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Euromast Space Tower, 184m /605ft tall, with its revolving sit-down elevator, that allows a superb panoramic view over the city and industrial harbour landscape. It is the symbol of Rotterdam´s erection from the ashes.
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The city hall, the St. Laurence church (Laurens Kerk) and the White House (45 m high, first skyscraper in Europe, built in 1898) – these buildings survived the bombardments of 1940.
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Erasmus Bridge, nicknamed 'the Swan'.
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Boymans-van-Beuningen Museum.
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Kunsthal, designed by the famous architect s Rem Koolhaas and Fuminori Hoshino.
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Toy-Toy Museum, a large collection of antique toys.
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Delfshaven, outside the city, with historical centre and Holland´s oldest brewery De Pelgrim.
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Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; art, design and photography.
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A day trip to Rotterdam Zoo.
Nightlife
Nightlife in Rotterdam is so sparkling and exceptionally diverse that it is hard to find the right club or bar without a proper guidance from locals. Luckily, different subcultures have their own areas in the city, which makes the choice less complex. Moreover, perhaps it will be quite satisfying to visit the most famous disco Now&Wow. Other discos concentrate around Delftsestraat and Stadhuisplein. Trendy bars are to be found also on Eendrachtsplein/ Nieuwe Binnenweg.
Shopping
The most popular shopping areas are: Lijnbaan, which is the first set of pedestrian streets of the country, opened in 1953; the centrummarket , one of the biggest in Holland, open on Tuesdays and Saturdays; Zuiderboulevard – 2 km long shopping street; The Beurstraverse, locally called 'koopgoot', and The modern Vrij Entrepot Rotterdam.
Getting here
By air
Rotterdam's airport (RTM) is close to the city, a bus takes passengers to and from Central Station. The airport is quite small; 50 minutes away there is the huge Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
By train
Rotterdam Central Station is a major railway traffic hub, with several direct connections per hour to: Amsterdam (travel time approx. one hour), to The Hague (15 minutes), as well as to Utrecht and Dordrecht/Breda/Roosendaal. From Brussels, the travel takes approx. 1.5 hour, from Paris with high speed train just over 3 hours.
By coach
The Eurolines bus stops at Kruisplein, opposite the Central Station.
By boat
Stena Line and P&O offer many daily connections to UK (Harwich, Hull). The ferry port can be reached by train from the central station.
Getting around
The extensive public transport system includes trams (short distance city trains), busses and subway. Another popular way of getting around is by watertaxis, and by bike. Unlikely in the other Dutch cities, taxis can be also hailed on the street.
Since you have to pay for parking everywhere (with special card, there is no cash payment) and traffic jams occurs, the best option is to leave car outside the centre, and change to the public transportation.
Eating Out
Hundreds of restaurants, many of them on Westkruiskade, Mauritsweg or Westersingel, have menues with dishes from all over the world.
Climate
Rotterdam has a continental climate, typical for northern Europe. June, July and August are pleasantly warm; often rainy. Spring and autumn are quite rainy, but mild. Winters are generally mild - the temperature rarely drops below 0° Celsius.
Time zone: UTC (GMT)+1. Daytime saving time (DST) is observed.
Currency: Euro (EUR, €).
