A skyline that was a bomb site within living memory
Nothing in the centre looks old because almost nothing is. On 14 May 1940 the centre burned; the city archive puts the dead at around 800, and the National Archives counts 24,000 homes destroyed. What stands there now went up afterwards, and the city chose towers and glass over rebuilding the past.
The river does the rest. I cross the Maas on a water taxi for €5.25 inside the centre zone, and it is the quickest way to understand how big this port is.
€4 at the Euromast door, and the Markthal as a car park
The Euromast is €17.50 at the door and €13.50 online, the same lift to the same platform at 112 metres. I buy it on my phone in the queue. The Euroscoop to 185 metres adds a revolving cabin and €6 more; for the view alone, the lower deck does the job.
The other trap is parking under the sights. The Markthal garage is €35 a day and the city garages €41, while Beverwaard costs nothing and the tram does the last 25 minutes. The classic mistake is driving to the centre to save time you then spend at a barrier.
The second-largest market in the country, twice a week
Binnenrotte, right beside the Markthal, is a street market on Tuesday and Saturday, and the city calls it the second-largest in the Netherlands. The Markthal sells the photograph; the stalls outside sell the food at market prices. On Wednesday and Saturday the Afrikaanderplein market on Zuid, the third-largest, is where I would rather eat.
Buy a plastic card before you trust a free car park
A physical OV-chipkaart costs money and feels old-fashioned, and in Rotterdam it is the thing that makes the P+R free. The city's own page is blunt: free parking at the conditional sites does not yet work with the OVpay options. Validate the card at the gate machine and you have 15 minutes to drive out. No card, and the barrier charges €0.50 per 13 minutes.
A market under a painted arch, and a museum you can see into
Markthal opened on 1 October 2014; the ceiling, Hoorn des Overvloeds by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam, is 11,000 m² printed on aluminium. Look up before you look at the stalls.
Kijk-Kubus is the one cube house you can walk into, €3.50, daily 10:00–18:00, by Piet Blom.
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is €20; the museum proper has been closed since 2019 for a renovation of at least ten years, so the depot is where the collection is.
Fenix, the migration museum on Katendrecht, is €15, and its Tornado staircase ends on a viewing platform over the river.
The Pilgrim Fathers' church in Delfshaven marks where the Pilgrim Fathers left in 1620; it opens only on selected Saturdays, 12:00–16:00.
ss Rotterdam, the old Holland America flagship, runs tours from €13.45. From the Willemsplein, Spido does a harbour tour at €18.75.
The kapsalon was a barber's order, not a recipe
The kapsalon — fries, shawarma, cheese under the grill, salad on top — was invented in 2003 by Nataniël "Tati" Gomes, a barber of Cape Verdean origin, who ordered it at El Aviva in Delfshaven; it is named after his barbershop. El Aviva was put up for sale in January 2026, so check it is open before you make the pilgrimage.
The rest of Rotterdam's eating reflects who lives here: roti and broodje pom from Surinamese kitchens, kibbeling — battered fish — at the market stalls. I eat at the Afrikaanderplein market on a Wednesday and in the Markthal only when it rains.
A film festival in the dark months, and the port's own weekend
IFFR, the film festival, runs 28 January to 7 February 2027. The NN Marathon is 10–11 April 2027 over the Erasmus Bridge; in 2026 the city closed roads from Friday to Sunday and towed cars left on the course. North Sea Jazz fills Ahoy on 9–11 July 2027, and the World Port Days mark their 50th edition on 3–5 September 2027.
What's on
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 28 January – 7 February 2027 | IFFR, the International Film Festival Rotterdam — eleven days of screenings across the centre |
| 10–11 April 2027 | NN Marathon Rotterdam over the Erasmus Bridge — in 2026 roads closed from Friday to Sunday, the city pointed drivers to the park and rides, and cars left on the course were towed |
| 9–11 July 2027 | North Sea Jazz at Rotterdam Ahoy, with the North Sea Round Town fringe across the city from 24 June |
| 3–5 September 2027 | Wereldhavendagen, the World Port Days, 50th edition — the port opens its ships and quays along the Maas |