Lonely Planet Pocket Rotterdam

By Virginia Maxwell

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet's Pocket Rotterdam is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Delve into experimental galleries and street art, explore Rotterdam's world-class architecture and urban design, and check out the latest stars in the city's foodie scene - all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Rotterdam and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet's Pocket Rotterdam:

• Full-colour maps and images throughout
• Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Free, convenient pull-out map (included in print version)
• User-friendly layout with helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time
• Covers Rotterdam, The Hague and more
• The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet's Pocket Rotterdam is our colourful, easy to use and handy guide that literally fits in your pocket, providing on-the-go assistance for those seeking the best sights and experiences on a short visit or weekend away.

Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet's The Netherlands guide for an in-depth look at all the country has to offer.

About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, nine international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times

'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788685719

Virginia Maxwell

Aunque afincada en Australia, Virginia Maxwell pasa el menos medio año actualizando para Lonely Planet destinos de Europa y Oriente Próximo. Si bien el Mediterráneo es la zona que más le interesa, ha cubierto España, Italia, Turquía, Siria, el Líbano, Israel, Egipto y Marruecos para las guías Lonely Planet. Virginia ha escrito también para las guías Lonely Planet de Finlandia, Armenia, Irán y Australia. En Instagram y Twitter se la puede seguir en @maxwellvirginia.

Book preview

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Rotterdam

Top Sights

Eating

Drinking & Nightlife

Architecture

Art

Museums

Tours

Entertainment

Festivals & Events

Shopping

Activities

For Free

For Kids

Four Perfect Days

Need to Know

Explore Rotterdam

Centrum

Noord

West

Zuid

Explore South Holland

Delft

Den Haag

Worth a Trip

Kinderdijk

Gouda

Survival Guide

Survival Guide

Before You Go

Arriving in Rotterdam

Getting Around

Essential Information

Language

Behind the Scenes

Our Writer

Welcome to Rotterdam

Innovation is the mantra in the Netherlands’ second-biggest city and the locals embrace it with unbridled enthusiasm. It’s not just the cutting-edge architecture and urban design present in every neighbourhood that make the city special – although the design culture here really is extraordinary. Instead, it’s the general willingness to try anything once – be it different foods, outré artistic experiences, new-wave coffee or pretty well anything else.

Erasmusbrug and Wilhelminapier | PETER DE KIEVITH/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Rotterdam

Top Sights

1 Van Nelle Fabriek

Architecturally resplendent 1930s factory complex.

TTSTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Huis Sonneveld

Outstanding example of Dutch Functionalism.

ROBERT EVANS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 NU

Multimedia stories about war and resistance.

JAAP VAN LEEUWEN, WWW.DESIGNJAAP.COM ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Kinderdijk

Unesco-listed windmill landscape.

SERGEY DZYUBA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Vermeer Centrum Delft

Celebrating Vermeer’s art and life.

GER BOSMA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Mauritshuis

Dutch Golden Age treasure trove.

PIDJOE/GETTY IMAGES ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Escher in Het Paleis

Celebration of unorthodox graphic design.

KELVIN ATKINS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Rotterdam Top Sights

1 Gouda

The perfect, cheesy litle town.

DANIEL BARTOS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Eating

Forget fine dining – Rotterdammers don’t like formality and fuss, and are at their happiest when enjoying fresh, seasonally driven, cafe-style food. The city is replete with informal restaurants and also has two great food markets – Markthal and Fenix Food Factory – that have eateries alongside produce stalls.

KIEV.VICTOR/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Global Accents

Contemporary Dutch cuisine has been significantly influenced by the country’s colonial past, with Indonesian and Surinamese dishes and flavours appearing on many local menus. In Rotterdam, these and other global cuisines are represented not just in dedicated restaurants but within the eclectic menus of cafes across the city, which are just as likely to offer buddha bowls and falafel as they are the Dutch staples of cheese sandwiches and apple pie.

Fresh is Best

Be sure to visit Rotterdam’s two main food markets: the architecturally resplendent Markthal and ultra-hip Fenix Food Factory. Both are hybrid shopping and eating venues where you can buy fresh seasonal and artisanal produce – everything from freshly baked sourdough to meats, freshly roasted coffee beans and a huge array of Gouda cheese. To source organic produce, head to the De Groene Passage eco-emporium.

Best Breakfasts

Rolph’s Deli All-day breakfasts including bagels and broodjes (bread rolls) with multiple toppings.

Pierre Flakey, buttery croissants and perfect croque monsieurs.

Bertmans Treats including pannenkoekjes (pancakes), avocado toast and a delicious fruit crumble.

Man Met Bril The city’s best-value breakfast deal and most impressive coffee.

Hopper Artisan bakery cafe serving delectable pastries and above-average coffee.

Picknick Home to the famous ‘Picknick platters’.

Best Cafe Lunches

Urban Espresso Bar The burger, soup and salad of the day are always worth checking out.

Hopper Sensational sandwiches, hearty soups and coffee made with house-roasted beans.

Parqiet Enjoy freshly made sandwiches and salads in leafy Het Park.

Best Dinner Venues

AJÍ Small plates with loads of flavour.

CEO Baas van Het Vlees The best steaks in the city.

HMB Sleek restaurant serving sophisticated, beautifully presented contemporary cuisine.

Asian Glories Modern rifts on Chinese classics.

FG Flagship restaurant of Rotterdam’s superstar chef François Geurds.

Zeezout Ultrafresh global seafood dishes.

Best Sweet Treats

Dudok Home to the city’s best apple pie.

Urban Bakery Rotterdam’s best cupcakes and brownies.

Lof der Zoetheid Lavish and delicious high tea, complete with samovar.

De IJsmaker Freshly churned, supersmooth gelato in fruit, nut and chocolate flavours.

Koen Authentic Italian-style gelato made fresh daily.

Best Pizza

O’Pazzo Neapolitan-style pizzas served in family-friendly surrounds.

Angelo Betti Crispy pizzas and damn fine gelato.

Drinking & Nightlife

Locals are equally enamoured of coffee and beer, and can be convinced to enjoy an expertly made cocktail too. There’s no lack of cafes, cocktail bars, microbreweries and pubs – many with outdoor seating for summer – and these are scattered across town. Witte de Withstraat is the main bar street.

IRIS VAN DEN BROEK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Coffee Craze

Since local coffee roastery Man Met Bril started sourcing and roasting direct-trade beans in 2012, the city has embraced artisan coffee culture with alacrity. There are now 12 roasteries supplying cafes across the city, and the quality of the coffee these cafes serve is among the best in the country. Not all of the roasteries have their own cafes (two that do are Man Met Bril and Hopper), but freshly roasted beans by local companies including Giraffe are being used in coffee machines across the city and South Holland, and the results are well worth sampling.

Microbreweries

When the locals aren’t sipping coffee made with locally roasted coffee beans, they’re more than likely to be enjoying a locally brewed beer at one of the city’s growing number of microbreweries. Seasonal and standard beers are usually on offer, and some microbreweries offer new customers tasting flights to introduce their tipples. In summer, the outdoor terraces of these places are the most popular drinking destinations in town.

Best Cafes

Man Met Bril Mecca for serious coffee drinkers; beans don’t come any fresher.

Urban Espresso Bar Giraffe beans, expert baristas and top-notch cafe food.

Hopper Roasts its own beans and makes sensational sandwiches.

Lokaal Uses Giraffe beans to make espresso and filter brews.

Best Microbreweries

Kaapse Brouwers Great location in the Fenix Food Factory on the banks of the Maas river.

Stadsbrouwerij De Pelgrim Canalside seating and signature Mayflower Tripel brew.

Eurotrash United Student and artist hang-out, with beer almost as good as the brewery’s name.

Brouwerij Noordt In the happening Noord neighbourhood; 20 tipples on tap.

Best Outdoor Drinking

Aloha Huge sun-drenched terrace overlooking Nieuwe Maas river, with a focus on sustainability.

Hotel NY Terrace Bar Watch the action on the water from this sunny spot on the point of Kop van Zuid.

Biergarten Beer, barbecue and a student vibe in a popular meeting spot.

Suicide Club Fashionable rooftop bar with views over the city rooftops.

Bokaal The terrace here spills out into Nieuwemarkt and heaves with drinkers on summer nights.

nhow Bar Sensational view from a balcony terrace in the iconic De Rotterdam building.

De Ballentent The city’s best waterfront pub, with two terraces.

De Oude Sluis Old-school bruin café (pub) overlooking the canal at Delfshaven.

De Witte Aap The most popular bar on Witte de Withstraat, with plenty of streetside tables.

Best Clubs

Maassilo The city’s largest club, with gritty surrounds and a powerful sound system.

Toffler Techno temple set in an old pedestrian tunnel.

Noah Tiki cocktails, and funk, soul and R&B on the turntable.

Suicide Club Weekend-only dance floor attracting the bold and the beautiful.

Architecture

Rotterdam is a vast open-air museum of modern and contemporary architecture. There are many triumphs, including some marvellous buildings by architecture firms OMA and MVRDV, as well as a fair number of magnificent failures. One thing that they all have in common is a willingness to innovate and experiment with built form.

FRANS BLOK/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Post-War Reconstruction

The devastating German bombardment and subsequent firestorm that Rotterdam suffered in May 1940 levelled the city’s medieval centre and destroyed many other city neighbourhoods. At the war’s end, authorities were quick to begin a massive rebuilding program and did so in a visionary way, determining to build a modern city that looked to the future rather than one that emulated the city of the past. An exhilarating building boom ensued and continued for decades, characterised by innovative urban design and cutting-edge architecture. As well as local architects, luminaries including Marcel Breuer, Renzo Piano and Wim Quist have designed city buildings here over the decades.

Rem Koolhaas

Although many well-known architects are based in Rotterdam, one in particular has become synonymous with the city. Rem Koolhaas and his