only medieval buildings, to still exist in Rotterdam.

You can find the church hours on their website here. Make sure to check before you visit, as sometimes the church holds private events and is closed to visitors. If you’d like, you can climb the 300-odd steps to the top of the tower for views of Rotterdam below.

Take an Art Walk

One of the charms of Rotterdam is that it has a large number of public sculptures scattered throughout the city. It seemed that every block or two there was a new sculpture to ponder at. While you can seek these statues out, I think it’s more fun to just walk around and see what you find.

You can view a map of the sculptures around Rotterdam here and on the same website you can learn about each of the sculptures. Some notable ones around the city include Santa Claus, Statue of Erasmus, The Destroyed, Cascade, and Moments Contained.

Go Canal Surfing

Right next to the Markthal, Rotterdam hosts the world’s first urban surf pool. Simply put, you can go surfing in a canal in the middle of the city. Or if you’re like me, you can watch people surf in the canal. The name of the surfing spot is RiF010 and they offer a number of different sessions and lessons with different wave heights. Like I said, Rotterdam is pretty wild and this is no exception!

Kinderdijk

Price: €19.50 / free

Located just 30 minutes by ferry from Rotterdam is the UNESCO World Heritage site Kinderdijk. Here you will find picturesque waterways lined with traditional Dutch windmills from the mid eighteenth century. This is a must visit and it’s a really easy half day trip from Rotterdam. For more information, read my post about it here.

Attend an Event

I highly recommend taking a little bit of time to research what events are happening around the time that you will visit Rotterdam. The city’s website is a good starting place. It seems like Rotterdam has all sorts of unique events going on depending on the time of year. For example, the weekend I visited, there was a Roller Skating Disco inside St. Lawrence Church. Yes, you heard that right – roller skating INSIDE of a 500 year old church. There are all sorts of concerts, markets and other events to explore while you’re in Rotterdam so be sure to look into it.

Conclusion

While Rotterdam might not be what immediately comes to mind when you think of the Netherlands, the city’s innovation and creativity offers visitors an opportunity to see a different side of Dutch life. If you want to embrace the unexpected, and maybe a little weird, then Rotterdam is more than worth a detour. Check out my other posts in the Netherlands below:

Visiting Kinderdijk: The Iconic Dutch Windmills