Travel2rotterdam

Traveling to Rotterdam and looking for special places?

We're collecting interesting info on traveling to Rotterdam here - feel free to add your own recommendations!

Places to sleep

Central Station/City Center area

AirBnB: nice cosy room for two-three people at 10 minutes from Central Station [1]

AirBnB: lots of appartments for rent in the Calypso building (where mc.fly and cookingroffa live) like this one [2] or this one with jacuzzi [3] most of them have a balcony and a nice view.

Hostel: Sparks hostel nice, modern, light hostel close to Central Station and across the street from mc.fly and cookingroffa.

Hackerspace Pixelbar area

For legal reasons concerning the building Pixelbar is in nobody is allowed to sleep in the hackerspace.

There are some nice options in the area however.

Culture Campsite on AirBnB sleep in an original architectural or artistic object. 20 minutes walk from Pixelbar. Easy to reach from Central Station with tram 8. More info on their own website Culture Campsite.

Several AirBnB´s - Pixelbar is close to Metro and Tram station Marconiplein

Food and drinks

Many styles of food to be found in Rotterdam. A small selection can be found here. If you are looking for anything specific you can always ask mc.fly or cookingroffa.

Local fast food

Bram Ladage - everything fried. Try the kroket! There is one at 5 minutes walking from Central Station, at Kruisplein 155 [4]

El Avivia [5] - eat the famous Kapsalon [6] where it was invented

Jaffa [7] eat the famous Kapsalon at one of the best places to eat it

Vegan fast food, 1 minute from Central Station Jack Bean

Indian food

Tandoor 16 Indian cuisine with a twist. Cocktails and German beer. Casual and a bit, dare I say it, hipsterish. Close to city center.

Indonesian food

Because of, well, 'historic reasons' The Netherlands is one of the best places in the world to find true Indonesian food outside of Indonesia. Rotterdam has quite some Indonesian restaurants. The ones listed here are a recommended selection.

Warung Mini, on the Witte de Withstraat, famous for good late night food, open until midnight everyday and until 6 in the morning on Friday and Saturday.

Minang Kabau in a traditional Indonesian building, in a city park with view over a pond and the skyline.

Dewi Sri, this is more fine dining, city center

Small Asia, casual place with Asian style food, mostly Indonesian, city center

Sari Koering, close to city center

Chinese food

Asian Glories, more fine dining, city center

Tai Wu, traditional Chinese food, dim sum, city center

Hung Kee, on de Witte de Withstraat 61B, famous for good very late night food. Open until 4:30/5:30AM on weeknights, until 6:30AM on Friday an Saturday.

Japanese food

The best Japanese restaurant in the city - by far - is Yama be sure to make reservations long before.

Food related events

Food related events

Hackerspace

The Rotterdam hackerspace is called Pixelbar and has social night on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Pixelbar is close to Metro and Tram station Marconiplein, which is around 15-20 minutes from Rotterdam Central Station by Public Transport.

For legal reasons concerning the building Pixelbar is in nobody is allowed to sleep in the hackerspace.

Sightseeing in and around Rotterdam

Santa Claus, or as the locals lovingly call him: kabouter Buttplug. Go see for yourself here

A complete map of art in public space in Rotterdam can be found here

Cinema

We mostly do this thing called subtitles in The Netherlands, so that means quite some screenings are also interesting for non-Dutch speakers.

There is a big yearly art house film festival in Rotterdam that is worth visiting, the International Film Festival Rotterdam

The nicest cinema in the city is Kino. Here you can take your fancy cocktail (or your beer or soda) with you into the cosy screening rooms and watch the better choice of movies. From time to time they do [special events https://kinorotterdam.nl/film/?selectie=specials], like screening a series of old Pixar movies. In sommer they offer a selection of nice snacks, in the winter months they run a pretty good restaurant as well. City center.

Another nice cinema is Cinerama. It has a very charming seventies look and feel. City center.

On the south side of the river you find cinema and theater Lantaren/Venster. Here you find arthouse films and concerts in a nice and light modern building. They also have a restaurant.

There are also two Pathé cinema's in the city, one in the city center and one on the south side of the city.

Shops

You can't cross a street in Rotterdam without seeing a Susan Bijl shopping bag. They are stylish, foldable and available in many color combinations. For special events they often make special editions. Meanwhile they also sell foldable bagpacks in the same design. City center.

At Pettr they have an extensive soap collection. Some locally made, others imported, all beautiful and nice. Their tiny lovely shop is only open on Wednesdays but they do mailorder as well. Highly recommended. Close to city center.

Of course I have to mention cookingroffa's bakery here, Das Brot. Open from Wednesday to Saturday, check the website for more info. Close to city center (and kabouter Buttplug)

Travel in and to Rotterdam

Public transport in general

When travelling by public transport in The Netherlands, we recommend a public transport (OV) chip card. It can be purchased i.a. at stations, at counters of operators, in newsagents and in supermarkets. Alternatively you can buy single tickets at the station or on the bus. Another option is the Tranzer app. With this app, you can buy tickets for all the train companies, the Connexxion buses and the RET. Your ticket will appear in your app after purchase and it allows you to travel immediately, using your phone. Checking in and out and a chip card is not required. Various taxi services, such as Uber, can also be ordered with Tranzer.

By train to Rotterdam

One of the fastest and easiest ways to get to Rotterdam is to travel by train. Intercity trains hailing from every corner of the Netherlands make a stop at Rotterdam Central Station, including the high-speed train. The fastest connection between Amsterdam, Schiphol, Rotterdam and Breda is the NS Intercity Direct. It runs twice per hour. When travelling between Schiphol and Rotterdam, you will have to pay an Intercity Direct surcharge.

When travelling from France and Belgium, you should take the Thalys (it runs ten times per day). When travelling from the United Kingdom, you will arrive direct by Eurostar.

Approximate travel times from various cities, domestic and abroad:

Departure point	Travel time	Train type
Amsterdam	40'	Intercity Direct
Schiphol	25'	Intercity Direct
Breda	25'	Intercity Direct
Antwerp	32'	Thalys
Brussels	1 h 10'	Thalys
Düsseldorf	2 h 26'
Paris	2 h 40'	Thalys
London	3 h 01'	Eurostar
Hannover	4 h 45'
Cologne	5 h 17'
Frankfurt	6 h 25'
Hamburg	7 h 27'

Rotterdam Central Station is in the heart of the city and has had a total makeover in recent years, making the station one of the most iconic architectural features in Rotterdam.