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Rotterdam
City in South Holland, Netherlands

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands by population and the largest by area (319.4 km2).

Plan a trip to Rotterdam→From Amsterdam

It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the New Meuse inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse at first and now to the Rhine.

Get in

Getting to Rotterdam

  1. 01
    Rotterdam The Hague Airport

    It is the 3rd largest airport in the country.

  2. 02
    Rotterdam Centraal

    The station is served by high-speed trains from Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.

See

Worth seeing

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.

Do

Things to do

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.

Eat

Where to eat

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.

How locals move

Getting around Rotterdam the local way

  • Get inYou can also get to Rotterdam by ferry from the United Kingdom.
  • Get inP&O Ferries has a daily overnight sailing from Kingston Upon Hull to Rotterdam Europoort.
  • Get inFrom Rotterdam Europoort P&O Ferries operates a shuttle bus service that takes you to the city center of Rotterdam.
  • Get inDFDS Seaways has a daily overnight ferry crossing from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

From Wikivoyage: Rotterdam, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.