A plan for Rotterdam

History

Settlement at the lower end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900. Around 1150, large floods in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective dikes and dams. A dam on the Rotte or 'Rotterdam' was built in the 1260s and was at the present-day Hoogstraat ('High Street').

Although Rotterdam did well after the Middle Ages and in the 'Golden Century' - roughly between 1650 and 1750 - it was not before the second part of the nineteenth century that the city started to develop itself rapidly. Helped by the digging of a new seaway (the Nieuwe Waterweg) Rotterdam was rid of access problems caused by the silting of the river and started receiving ever bigger ships with cargo for/from the booming Ruhrgebiet in Germany. Port related trade and industry skyrocketed, and the city started to draw lots of migrants from the then poor Brabant province, for whom the southern part of the city was constructed. At the turn of the twentieth century Rotterdam was well under way to become the largest economic centre in the Netherlands. It was between then and the second world war that large prestigious construction works were undertaken, in part to show off the new found economic pride.

Landmarks

Rotterdam has national notoriety for its architecture, and the city therefore is dotted with landmarks of all sorts. Most of them you will find in the city centre, but Feijenoord is also quite dense with them.

Rotterdam is known for some bridges, not in the last place the Erasmusbrug, spanning the Nieuwe Maas between the city centre and Feijenoord. Also of historical importance is the former railway lifting bridge De Hef, slightly upstream from the Erasmusbrug.

Historical landmarks are somewhat rare to come across in Rotterdam's city centre, but the city itself isn't completely devoid of them. In the city centre, the 1920 City hall and the Great or Saint-Laurence church, both survivors of the 1940 bombardment. Rotterdam is also home to the country's oldest known bronze statue, depicting Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and dating from 1622. It is found opposite the Saint-Laurence church. De Verwoeste Stad (Destroyed City) is a cubist statue depicting a man in agony who just lost his heart (symbol of the bombed city centre). Feijenoord, despite being home to many modern redevelopments, houses some historical landmarks such as the former headquarters of the Holland-Amerikalijn (Holland America Line). Also worth visiting are the Oude Haven (Old Harbour) and the nearby Witte Huis (White House) and Schielandshuis, and the Hulstkamp Building.

Industrial landmarks are plenty in a city that mostly thrives off of harbour activities. Besides the many industrial sites found in the Port of Rotterdam, the Van Nellefabriek in the north of the city is a listed UNESCO site.

Upcoming events and performances are listed on the VVV and Use-it websites. The larger events are well documented on the VVV site, for smaller venues check Use-it (under Calendar) for a very attractive and well updated listing of music, expositions, movies and parties that need checking out.

The Uitburo office inside the Central Library provides information on theatre and music performances. It also sells tickets and offers an overview of performances that can be visited for free (gratis).

Events

Rotterdam plays host to a lot of events, a lot of them yearly ones. Besides these there are a lot smaller ones that can be very nice, so ask around and check the VVV website.

A few of these yearly events to name:

Six Days of Rotterdam. A cycling competition in early December. (updated Dec 2024)

IFFR. The International Film Festival Rotterdam, which mainly features independent films from all over the world in February.

Art Rotterdam. In February, you can see (and buy) masterpieces of modern art.

World tennis Tournament. In February.

On the Rotterdam Museum Night in March, nearly all Rotterdam museums and galleries open their doors in the evening with special events.

Motel Mozaique. Music, art & performance. Plus a sleeping project that enables sleeping in art or on special locations in Rotterdam (April)

Rotterdam Marathon, internationally reputed as a very fast marathon, is held in April in Centrum.

Poetry International. Festival in June.

Metropolis Festival (music) on the first Sunday in July.

The sublime North Sea Jazz festival in July with loads of worldfamous artists.

Summer Carnival. A huge Caribbean-oriented parade and party in the city centre.

Heerlijk Rotterdam. Three day event where you can sample dishes from Michelin-star restaurants for a reduced price (dates vary, summer edition usually late August)

The World Port Days a weekend full of activities centred around the large harbour of Rotterdam (early September)

The classical music Gergjev festival in September, led by master-conductor Valery Gergjev.

The Rotterdam Harvest Festival in September.

Bazar Curieux (music) in December

For full listings of events check Rotterdam.info and Use-it.

The area around metrostation Blaak, called Oude haven (Old Harbour), is not only worth seeing but has also a lot of pubs and restaurants. The Rotterdam dining scene is developing very fast with new restaurants opening very often. While most of the attention focusses on new Michelin-star aspiring places, there is very much a trend towards high quality mid-range restaurants offering French/Dutch cuisine.

It is difficult to find restaurants serving late night (after 22:00) food, even on Friday or Saturday night.

Centrum has a wide variety of bars, coffee shops and music venues.

The Kaapse Brouwers brewery has four locations around the city. Each location has a whole wall of taps to choose from. They are popular place so waiting lines can be long.

RET operates the buses, trams, and metro within the city. You could find a journey planner and some network maps there. Alternatively you'd use the pan-Netherlands journey planner – 9292.nl. Transport generally arrives every 10 minutes during the day.

Free Wi-Fi is available in some trams, buses and metro lines, and on the busier metro stations, you just need to accept the terms of use.

Tickets

You can use your contactless bank card to pay for any public transport that also accepts the OV-chipkaart. This system is called OV-Pay and is the most convenient way to travel. Debit and credit cards from Maestro, V PAY, Mastercard and Visa are supported. As anywhere else in the country OV-chipkaart can still be used to pay all kinds of public transport. The card costs €8.50 and you'd need to keep a positive balance there for at least €4.

Fares are calculated based on distance travelled. For using buses and trams, checking in and out has to be done in the vehicle, while for train and metro use the gates or card-reader poles at the entrance of the stations.

Alternatively one of the city's transport travel cards could be used:

RET travel cards. To travel by bus, tram and metro with RET. Can be purchased via the RET Barcode app, at ticket machines in metro stations and at RET Sales and Information points. For children under 12 and age 65 and up there is a reduced price. The 1-day ticket is not a 24-hour ticket: it is only valid on the day of the first check-in, until 04:00 of the early morning the next day. Tickets are not sold on bus and tram anymore; use your bank card to check in instead. 2 hours - €5.00; 1 (calendar) day - €11.00. (updated Jan 2025)

Tourist Day Ticket: Rotterdam & The Hague region. Unlimited travel on local transport (bus, tram, metro and waterbus. Note: trains excluded) in the Rotterdam and the Hague region. Available from ticket machines and service counters of RET and at tourist information. Ticket is valid for travel with RET, HTM, HTMbuzz, Arriva, Connexxion, EBS, QBuzz and Waterbus in South Holland. €17.00 for one day. (updated Jan 2025)

Rotterdam Welcome Card also allows for unlimited use of public transport with RET in the city and region.

You should take normal precautions against pickpockets and baggage theft, especially in the main shopping streets, at markets, in trams and trains, at stations, and anywhere where tourists congregate.

It is not wise to hang around Stadhuisplein when nightlife ends. Fights often occur in this area after midnight. Rotterdam also has a reputation of mass venues getting out of hand, though you shouldn't worry too much about it. If violence breaks out at football festivities (not so unlikely) or at the end of sun soaked festive days, like Kings Day (even less unlikely, especially at the Stadhuisplein), just get out of the way and you're unlikely to be affected. It's advisable not to wear a football jersey of Ajax Amsterdam or any other stuff promoting Ajax or Amsterdam.

In terms of general safety, at daylight most areas in the city are safe. But at night, some areas such as Spangen, Charlois and Hillesluis are wise to avoid.

When you drive a car with a foreign numberplate (especially if it's a French or Belgian one) you might or will be approached by so-called drugsrunners. This can occur on the motorways surrounding the city and in the city proper. These guys try to lure people to places where drugs are dealt. Do not respond to their signals and do not follow them.