Is Rotterdam worth a visit? What to do? What to see? How much does it cost I could shorten the article by answering yes without a doubt, however I will do better; I recommend you to go there and in addition I share with you 10 reasons why Rotterdam is worth visiting. These 10 reasons are straight from my travels there, as I’ve been to Rotterdam several times, alone and with friends.

If you’ve been to Amsterdam and enjoyed the experience then you’ll definitely enjoy this destination. Personally, I enjoyed Rotterdam even more than Amsterdam; the city became one of my favorite places after Berlin.

Without further ado, let’s get to the heart of the matter.

Museum of Photography


Address: Statendam 1, 3072 AR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

First spot, first reason. At the moment I am very oriented photography, it was therefore natural that this spot was in this selection. Located on the Wilheminakade in the Kop van Zuid district,the museum of photography presents various temporary exhibitions.

While I was there, I was able to attend an exhibition that featured 99 photos from a plethora of Dutch photographers (from 1842 to the present). Thus, it was possible for me to observe different sensibilities, representations, techniques and their evolution. Another specificity is that the experience offered was meant to be interactive. I wrote that there were 99 photos; in reality, it was 99+1 photos because at the end of the visit we could see an empty space. The visitor was invited to occupy this empty space by sending a photo (on an application provided for this purpose) that could complete the exhibition.

On the lower floor of the museum was also another exhibition, during my visit I could see the exhibition “Typical dutch” of photographer Jan Dirk Van der Burg. The latter focused on the daily life of the Dutch.

To visit the museum, you need to spend 14€ for an adult ticket (+26 years old); the museum is closed on Mondays.

Because a visit digs, note that just opposite the museum of photography is Foodhallen. I talk about it in more detail in my article“5 places to eat in Rotterdam“; I also talk about it in a previous article because there is one Amsterdam.

Erasmus Bridge


Address: Erasmusbrug, 3011 BN Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Why go to Rotterdam? To see the Erasmus Bridge.
If you go to the museum of photography or to foodhallen, and depending on the means of transport you will use (personally, I went on foot), you could pass by the Erasmus bridge or Erasmusbrug in Dutch;
you will not be disappointed. In addition to walking, the 800m long bridge can be crossed by bicycle, streetcar or car. Spanning the new Maas, the bridge will take you from the northern to the southern part (or vice versa) of Rotterdam. Did you know that? The latter can be raised to allow large vessels to pass.

Designed by architects Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, Inaugurated in 1996, the bridge is part of what I appreciate the most in the architecture of Rotterdam; moreover it is one of the most famous bridges of the Netherlands and one of the unavoidable symbols of Rotterdam. The use of white and a curved pylon make the bridge look like a swan.
With the right positioning and coming at the right time of the day (I prefer the end of the day), you can take very nice pictures and of course a walk.

Kunsthal


Address: Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Located in the Museum Park, the Kunsthal, or “art room” in Dutch, is a modern architectural building of 3,300m² where various temporary exhibitions are held. The architect Reems Koolhaas, his team from OMA and the designer Yves Brunier are behind this building made of concrete, glass and metal.

Among the 6 exhibitions on display during my visit in October 2022, two of them particularly caught my attention; on the one hand, the exhibition “Wonderful things” was about the work of fashion photographer Tim Walker. As the name suggests, the exhibition immersed us in his rich and fantastic universe. On the other hand, the exhibition “Women in design” (from 1900 to the present) offered a very welcome perspective on the world of design (ceramics, furniture, graphics, fashion and textiles, jewelry, etc.) and more particularly on the place and impact of women in it. Indeed, a more than welcome perspective as they are too often overshadowed by their male counterparts.

To visit the Kunsthal, you need to budget €16.50 for an adult ticket; the museum is also closed on Mondays. Want to see other exhibitions? In addition to the Kunsthal, the museum park consists of the New Institute(Het Nieuwe Instituut), the Museum of Natural History, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot and the Museum Chabot. Moreover, the Sonneveld house is also located in the same area! From personal experience, I can tell you that it is quite possible to visit several of these museums in one day.

Not far from there are Lilith and The Goat; two places to eat that you can find in my dedicated article.

House Sonneveld


Address: Jongkindstraat 12, 3015 CG Rotterdam, The Netherlands

One of my favorite visits, and certainly one of the reasons why Rotterdam is worth a visit.

As I told you, I visited during the same day several museums of the museum park; to share with you my journey, I had for example visited the new institute and followed with the Sonneveld house, I could also have followed with the Kunsthal but I preferred a distribution on several days. This info could be useful if you are going to Rotterdam for a weekend or 3 days and are wondering what you could do during that time.

House-museum, museum-home, the Sonneveld House (Huis Sonneveld) embodies a piece of life and a stop in time. Enter the house and you will have, like me, like many, the impression that time has stopped, the impression of taking a plunge into the 30s. This impression is even more accentuated by the explanations transmitted by the audio guide (in English). I highly recommend taking the audio guide, which is available free of charge, as it will help you understand the context, including the family and household staff who occupied it, the philosophy behind the house, and some anecdotes. The audioguide will accompany you on your tour of the house, with about twenty stops spread out among the different floors and rooms. To listen to the content of a stop, simply point the box at the numbered marker. Allow about 1h/1h15 for a complete visit following the audioguide.

Now let me tell you more about the house. The architects Leendert Van der Vlugt and Johannes Andreas Brinkman are responsible for the design of the house (1929 – 1933) and the interior design (furnishings, layout). To this day, it is one of the best preserved houses of the Nieuwe Bouwen (New Building) style, the Dutch branch of modernism. This is largely due to restorations, based on documents left by the architects, that took place in the late 1990s.

From the outside, you will see the three floors of the house, the balconies, the roof terrace and the garden. From the inside, you will witness an airy and bright space; this is due to the presence of large windows here and there. The large vibrating bays, the balconies or the roof terrace form an opening towards the outside, and make the interior-exterior limit less tangible. These few elements are evocative of Le Corbusier’s five precepts (free plan, free facade, pilings, roof terrace and long window).

Inside, you will also see furniture, whose colors perfectly match the rooms in which they are located, from Dutch industrialists, designers, and artists such as Andries Copier and Willem Hendrik Gispen. Speaking of colors, the harmony of the interior contrasts with the whiteness of the exterior.

Earlier I mentioned the Nieuwe Bouwen (new building), the functionalist trend; if you visit the Sonneveld house, you will notice that nothing was left to chance. Speaking of functionalism, the elements evoked as air, space and light are characteristic principles. Indeed, the house was meant to be functional and simple. That’s why the design was made using modern materials (like steel and concrete) and technologies; and above all, that’s why the design of the house was made placing in the center the needs, the well being and the good life hygiene of the family and the house staff. The content prevailed over the form; the approach was more functional than aesthetic. Okay, but still? Here are three concrete circumstances that speak of this philosophy in the house and a certain avant-gardism.

For example, the living room and the office could be one or separated by a sliding wall. For example, a trap door was built into the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen, so that the household staff could slip in tea and meals in the foyer. Last example, in addition to its equipment (several sinks), the functionalism of one of the bathrooms was highlighted by its mechanism; indeed, it was connected to two rooms and therefore accessible by three doors (from the rooms and the corridor) equipped with locks.

For the avant-garde side, it is the presence of gadgets and technology that earns it this qualification. The rooms (such as bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, living room and office) are equipped with telephones, audio systems connected to different rooms, heated towel racks, multi-jet showers, electric clocks, and even a service elevator.
After all this, one can imagine that the family had a certain standard of living, and for good reason Albertus Sonneveld was the director of the Van Nelle factory, itself designed by Leendert Van der Vlugt and classified as a UNESCO heritage site.

Interested in this spot? Here is some additional information. The place is closed on Mondays, so you should expect to pay 14€ for an adult ticket (the ticket being combined, it also gives access to the new institute). On the spot lockers are available; and for the visit, it is necessary to wear overshoes; yes you will have a little less style than usual but I reassure you one makes it (temporarily).

The New Institute (Het Nieuwe Instituut)


Address: Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands

As I mentioned above, the new institute or Het Nieuwe Instituut is located only a few steps away from the Sonneveld house. It is a cultural center around architecture, design and digital culture. The building is composed of several floors and a basement between which are distributed various rooms (galleries) where temporary exhibitions are held, a bookshop corner, a café, a library, a research center or a space dedicated to the archives of the disciplines of architecture (cf. the documents of the Sonneveld house), design and digital culture. The institute was designed by Dutch architect Jo Coenen; the building is bright (again, large windows are present), imposing, spacious and uncluttered (the interior and exterior are very raw).

I made several visits to the new institute during which I was able to see many interesting exhibitions. Some of them were societal; for example, the place of Dutch women architects, the gentrification of downtown Los Angeles, digital and personal data, and another one was about the “asian flush” syndrome (i.e. Asian people allergic to alcohol). Other exhibitions had more of an ecological dimension, as they presented reflections on more responsible energies, methods, and consumption relationships.

It’s a place I recommend depending on your interests; if architecture, design and digital culture are not your favorite disciplines your feelings will probably differ. In this case, I would advise you to visit the website of the new institute to get an idea of the current exhibitions or, if not, to consult the other spots. Moreover, passing in front of the new institute is already a great experience, on the one hand for the building itself, on the other hand for its location which gives access to other museums in the park, but also to many restaurants.

The exhibitions being numerous, if you go there, I advise you to be wide and to plan 2 hours (if not more) to enjoy it fully and quietly. As mentioned, the purchase of a ticket for the new institute (14€ for an adult ticket) gives access to the Sonneveld house.

Chabot Museum


Address: Museumpark 11, 3015 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Another spot belonging to the museum park (definitely). The Chabot Museum is located right next to the Sonneveld House shown above; the museum is mainly dedicated to the expressionist artist Henk Chabot.
Another spot where the experience is double because it is as much about the interior as the exterior, as much about art and architecture. The museum is housed in a remarkable villa designed by the architects Gerrit Willem Baas and Leonard Stokla. As with the Sonneveld house, the villa belongs to the Dutch branch of modernism, with characteristics such as air, light, space and openness to the garden.

If the Chabo MuseumIf you are interested, even if there is a terminal placed outside the museum to buy tickets (8€ for an adult ticket), I advise you, if possible, to book a slot online; because I had the bad experience of the ticket shortage while trying to buy a ticket directly on the spot. A combined ticket for the Chabot Museum and Sonneveld House is available (€12.50). The museum is also closed on Mondays.

The cubic houses


Address: Overblaak 70, 3011 MH Rotterdam, The Netherlands

38 cubes, positioned on a platform, tilted at 45° and a color palette mixing yellow and blue-gray; yes, we are talking about the cubic houses (or Kubuswoningen in Dutch) of Dutch architect Piet Blom. They are another must-see symbol of the city and one of the big reasons why Rotterdam is worth a visit; I imagine this spot must have already come up in your search results. Before the cubic houses, Piet Blom, an important figure of structuralism, realized several notable projects, still in the Netherlands, such as the residential area “De Kasbah” in Hengelo or the cubic houses in Helmond. These different works are the translation of a philosophy in which art, craftsmanship and the human being are involved; I will return to this last point in a few lines.

This spot, located at 10min by transport (stop “Blaak“) or at 20min walking distance from the museum park, offers an experience that can be lived as much inside as outside. On the outside, because the shape, the colors and the positioning are appealing and do not leave anyone indifferent. By the way, try to observe the cubic houses from a distant point and from a high place, you will see that they seem to form a forest.
Inside, because the configuration of the structure (sloping walls) and the space (relatively limited) give rise to singular problems such as the layout. However, these elements are still optimized (functionally) and sources of opportunity. For example, the placement of the windows was determined to bring in a good amount of light and to reduce exposure to the outside (the street); in addition, privacy is gained from floor to floor. Another example is that these spaces are conducive to interaction between people in the home.

Interested in this spot? It is necessary to foresee 3€ to visit the “sample house” (the other houses being inhabited). To avoid bad surprises, I draw your attention to three points; first point, the visit of the three floors is quite quick. Second point, and as mentioned, the space is relatively small; be careful with the time and the period of your visit, the experience could be more tedious than anything else. Last but not least, the visit could be complicated for people with reduced mobility because the access to the entrance and to the different floors of the house is done by narrow and steep stairs.

After this visit you might want to take a break to eat, well you should know that not far from there is the Markthal which I talk about in more detail in this article.

Splash tour


Address: Parkhaven 9, 3016 GM Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This activity was without a doubt one of the most singular of my stay. It consists of a tour of Rotterdam in an amphibious bus, which means that part of the tour is done on land and the other part is done in the Maas, which will give you a new perspective of the city. There was already a lot to see in Rotterdam, now there is even more (like the Erasmus bridge to name but one)!

The only hitch, rest assured you will be protected from the water, may be the price; it is necessary to foresee 27,50€ for an adult ticket and 19€ for a child ticket.

After that, why not go to the Euromast tower which is not far from there?

Euromast Tower


Address: Parkhaven 20, 3016 GM Rotterdam, The Netherlands

After a visit to the city on land and in the water, why not take a trip to the top of the highest observation tower in the Netherlands and get a new view of Rotterdam?

The Euromast, another emblematic symbol, is a tower from which you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the city; and for good reason, a few moments after taking the elevator, you can see the latter at an altitude of 100m or even 185m by taking the Euroscoop (rotating elevator). Beyond the city, on a clear day, you can even see cities located several dozen kilometers away. For those who like to have a thrill, it is possible to go down the tower (on reservation), during certain moments… by rappel!
Want to complete your experience? You can eat in one of the two restaurants in the tower; one is on the first floor, the other is higher up. Or do you want to extend your experience? It is possible to sleep in the tower by occupying one of the luxury suites, provided of course that you pay the price.

Let’s talk about little, let’s talk about price, it is necessary to foresee 11,50€ for a classic ticket for adult and 15,50€ for an adult ticket including the access to the Euroscoop. The purchase of the ticket must be done online here link; the tower is closed on Monday. To save some money, depending on what you want to do, you may want to consider buying a combination ticket One of the existing combos includes a ticket to the tower and a boat tour.

The windmills of Kinderdijk


Address: Nederwaard 1, 2961 AS Kinderdijk, The Netherlands

The mills of Kinderdijk are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For this last spot, I propose you an activity in rupture with the previous ones; and if you move away a little from Rotterdam to go in the village of Kinderdijk? This visit is an ideal opportunity to take a more leisurely walk or bike ride, but also to discover the 19 windmills (dating from the 18th century), symbols of Dutch water management. Indeed, their construction allowed to drain the water in order to keep the lowlands of the region dry.

Among these mills, 3 can be visited (16€ are required). In addition, an application is available; it will accompany you during your visit and will give you more technical and in-depth explanations about the mills.

Interested in this spot? You can get there in different ways, by bike, by car (a paying parking is available on the spot, however you can stop a bit before for a free parking) or as it was the case for me by waterbus. I took the line 20 from the station “Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam” to the station “De Schans, Ridderkerk“, from there a change is necessary, so I took a Driehoeksveer ferry from “De Schans, Ridderkerk” to “Kinderdijk, Molenkade”; it costs 4,50€ for a specific one-way ticket (either outward or return) and 10,50€ for a day ticket without limit Please note that the ticket does not include the ferry, so you will have to pay an extra 2€. As for the return, the wait was a little long but I took the bus n°489 because the boat did not pass anymore.

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen


Address: Museumpark 24, 3015 CX Rotterdam, The Netherlands

This spot is a bonus because I didn’t personally go there, but I thought it might be of interest to some; the next few lines are mostly based on research.

It is not the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum (closed until 2028 for renovation), but the museum’s depot, which opened in November 2021. The Boijmans Van Beuningen is the first museum to have opened its reserves (its storage facilities) to the general public. More than 150,000 works (including paintings, prints, photographs, films, sculptures and objects) spread over 7 floors are now accessible. Inside, the works are classified not by date but according to their climatological specificities (humidity, temperature); some areas such as the curators’ workrooms are accessible only by appointment and in small groups. 150,000 works is not nothing, and for good reason, the collection began in 1849; and 150,000 works, that takes space, to give you an idea the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum is able to exhibit “only” 8% of its collection, the rest (or rather the major part) is thus found in a storage space.

The opening of the repository was intended to respond to the problem of making “the rest” of the collection accessible to the public. An interesting initiative, especially since it seems to be the first of its kind. The experience is twofold; it is lived both inside and outside. The facade has its particularities, first of all the shape is intriguing, it is similar to a bowl or a flower pot; moreover, the latter is composed of 6 609 m² of reflective glass divided into 1 664 panels, what to reflect well the surrounding landscape and its evolution (weather, time of day).

While doing my research, I noticed some recurrences in the reviews (from Tripadvisor) but also others more contrasted. Of course, there is no question of making a generalization, but rather to share with you some points of vigilance. One of the recurring issues was the price of the ticket, you need to budget 20€ for a full price ticket. You should also plan, if you are going to visit independently, to download the dedicated application; it will give you various information about the works. Talking about the application, second recurrence, some visitors encountered some bugs while using the application and others even faced the impossibility to download the application due to incompatibility with their device; so I advise you to do a test beforehand. On the other hand, several visitors pointed out that the neon lighting would create reflections that prevented proper viewing and photography of some of the works under glass.

On a more positive note, rest assured there is something positive, for the curious and art lovers the visit can be a very enriching experience given the originality of the decor, the richness of the deposit (works and artists) or the vision offered on the conditions of storage and maintenance of works.

So what do you think?

Out of the spotlight: the tourist map


I did not take one for my stays however, depending on the length of your stay, your program, your budget and your interests, the purchase of a tourist card could be considered.

For example, the Rotterdam Welcome Card includes discounts for attractions, museums and even restaurants; some of these are featured in this article (Museum of Photography, New Institute, Sonneveld House, Chabot Museum, Kunsthal, Kinderdijk Mills, etc.). In addition, you may or may not opt for the public transportation option which includes unlimited access to the RET metro, streetcar and bus network during the card’s validity period (1, 2 or 3 days); please note that non-RET public transportation, waterbus and others are not included. You need to budget 13,50€ for a 1 day card, 19,50€ for a 2 day card, 24,50€ for a 3 day card and 6€ for the Welcome Card without public transport option.

In addition to the Rotterdam Welcome Card, there is the Rotterdam Pass; valid for 1 year, this pass includes access or discounts for various attractions and activities (Sonneveld House, New Institute, Chabot Museum, Kunsthal, Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot, Museum of Photography, etc.). However, there is no option for public transportation. For this pass, you need to spend 60€.

Sonneveld house, cubic houses, Kunsthal or photography museum, you have now what to do and you have the 10 reasons why Rotterdam is worth a visit; and we could find many more! So, are you going to Rotterdam? Maybe after your stay you will be like me, conquered by the city; the art, the architecture or the atmosphere did not leave me indifferent.

To continue the preparation of your trip, I propose you an article of 5 places to eat in Rotterdam and if you want to extend your stay to other cities of the Netherlands, I suggest you to consult my articles on the preparations and activities to do in Amsterdam.

Enjoy your stay!