Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Rotterdam (Netherlands). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Kunsthal, and Museum Rotterdam. Also, be sure to include Diergaarde Blijdorp in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Rotterdam (Zuid-Holland).
Table of Contents
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at the Museumpark in the district Rotterdam Centrum, close to the Kunsthal and the Natural History Museum.
The museum opened in 1849. It houses the collections of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans (1767–1847) and Daniël George van Beuningen (1877–1955). The museum has become the house of over 151,000 artworks over 170 years. In the collection, ranging from medieval to contemporary art, are works of Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Salvador Dalí and other famous collections that includes the masterpieces of the ‘Achilles series’ by Peter Paul Rubens and ‘A Cornfield, in the Background the Zuiderzee’ by Jacob van Ruisdael.
In 2013, the museum had 292,711 visitors and was the 14th most visited museum in the Netherlands.
The museum has been closed since 2019 due to improvement works and is scheduled to reopen in 2026.[1]
Address: Museumpark 18, 3015 CX Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Kunsthal
Art museum hosting temporary exhibitions. The Kunsthal is an art museum in Rotterdam. It opened in 1992.[2]
Address: Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Museum Rotterdam
The Museum Rotterdam, until 2011 called the Historical Museum Rotterdam, is a museum about the history of Rotterdam located at the Coolhaven.[3]
Address: Rodezand 26, 3011 AN Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Diergaarde Blijdorp
Zoo with oceanarium and kids' playground. Diergaarde Blijdorp, officially Rotterdam Zoo, is a zoo located in the northwestern part of Rotterdam. It is one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands, and has been operated by the Stichting Koninklijke Rotterdamse Diergaarde. Divided into several zoogeographic regions, the 26-hectare Blijdorp Zoo boasts well over 180 species. It also has a shop, multiple cafes, and an information centre.
The zoo is a member of the Dutch Zoo Federation (NVD) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). In 2007, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.[4]
Address: Blijdorplaan 8, 3041 JG Rotterdam (Noord)
Wereldmuseum
Museum of ethnography in old yacht club. The Wereldmuseum Rotterdam is an ethnographic museum, situated at Willemskade in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The museum was founded in 1883 and shows more than 1800 ethnographic objects from various cultures in Asia, Oceania, Africa, the Americas and the Islamic heritage.[5]
Address: Willemskade 25, 3016 DM Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
De Kuip
Also known as: Stadion Feijenoord
Stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip, is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name.
The stadium's original capacity was 64,000. In 1949, it was expanded to 69,000, and in 1994 it was converted to a 51,117-seat all-seater. In 1999, a significant amount of restoration and interior work took place at the stadium prior to its use as a venue in the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, although capacity was largely unaffected.[6]
Address: Van Zandvlietplein 1, 3077 AA Rotterdam (IJsselmonde)
Marine Corps Museum
Netherlands Marine Corps Museum is a museum on the history of the Netherlands Marine Corps. Since December 1995 it has been housed in a building on the Wijnhaven in Rotterdam. Since 2014 it has been one of the four museums managed by the Koninklijke Stichting Defensiemusea.[7]
Address: Wijnhaven 7-13, 3011 WH Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam is a natural history museum located in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The museum opened in 1927. It had 44,009 visitors in 2015.[8]
Address: Westzeedijk 345, 3015 AA Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Market Hall
Also known as: Markthal
Building in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Markthal is a residential and office building with a market hall underneath, located in Rotterdam. The building was opened on October 1, 2014, by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. Besides the large market hall, the complex houses 228 apartments, 4,600 m2 retail space, 1,600 m2 horeca and an underground 4-storey parking garage with a capacity of over 1200 cars.[9]
Address: Dominee Jan Scharpstraat 298, 3011 GZ Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Erasmusbrug
Iconic white bridge nicknamed 'The Swan'. Erasmusbrug is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge, construction began in 1986 and was completed in 1996. It crosses the Nieuwe Maas in the centre of Rotterdam, connecting the north and south parts of this city, second largest in the Netherlands. The bridge was named in 1992 after Desiderius Erasmus, a prominent Christian Renaissance humanist also known as Erasmus of Rotterdam. The Erasmus Bridge is Rotterdam's most important landmark and is even part of the city's official logo.[10]
Het Nieuwe Instituut
Also known as: Nederlands Architectuurinstituut
Cultural institute in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Netherlands Architecture Institute was a cultural institute for architecture and urban development, which comprised a museum, an archive plus library and a platform for lectures and debates. The NAI was established in 1988 and was based in Rotterdam since 1993. It ceased to exist in 2013, when it became part of Het Nieuwe Instituut.
The NAI was a private organisation with a government brief, which was to manage the collection of archives that document the history of Dutch architecture. As a sector institute for architecture it was tasked with supporting the professional field. The building also housed a bookshop and a cafe.[11]
Address: Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Van Nelle Factory
Also known as: Van Nellefabriek
Event venue in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The former Van Nelle Factory on the Schie in Rotterdam, is considered a prime example of the International Style based upon constructivist architecture. It has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Soon after it was built, prominent architects described the factory as "the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age" and "a poem in steel and glass".[12]
Address: Rotterdam, Van Nelleweg 1
Maritiem Museum
Museum. The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is a maritime museum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Dedicated to naval history, it was founded in 1874 by Prince Henry of the Netherlands.
Next to the Maritime Museum lies the open-air Maritime Museum Harbour, which merged with the Maritime Museum in 2014. The Maritime Museum Harbour contains an exceptional collection of historic vessels and cranes which are maintained in working condition.[13]
Address: Leuvehaven 1, 3011 TK Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Cube house
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Cube houses are a set of innovative houses built in Helmond and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, designed by architect Piet Blom and based on the concept of "living as an urban roof": high density housing with sufficient space on the ground level, since its main purpose is to optimise the space inside. Blom tilted the cube of a conventional house corner upwards, and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. His design represents a village within a city, where each house represents a tree, and all the houses together, a forest. The central idea of the cube houses around the world is mainly optimizing the space, as a house, to a better distribution of the rooms inside.[14]
Address: Overblaak 70, 3011 MH Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Rotterdam Ahoy
Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rotterdam Ahoy is a convention centre and multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main venues: a fairs and event hall, a congress and conference centre, and the Ahoy Arena. The latter opened on 15 January 1971 and is the largest venue, with a capacity of 16,426 as of April 2019.[15]
Address: Zuiderparkweg 20, 3084 BB Rotterdam (Charlois)
Sparta Stadion
Also known as: Spartastadion Het Kasteel
Stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Sparta Stadion, nicknamed Het Kasteel is a football stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is the home ground of Sparta Rotterdam. It has a capacity of 11,026.[16]
Address: Spartastraat 7-9, 3027 ER Rotterdam (Delfshaven)
Euromast
TV tower with restaurant and luxury rooms. Euromast is an observation tower in Rotterdam, Netherlands, designed by Hugh Maaskant constructed between 1958 and 1960. It was specially built for the 1960 Floriade, and is a listed monument since 2010. The tower is a concrete structure with an internal diameter of 9 m and a wall thickness of 30 cm. For stability it is built on a concrete block of 1,900,000 kg so that the centre of gravity is below ground. It has a "crow's nest" observation platform 96 m above ground and a restaurant. Originally 101 m in height it was the tallest building in Rotterdam. It lost this position to the high-rise of Erasmus MC which was completed in 1968, but regained it when the Space Tower was added to the top of the building in 1970, giving an additional 85 m. Euromast is the highest building of the Netherlands, it is also a member of the World Federation of Great Towers. In 2008 and 2009, the tower hosted an extreme sports event which featured BASE jumping.[17]
Address: Parkhaven 20, 3016 GM Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Stadion Woudestein
Also known as: Van Donge & De Roo Stadion
The Van Donge & De Roo Stadion, until May 2017 Stadion Woudestein, is a multi-use stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Excelsior Rotterdam, as well as for the women's team Excelsior Barendrecht. The stadium is able to hold 4,500 people and was built in 1902. The stadium has a stand named after Robin van Persie, who played in its youth career for Excelsior between 1997 and 1999.
As of the summer of 2018, it remains the smallest stadium in the Eredivisie.[18]
Address: Honingerdijk 110, 3062 NX Rotterdam (Kralingen-Crooswijk)
Oceanium
Aquarium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Oceanium is a public aquarium that opened in 2001 in Diergaarde Blijdorp, a zoo in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Oceanium lies in the expansion area of the zoo, which includes a new entrance and parking area, and was the biggest project to date for the zoo. The area around the Oceanium is home to projects depicting the Americas.
The Oceanium is also home to scientific research into the conservation of coral.[19]
Address: Diergaarde Blijdorp, Rotterdam (Noord)
Kralingse Plas
Lake in the Netherlands. The Kralingse Plas is a lake located in the suburb of Kralingen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The water is mainly used for watersport, fishing and recreational activities. Several sport associations are located around the lake, including rowing, sailing and fishing.
The Kralingse Plas was created due to peat extractions.[20]
Plaswijckpark
Theme park, Amusement park, Playground, Zoo
Address: Ringdijk 20, 3053 KS Rotterdam (Hillegersberg-Schiebroek)
Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk is a Protestant church in Rotterdam. It is the only remnant of the medieval city of Rotterdam.[21]
Address: Grotekerkplein 27, 3011 GC Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Van Brienenoord Bridge
Also known as: Van Brienenoordbrug
Tied-arch bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Van Brienenoord Bridge is a large twin tied-arch motorway bridge in the Netherlands. Located at the east side of Rotterdam, it crosses the New Meuse, a major distributary of the river Rhine. The bridge actually consists of two separate, parallel, and almost identical arch-bridges, as well as a set of three parallel bascule bridges on the north end. The bridge carries 12 lanes of traffic of the A16 motorway, the busiest highway in the Netherlands. Additionally, on the outside of the east arch, a two-way segregated cycling bridge has been mounted. Including lead-up ramps, the Van Brienenoord Bridge is 1320 metres long and vessels with up to 24 metres air draft can pass under the closed bridge. With a span of 300 m, the west arch is the longest span road bridge in the Netherlands.
Traffic exceeds 235,000 vehicles crossing the bridge daily, using four 3-lane carriageways, in an express versus local / distributor arrangement.[22]
Address: Rijksweg A16, Rotterdam (IJsselmonde)
Groothandelsgebouw
The Groothandelsgebouw is an extensive building and monument in the center of Rotterdam, Netherlands next to the Central Station of the city. Completed in 1953 it is one of the first major buildings built after the bombing of Rotterdam in the Second World War.
Because during the war much business was lost, there were early plans for new office space. The idea for a new building came from a wholesaler Frits Pot who realized that a rather large building would be smaller than tens of buildings of separate wholesalers. During Christmas 1944 he made a sketch and on May 4, 1945 it was discussed in the Chamber of Commerce. Together with architect Hugh Maaskant and (later Director) G. Thurmer he made a study trip to Chicago, USA in 1947. The building is modeled after the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.
The final building fitted exactly in the vision of Rotterdam and the post-war reconstruction of the city. The Wholesale House was an innovative project for that time: the very large building was designed not only by many companies, but included a complete route through the building. During the construction phase in 1951 a grand cafe-restaurant, conference center etc. was installed. The building itself was completed in 1953.
Characteristic of this building is a constant grid of concrete columns in which the building rests. Center-to-center distance of the columns is 6.72 meters. The columns are octagonal. Supporting the outer walls are approximately 65 inches, the inner columns are about 85 centimeters.
The building has 5 entrances, marked with the letters A through E. The main entrance is located at the A station 45. The entrances D and E (sometimes called the back) are on Conrad Street. The building also lies on Weena Street.
Exceptions to the constant grid of the wholesale building are the spaces created by the oblique lines of the building. These (imaginary) lines are about the length of the A wing and the imaginary line from D to C.[23]
Address: Stationsplein 45, 3013 AK Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Oude of Pelgrimvaderskerk
Church of christ in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church is a church located in Rotterdam-Delfshaven, in the Netherlands.[24]
Address: Aelbrechtskolk 20, 3024 RE Rotterdam (Delfshaven)
WORM
Non-profit. WORM is a Rotterdam based non-profit foundation and a multi-media alternative cultural centre focused on experimental, new media art, avant-garde and underground art, primarily music and movies. WORM is funded by the Triodos Bank and part of the culture nota 2009-2012 from the Dutch government. The foundation has received the Pendrecht Culture Prize and its venue is part of the Rotterdam culture plan.
WORM organises festivals and concerts, movie nights, runs an independent record label, a radio station. Part of the organisation is also a media lab, a hackerspace, and a music studio. The media lab and music studio both run free artist in residence programmes for artists and experimental musicians. Experimental musician Lukas Simonis is the programmer of the artist in residence programme for the music studio. The studio has a collection of experimental musical instruments built by Yuri Landman. Artists that have been in residence at WORM were Tujiko Noriko, Toktek, Machinefabriek, Jørgen Teller, One Man Nation, Blevin Blectum, Kevin Blechdom, Joe Howe, Eugene Chadbourne, Lucas Crane, Jim Xentos, Knull, Ben Butler and Mousepad, Colin Black, Harry Taylor (Action Beat), Stignoise, Hovatron, Martijn Comes, Danielle Lemaire and others.
Besides the venue and studio the foundation also has a shop with left field music, art house movies and books about subjects related to the cultural focus of the organisation.
WORM developed the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. The organisation co-operates closely with International Film Festival Rotterdam, Poetry International, Incubate, State-X New Forms, Museumnacht.
WORM was based at the Achterhaven till 2010. In 2011 it moved to the centre of Rotterdam and is currently located in the building formerly used as the Nederlands Fotomuseum (Dutch Photo Museum) at the Witte de Withstraat.[25]
Crooswijk General Cemetery
Also known as: Algemene Begraafplaats Crooswijk
Cemetery. Crooswijk General Cemetery is a cemetery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[26]
Address: Kerkhoflaan 1, 3034 TA Rotterdam (Kralingen-Crooswijk)
Rotown
Live music venue in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rotown is a music venue and a bar-restaurant in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is located close to the city centre, on the Nieuwe Binnenweg.
It is housed in a former Chinese restaurant and has been, although a small one, Rotterdam's main venue for rock and indie music concerts after the demise of Nighttown.[27]
Address: Rotterdam, Nieuwe Binnenweg 19
Stoom Stichting Nederland
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Stoom Stichting Nederland is a railway museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1976.[28]
Address: Rolf Hartkoornweg 50, 3034 KL Rotterdam (Kralingen-Crooswijk)
Willemsbrug
Cable-stayed bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Willemsbrug is a bridge next to the Erasmusbrug in the centre of Rotterdam, Netherlands, spanning the Nieuwe Maas. It links the northern part of the city with the Noordereiland and the district of Feijenoord.
The bridge was completed in 1981, designed by C. Veerling and named after King Willem III of the Netherlands. It replaced an older bridge that had been opened in 1879 but was severely outdated by the time the decision was made to build a new one. Because of the intensity of the traffic using the old bridge, it was decided to build the new one 150 metres upstream to avoid upsetting the daily flow of traffic across the river. After the completion of the new bridge, the old one was demolished.
The Willemsbrug is a cable-stayed bridge with a total span of about 318 meters. It is painted in a red color which puts it in sharp contrast with the light blue painted Erasmus Bridge.[29]
Delftse Poort
Building complex in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Delftse Poort is a twin-tower skyscraper complex at Weena 505 next to the Rotterdam Centraal railway station in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Tower I is 151.35 m with 41 stories, and Tower II is 93 m with 25 stories. Until May 2009, Tower I was the tallest office tower in the Netherlands. Both towers are built over a 4-storey multifunctional podium which adjoins the Rotterdam central station. The entire complex has 28 elevators. The gross floor area in the complex is 106,000 m2, and the offices occupy 66,000 m2.
It was constructed between 1988 and 1991. The cost of the construction was 240 million Dutch guilders, or about €110 million. Due to a metro tunnel running underneath the complex, advanced construction methods were required, allowing only a single underground floor to be built. The building is also known as Nationale-Nederlanden building, because until 2015 the Dutch Company 'Nationale-Nederlanden' (National-Netherlands) was the main user of the building. Nationale-Nederlanden was the local insurance branch of ING Insurance until 2014. In April 2015, the building was officially reopened by owner CBRE Global Investors as a general-purpose office building with 65,000 m2 (700,000 sq ft) of office space. Nationale-Nederlanden became a tenant renting only a third of the building complex, and hence their logo on Tower I was removed. Since then the building has established its own identity, displaying its own logo on Tower I.
Until 2004, an annual race up the building's stairs took place in this building.[30]
Address: Weena 505, 3013 AL Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Chabot Museum
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Chabot Museum is a museum dedicated to the Dutch painter and sculptor Hendrik Chabot in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The museum is housed in a monumental villa in the Museumpark, near the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the Netherlands Architecture Institute.[31]
Address: Museumpark 11, 3015 CB Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)
Santa Claus Sculpture
Santa Claus, popularly known as the Buttplug Gnome, is a 2001 statue by Paul McCarthy in the Eendrachtsplein square of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Originally made for the International Sculpture Collection with the intended location being outside the De Doelen concert hall, it has been located in various places – including the courtyard of the Boijmans Museum – but moved due to protests from local businesses. Officially the work represents Santa Claus holding a Christmas tree in his hands but the artist has implied that it could also represent a buttplug, and that "...For me, the sculpture is also about the consumer community - as a commentary on material consumption in the Western world." A red version was unveiled in May 2018 in Oslo, Norway. The unveiling was done by a man pulling off the cover, suspended by an overhead crane with hooks through his skin.[32]
Arboretum Trompenburg
Also known as: Trompenburg Tuinen & Arboretum
Botanical garden in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Arboretum Trompenburg is a botanical garden in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which hosts a large collection of woody as well as herbaceous plants. It occupies an area of 7 ha and is situated 4 m below sea level, so a system of canals is used to drain the land. The history of the garden dates back to the 19th century. Since 1958 it has been open to the public daily for a small fee. Arboretum Trompenburg holds national plant collections of conifers, Quercus, Fagus, Rhododendron, Ligustrum, Rodgersia and Hosta.[33]
Address: Honingerdijk 86, 3062 NX Rotterdam (Kralingen-Crooswijk)
Nederlands Fotomuseum
Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Netherlands Photo Museum is a photography museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, that was founded in 1989.
The museum collection consists of many historical, social and cultural images from the 20th and 21st century, from the Netherlands and elsewhere. It has control over more than 150 archives (three million plus images) taken by Dutch photographers. The archives are stored in climate controlled film storage facilities.
It is located at the Wilhelminakade in the previous Holland America Line workshop building, also known as the Las Palmas building.
The Netherlands Photo Museum was founded under the name Nederlands Foto Archief. and was subsidised by the Dutch government. In 2003, it was reborn, through an endowment from Hein Wertheimer, a wealthy Dutch lawyer, and renamed to Nederlands Fotomuseum.
Visitors to the NFM may browse the museum’s library of 120000 digital images, watch short films or participate in educational activities. The museum has large exhibition rooms and a rotating display of Dutch history.
Present Exhibitions at the museum:
1) Gallery of Honor of Dutch Photography (99 images) (Permanent exhibition)
2) Starring Chas Gerretsen: retrospective look at his life and work[34]
Address: Wilhelminakade 332, 3072 AR Rotterdam (Stadscentrum)