Rotterdam
“Erasmus & architecture at the largest Port of Europe”
Welcome to the second largest city of The Netherlands. Let’s guide you through Rotterdam, at the Maas. This is the city of Erasmus & architecture at the largest Port of Europe. Read this post to find out why Rotterdam is a must see city in South-Holland.
Information
Country
The Netherlands
Type of location
City
Province/District
South-Holland
Province/District capital
Den Haag (The Hague)
Regional part
Holland
Country capital distance
80 km
Nickname
Rotjeknor
Website
Erasmus, architecture and largest Port of Europe
In Rotterdam, you can discover a lot of modern, special architectural buildings near the river Maas. If you want to make your name as an architect, than Rotterdam is the place to be. But of course, Rotterdam is not only architecture. In Rotterdam, they also claim that the great humanist Erasmus is one of them. Finally, Rotterdam has the largest sea port of Europe, and that is a certainty.
“Manhattan at the Maas”
When you arrive in Rotterdam and you walk through the city, you see it immediately: high buildings and skyscrapers. A lot of these buildings have special, modern and unique forms and building styles. Some monuments that define the skyline are the Erasmus Bridge, Euromast, the central library, the cubic houses and the pencil, De Hef and the Market Hall. Together with the large sea port and history of the transatlantic sea route, Rotterdam is also called the “Manhattan at the Maas”. Below you read more about the reason of how these buildings arose in the city.
“Bombed to the ground in 1940”
At the begin of World War II, the historical heart of the city was completely bombed down in almost 15 minutes by the Nazi’s. Now Rotterdam was occupied by the Nazi’s. A lot of rubble had to be removed. Some waterways were filled with all this rubble. After the war, the city had to rebuilt. So, a lot of architects were needed to do this. This was the start of the new city. The new Rotterdam was born. The statue “De Verwoeste Stad” reminds on this history.
“The claim of Erasmus”
Perhaps, you already heard of the great humanist, writer, theologian and philosopher Desiderius Erasmus. It is assumed that he was born in Rotterdam. But also in Gauda, a little bit further, they claim that Erasmus could be born in their city. Also, about his year of birth are discussions. Is it 1466, 1467 or 1469? A certainty is that he was born on 28 October. His father was a Catholic priest. This is probably one of the reasons of the uncertainty of Erasmus’ exact year and place of birth. Because, a Catholic priest is not allowed to father children, certainly not in that time. So, let us assume that Erasmus is from Rotterdam. But for Erasmus himself it was never a problem. Because, one of his slogans was:
“Quaevis terra patria”
In English: “The whole world is my home”.
A nice slogan, which also fits with the spirit of Let’s Guide You.
Location keywords:
Erasmus, South-Holland, Skyscrapers, Maas, Sea Port
Buy your tickets online
Do you wanna visit a some interesting monuments? Did you know that you can skip the line? Nice, isn’t it? It is easy to buy your entrance tickets online on Tiqets.com. So, you don’t have the wait in long line to enter the monument.
Save the date
Film Festival
End of January
At the end of January, the International Film Festival of Rotterdam takes place. It is the largest film festival in The Netherlands. It also is marked by the many festivities in the evening.
The festival is hold on many locations in the city, with the most of them near the Central station.
Marathon
Half of April
The largest 1-day event of The Netherlands, that is the Marathon of Rotterdam. With more than 900.000 participants it is a very famous run. Also, the World Record has already been broken 2 times on this marathon.
The start and finish of this marathon are on the Coolsingel, near the city hall.
Rotterdam Unlimited
July
Rotterdam Unlimited is the combination of 2 summer festivals. Since 2013, the Summer Carnival and Dunya Festival came together in 1 new summer festival. This festival takes place in July in the center of the city on many different locations.
The Summer Carnival is a variant of the Latino Carnival and takes 3 days, spread over 2 weekends. It was for the first time organized in the 80’s. In the 70’s, you had the Dunya Festival for the first time. This was a festival with street actors, world music and storytellers. As told, now these festivals are blended together into 1 huge summer city festival.
VKV City Racing
Begin of August
Do you like fast cars of the highest level? Do you like Formule-1? Well, in that case this is an ideal event for you. In August, you get a huge demonstration of Formule-1 cars in the city of Rotterdam. The pilots drive over the Coolsingel, Blaak and the Willems Bridge. This is no race, but a demonstration of the racing cars. The event took place in 2005 for the first time and is also known as “Monaco at the Maas”.
World Port Days
September
Rotterdam has the largest sea port of Europe. So, there has to be an event to celebrate the port. The World Port Days is a 3 days event in September and attracts every year around 500.000 people.
This is the ideal moment to take a look into the port of Rotterdam. You can visit a lot of ships and demonstrations near the Nieuwe Maas, the New Maas.
6 Days of Track Cycling
December
Again a huge sport event in Rotterdam. In December, you have to go to the Ahoy for the 6-Days of Rotterdam Track Cycling. The event hall of Rotterdam transforms for 6 days in a huge cycling event with a lot of joy. If you love cycling and a lot of atmosphere, than this is the place to be. Find out more on their website.
Book your stay now
Find your perfect stay in Barcelona and enjoy this lovely city by yourself.
How to reach
By car
Because Rotterdam is one of the largest cities in The Netherlands, a lot of highways pass this city. So, it is very easy to reach Rotterdam by car. In the center of the city are a lot of parking places to leave your car. But, there also are many P+R parkings around the city. Here you can park your car for a cheap price or for free. Public transport brings you in an easy way to the heart of Rotterdam.
By bus, tram, metro, water taxi
Rotterdam has a very good bus, tram and metro network. RET is the company who transports you in and around Rotterdam. If you don’t wanna walk to the other place in the city, than RET is there for you. In Rotterdam, also a must do is taking the watertaxi. On many places you can go on board. These taxi’s bring you over the river to almost every place in the city.
By train
Rotterdam Central is the main train station in the city. This is a central place for public transport in the city. With the NS, it is possible to reach this station from many places in The Netherlands. Also an international train from Belgium brings you from Brussels and Antwerp to Rotterdam.
By airplane
Rotterdam has his own airport. But the international airport of Amsterdam, Schiphol, also is not far away. A train brings you from Schiphol to Rotterdam Central station. There also is a connection to the airport of Brussels, Belgium, with the international train.
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