Fall in love with Rotterdam

The Netherlands second city is often overlooked in favour of Amsterdam but it has many strings to its bow that make it a desirable destination in its own right.

According to global travellers, these are the highlights of this forward-thinking port city.

Architecture

On 14th May 1940, the Luftwaffe flattened Rotterdam in an aerial bombardment that left only three buildings standing. But within four days, plans were afoot to radically rebuild the entire city. The architectural wonderland that rose out of the ashes is still thrillingly modern and unique today, with buildings that are playful, colourful and bold. See the ‘cube houses’ – a set of yellow houses designed by Dutch architect, Piet Blom, in the 1970s – that appear to balance at an angle like rolling dice or an optical illusion. Then there’s the Markthal – A U-shaped building with a 40 metre-high arch enclosed by glass – and the Erasmus Bridge – an asymmetric, futuristic cable-stayed bridge crossing the Nieuwe Maas River that resembles a giant swan. The floor-to-ceiling windows at nhow Rotterdam pour sunlight into your suite as well as guaranteeing phenomenal views of the Port and the Erasmus Bridge.

Food

Fenix Food Factory is a good place to start on a food tour of Rotterdam; it’s a food market in an old port warehouse with breweries providing beer tastings, butchers, bakers and food stalls selling everything from artisanal Dutch cheese to Turkish specialities. Pay 15 Euros for a wooden platter, which you can take around all the stalls selecting one edible item from each, then head outside (if the weather is good) to eat by the water. For a high-quality brunch head to vegetarian café, Bertmans, and feast on quinoa, spinach and pumpkin patties with a side of polenta fries. Or visit Picnick in the Mariniersweg 259 where you’ll find generous portions of organic salads, soups and bread served with soft white cheese and hummus. For a sit down dinner, Prachtig is a gourmet Rotterdam restaurant on the water’s edge with a fantastic view of the city’s Erasmus Bridge. Stay at Hotel New York for views from your bedroom window straight onto the River, as well as an easy 5-minute walk to the Fenix Food Factory.

Culture

Rotterdam was Europe’s busiest port for decades, and with merchants having generated local wealth since the medieval era, the city has long enjoyed a high level of patronage for the arts and culture. The city’s most impressive collection belongs to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. It’s an engrossing place to visit with a diverse and impressive collection; the museum and grounds house artefacts, abstract sculptures and other forms of art from the likes of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Magritte, Dalí and Leonardo da Vinci. Even if you don’t want to have a proper gander around the museum, don’t miss the chance to go into the mirror room (it’s free, you just have to find it). The other main arts space in the city is the Kunsthal arts centre, with exciting exhibitions ranging from crowd-pleasing blockbusters to more intellectual, unexpected pieces. Keep an eye out for art collectives like ‘WORM’ offering regular creative talks, performances, screenings and more. Rotterdam also hosts a big jazz festival every summer and the city was the first in the Netherlands to open a museum dedicated exclusively to fashion (albeit a temporary one). Around the corner from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, De With Studios are an enclave right in the middle of the city, with palm leaves painted on the walls and cool granite surfaces.

Nightlife

Rotterdam became known for its nightlife around the 1980s, when its house music and clubbing scene really kicked off. These days, you can always find a multitude of house parties and avant-garde nights, like Toffler – a fun, underground club on Weena-Zuid – as well as huge clubs like the raw and industrial Maassilo, an enormous renovated grain silo containing a few venues with genre-spanning line-ups. Most of Rotterdam’s big events happen within a relatively short radius, so it’s easy to try out several things in one night, from a hot tub tug boat or a bar-crawl around the popular Witte de Withstraat to a club night in an artist’s studio. Stay at the ART Hotel Rotterdam, practically next door to Maassilo.