Rotterdam is a city in the province of South Holland in the west of the Netherlands. The city is the second largest in the country with a population of approximately 650,000 inhabitants in the municipality (2020) and about 2.2 million inhabitants in the shared metropolitan area of the Rotterdam-The Hague Metropolitan Region (MRDH).
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Settlement at the lower end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900. Around 1150, large floods in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective dikes and dams. A dam on the Rotte or 'Rotterdam' was built in the 1260s and was at the present-day Hoogstraat ('High Street'). Although Rotterdam did well after the Middle Ages and in the 'Golden Century' - roughly between 1650 and 1750 - it was not before the second part of the nineteenth century that the city started to develop itself rapidly.
RET operates the buses, trams, and metro within the city. You could find a journey planner and some network maps there. Alternatively you'd use the pan-Netherlands journey planner – 9292.nl. Transport generally arrives every 10 minutes during the day. Free Wi-Fi is available in some trams, buses and metro lines, and on the busier metro stations, you just need to accept the terms of use. You can use your contactless bank card to pay for any public transport that also accepts the OV-chipkaart. This system is called OV-Pay and is the most convenient way to travel. Debit and credit cards from Maestro, V PAY, Mastercard and Visa are supported.
Rotterdam has national notoriety for its architecture, and the city therefore is dotted with landmarks of all sorts. Most of them you will find in the city centre, but Feijenoord is also quite dense with them. Rotterdam is known for some bridges, not in the last place the Erasmusbrug, spanning the Nieuwe Maas between the city centre and Feijenoord. Also of historical importance is the former railway lifting bridge De Hef, slightly upstream from the Erasmusbrug. Historical landmarks are somewhat rare to come across in Rotterdam's city centre, but the city itself isn't completely devoid of them.
Upcoming events and performances are listed on the VVV and Use-it websites. The larger events are well documented on the VVV site, for smaller venues check Use-it (under Calendar) for a very attractive and well updated listing of music, expositions, movies and parties that need checking out. The Uitburo office inside the Central Library provides information on theatre and music performances. It also sells tickets and offers an overview of performances that can be visited for free (gratis). Rotterdam plays host to a lot of events, a lot of them yearly ones.
The area around metrostation Blaak, called Oude haven (Old Harbour), is not only worth seeing but has also a lot of pubs and restaurants. The Rotterdam dining scene is developing very fast with new restaurants opening very often. While most of the attention focusses on new Michelin-star aspiring places, there is very much a trend towards high quality mid-range restaurants offering French/Dutch cuisine. It is difficult to find restaurants serving late night (after 22:00) food, even on Friday or Saturday night.
Centrum has a wide variety of bars, coffee shops and music venues. The Kaapse Brouwers brewery has four locations around the city. Each location has a whole wall of taps to choose from. They are popular place so waiting lines can be long.
You should take normal precautions against pickpockets and baggage theft, especially in the main shopping streets, at markets, in trams and trains, at stations, and anywhere where tourists congregate. It is not wise to hang around Stadhuisplein when nightlife ends. Fights often occur in this area after midnight. Rotterdam also has a reputation of mass venues getting out of hand, though you shouldn't worry too much about it. If violence breaks out at football festivities (not so unlikely) or at the end of sun soaked festive days, like Kings Day (even less unlikely, especially at the Stadhuisplein), just get out of the way and you're unlikely to be affected.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
Top-rated tours and tickets from €55 — book ahead for the popular ones.
Tours and tickets provided by Viator (a Tripadvisor company). Some links earn Stayonomy a commission.
In Jul, Rotterdam typically sees ~23°C daytime highs and 17 rainy days.
Cheapest destinations travellers searched recently — refreshed daily.
Flight prices are real fares travellers found in the last 48 hours, refreshed daily — the booking site confirms the final price. Train, bus and ferry fares are shown on the operators' booking sites. Weather data by Open-Meteo; exchange rates: ECB reference. Data updated 2026-07-23. Some links earn Stayonomy a commission at no cost to you.
stayonomy