Rotterdam
Where do
locals go.
Restaurants, bars, parks and hidden corners that people who live here actually use.
Not the top ten.
Nobody who lives here has ever been asked for a top ten. They get asked where to go on a Tuesday, where it is quiet, where the good one is.
A city at a time.
Every city is its own guide: its own list, its own map, its own routes. Amsterdam we walked ourselves. Where we have not been yet, the page says so.
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Rotterdam has just started. The places here were found through research and haven't been checked by us yet. Know this city better than a search engine does? Send us what's missing.
24 places in Rotterdam
DakAkker
Centrum
A farm on the roof of an old office building, in the middle of the city.
Kralingse Plas
Kralingen
A large pool at the edge of the forest where the city flocks in the summer.
Toffler
Stadsdriehoek
A club in an old pedestrian tunnel under the Weena.
Fenix Food Factory
Katendrecht
An old fruit warehouse in Katendrecht where about ten makers stand side by side: a butcher, a cheesemonger, a baker, a brewery.
Rotown
Cool
Café, restaurant, and venue all in one, and for years the place where bands play that will be too big for the venue next year.
Historisch Delfshaven
Delfshaven
The part of Rotterdam that survived the bombing: an old harbor with leaning buildings, a windmill, and boats that are actually there.
WORM
Cool
A stage for everything that is too weird for the rest: experimental music, film on real tapes, a private studio.
Euromast
Scheepvaartkwartier
The tower from 1960 from which you can see the city, the harbor, and on a clear day, The Hague.
Hotel New York
Kop van Zuid
The old headquarters of the Holland America Line, where people left who never returned.
Hopper Coffee
Cool
A roastery with a few locations throughout the city that has pretty much set the standard in Rotterdam for how coffee is supposed to taste.
Markthal
Stadsdriehoek
The hall with the painted vault that everyone takes a photo of, but under that ceiling there really are stalls where the neighborhood buys groceries.
Rotterdamse Oogst Markt
Oude Noorden
A farmers' market on the Noordplein with regional products, bread, and cheese, every Saturday.
BIRD
Agniesebuurt
A club and restaurant under the Hofbogen viaduct, featuring jazz, soul, and everything that has emerged from it.
Het Park
Scheepvaartkwartier
The oldest park in the city, laid out in the English landscape style, with the Euromast in it and the Meuse behind it.
Café de Witte Aap
Cool
A traditional pub in the middle of Rotterdam's busiest nightlife street that doesn't care about any of that.
Donner
Stadsdriehoek
The bookstore of Rotterdam, with floors full and staff who can really direct you to something other than what you came to get.
Bokaal
Stadsdriehoek
A corner café on the Nieuwemarkt with a terrace that is in the sun all afternoon.
Man met Bril Koffie
Oude Noorden
A roastery under the old railway viaduct in North, where making coffee is more important than the decor.
Groos
Stadsdriehoek
A shop that sells only things made in Rotterdam: clothing, prints, books, tableware.
Vroesenpark
Blijdorp
Blijdorp Park, with wide lawns and a pavilion in the middle.
De Ballentent
Scheepvaartkwartier
A diner on the Parkkade where boats sail by and the meatball is the dish people come for.
Bazar
Cool
An old bank building that is completely covered in Turkish, Persian, and North African drawings on the inside, with a breakfast that half the street sees in the morning.
Kaapse Brouwers
Katendrecht
The brewery in the Fenix warehouse, with a tap so long that you have to stand in front of it for a moment.
LantarenVenster
Wilhelminapier
Film house and jazz venue under the skyscrapers on the Kop van Zuid.
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