Photo: Maaikevm, CC BY-SA 4.0Belasting & Douane Museum
Museum explaining the history of customs, taxation and international trade.
Daily 11:00–17:00✓ Museumcard
bdmuseum.nl
Forty minutes by train from Amsterdam, and nothing like it. Rotterdam is the Netherlands’ city of modern architecture, Europe’s largest port and a proper working city.
On 14 May 1940 German bombers destroyed almost the entire old centre of Rotterdam. After the war the city chose not to rebuild what had been lost, but to start again. The result is a skyline of towers along the river Maas, bridges that have become national landmarks, and buildings that architects travel from all over the world to see. Here is where to start:
Our advice: Comfortable full day
Travel time from Amsterdam: 60 minutes each way.
An hour each way is very manageable, and Rotterdam pairs well with Delft or the windmills of Kinderdijk. Arriving by cruise ship? See our Rotterdam shore excursions.
Rotterdam is older than it looks. The city grew up around a dam in the river Rotte in the 13th century and received its city rights in 1340. Most of that history disappeared in the bombing of May 1940. Instead of copying the old streets, the city planners chose wide avenues, new neighbourhoods and experimental buildings, and that choice still shapes Rotterdam today. A few pieces of the old city survived, such as the Laurenskerk, the big medieval church in the centre, and the harbour district of Delfshaven.
Rotterdam is where Dutch architects are allowed to experiment. On the south bank of the Maas stands De Rotterdam, a “vertical city” of three stacked towers by Rem Koolhaas’s office OMA. Near Museum Park, the round, mirrored Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the world’s first art storage building that is fully open to the public, with a rooftop garden and a view over the city. And every few streets there is another building that makes you stop and look up.
The Erasmus Bridge, opened in 1996 and designed by Ben van Berkel, crosses the Nieuwe Maas with one tall, angled white pylon. Its shape gave it the nickname the Swan. Walk or cycle across it for the view of the skyline on both banks, especially towards sunset.
The Cube Houses, designed by Piet Blom and completed in 1984, are yellow houses tipped over at an angle of 45 degrees and set on tall concrete posts, like a forest of trees. Most of them are private homes, but one, the Kijk-Kubus, is open to visitors, so you can see how people fit furniture into rooms without a single straight wall.
The Markthal opened in 2014: a huge horseshoe-shaped building with apartments in the arch and a food market underneath. The inside of the arch is covered with one of the largest artworks in the world, a giant painting of fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers. Below it, the stalls sell everything from Dutch cheese and stroopwafels to food from all over the world. It is the easiest place in Rotterdam for lunch.
Delfshaven is one of the few parts of old Rotterdam that survived the war, and it is where the Pilgrim Fathers set off in 1620 on the first leg of their journey to America. Brewery De Pelgrim, in a restored building on the harbour, brews its beers with that story in mind, including the Mayflower Tripel, named after their ship. It is a good place to end the day.
Hotel New York is housed in the former head office of the Holland America Line, the shipping company that carried hundreds of thousands of emigrants from Rotterdam to America. The restaurant and café on the ground floor are open to everyone, with a view across the water to the city.
The SS Rotterdam was the flagship of the Holland America Line from 1959, sailing between Rotterdam and New York. Today she is moored in the city as a hotel and museum, and you can tour the 1950s interiors.
To see the port itself, take a harbour cruise. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, and from the water you see the container terminals, cranes and ships up close. For something different, the Splashbus is an amphibious bus that drives straight into the river.
Yes, especially if you have already seen the canals of Amsterdam and want to see how the modern Netherlands looks. In one day you can see the architecture, eat in the Markthal, cross the Erasmus Bridge and end with a beer in Delfshaven. If you like museums, stay longer: the city has some of the best in the country.
Rotterdam is about 80 kilometres from Amsterdam. The fastest train takes around 40 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal, and there are several direct trains an hour. By car it is about an hour, depending on traffic.
By tram, metro, bus or on foot. The centre is compact enough to walk, and you can pay for trams and metros with a contactless bank card. Cycling is easy too, on wide and clearly marked cycle paths.
Yes, Rotterdam is a safe city for visitors. As in any big city, watch out for pickpockets in busy places such as the station, the Markthal and at events.
Rotterdam’s food reflects the many cultures that live in the port city: alongside Dutch classics like bitterballen and stroopwafels you find excellent Surinamese, Indonesian, Cape Verdean and Turkish food. The Markthal is the easiest place to try a bit of everything.
One full day is enough for the highlights: the Cube Houses, the Markthal and the Erasmus Bridge. With two days you can add museums, Delfshaven and a harbour cruise.
35 museums in Rotterdam
Before you plan
Collectiegebouw Boijmans. The museum building on the Museumpark has been closed for renovation since 2019. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is open.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Main building closed for a major renovation. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and the collection building next to it are open.
Museum Rotterdam. Open at Coolhaven 375 up to and including 15 November 2026. The museum then moves to Het Steiger (Hang 17, city centre); no opening date has been announced yet.
Museum Rotterdam '40–'45 NU. Open at Coolhaven 375 up to and including 15 November 2026. The exhibition then moves with Museum Rotterdam to Het Steiger (Hang 17); no reopening date has been announced yet.
Photo: Maaikevm, CC BY-SA 4.0Museum explaining the history of customs, taxation and international trade.
Daily 11:00–17:00
Photo: Wikifrits, Public domainMuseum dedicated to painter and sculptor Henk Chabot in a modernist villa.
Tue–Sat 11:00–17:00, Sun 12:00–17:00
Photo: Iariane, CC BY-SA 4.0The museum building on the Museumpark has been closed for renovation since 2019. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is open.
Public collection building with visible conservation and storage.
Tue–Sun
Photo: Rob Oo, CC BY 2.0The world's first publicly accessible art storage facility.
Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00
Photo: Raim73, CC BY-SA 2.0Historic harbour museum with working heritage vessels and dockside exhibits.
Tue–Sat 11:00–17:00, Sun 12:00–17:00 (historic ships open 1 Apr–31 Oct only)
Photo: Wikifrits, Public domainMajor exhibition venue presenting international art, photography and design.
Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00Exhibition venue connected with Dutch photography collections.
Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00
Photo: Bic, CC BY-SA 4.0Museum dedicated to the history of the Dutch Marine Corps.
Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00
Photo: Marco de Swart, CC BY-SA 4.0Museum celebrating the Netherlands' maritime past, present and future.
Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 11:00–17:00
Photo: Davidh820, CC BY-SA 4.0Main building closed for a major renovation. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and the collection building next to it are open.
One of the Netherlands' leading art museums, spanning old masters to contemporary art.
Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00 (Depot Boijmans)
Photo: Marcel Douwe Dekker, CC BY-SA 2.0Open at Coolhaven 375 up to and including 15 November 2026. The museum then moves to Het Steiger (Hang 17, city centre); no opening date has been announced yet.
City museum telling the story of Rotterdam and its people.
Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00 (until 15 Nov 2026)
Photo: Marcel Douwe Dekker, CC BY-SA 2.0Open at Coolhaven 375 up to and including 15 November 2026. The exhibition then moves with Museum Rotterdam to Het Steiger (Hang 17); no reopening date has been announced yet.
Museum focusing on the bombing of Rotterdam and the Second World War.
Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00 (until 15 Nov 2026)
