Enjoy the neighbourhood and city
Cafés in the neighbourhood
Have a drink nearby.
Ollie
43 a RodenrijselaanNice cafe nearby with good terrace and cosy living room style.
Go here if you love chocolate and sweet things :) friendly cafe
19 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Arzu
209a BergwegGo here if you love chocolate and sweet things :) friendly cafe
Open Thursday - Sunday during daytime, The cook and the gardener is a quiet biological/responsible (and not too cheap) neighbourhood cafe in a former school building which now houses artists workspaces. Nice garden.
8 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
De kok en de tuinman
14 KoningsveldestraatOpen Thursday - Sunday during daytime, The cook and the gardener is a quiet biological/responsible (and not too cheap) neighbourhood cafe in a former school building which now houses artists workspaces. Nice garden.
The Bell is a very Dutch neighbourhood cafe, fun place with usually some weird local work of art outside.
28 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Café de Bel
61-B Gerard ScholtenstraatThe Bell is a very Dutch neighbourhood cafe, fun place with usually some weird local work of art outside.
Food nearby
Eat out in the neighbourhood.
Local guy Fabian makes very good sandwiches for lunch! Try the cheese with red beet.
14 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
La Cabane de Fabian
152A BergwegLocal guy Fabian makes very good sandwiches for lunch! Try the cheese with red beet.
'The Turning Point. Where happiness is still common'. Pleasantly unfashionable, relatively cheap and friendly Dutch restaurant, don't expect high cuisine, but nice if you want to have a campy local eating out experience in the hood.
Eetcafe 't Keerpunt
64 Bergweg'The Turning Point. Where happiness is still common'. Pleasantly unfashionable, relatively cheap and friendly Dutch restaurant, don't expect high cuisine, but nice if you want to have a campy local eating out experience in the hood.
On the canal bridge, great snackbar run by a very friendly father and son since forever. The place to get kroketten, frikandellen and all the other fried Dutch snacks.
If closed, try Rodi's on Roderijselaan.
Vers Patat Het Paviljoen
2 NoorderkanaalwegOn the canal bridge, great snackbar run by a very friendly father and son since forever. The place to get kroketten, frikandellen and all the other fried Dutch snacks.
If closed, try Rodi's on Roderijselaan.
Snackbar Rodi
38A RodenrijselaanPopular snackbar
Delicatessen/traiteur, fashionable and spacious but not very cheap place for dinner.
27 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Westerkaatje Noord
60-D BenthuizerstraatDelicatessen/traiteur, fashionable and spacious but not very cheap place for dinner.
Not cheap but really the best croissants and pastries in town. Open in the mornings till 2 Wednesday-Saturday last time I checked. Around the corner of creative industrial reuse shop Scrap XL.
Le Petitjean
221 VoorburgstraatNot cheap but really the best croissants and pastries in town. Open in the mornings till 2 Wednesday-Saturday last time I checked. Around the corner of creative industrial reuse shop Scrap XL.
Interesting vegan venue as it is an old train wagon. Next to scrap xl, creative reuse store
26 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Restaurant Gare du Nord
2 AnthoniestraatInteresting vegan venue as it is an old train wagon. Next to scrap xl, creative reuse store
Local shops in the neighbourhood
If you want to unchain.
Textile hand workers space with a second-hand clothes shop: bring something in to earn points to buy something else (with a service fee added). Check opening times on google maps.
The Wasserij
54 Sint-AgathastraatTextile hand workers space with a second-hand clothes shop: bring something in to earn points to buy something else (with a service fee added). Check opening times on google maps.
Local lady selling flowers that grow nearby Rotterdam. Some of the flowers in our street come from her.
Kore
256A BergwegLocal lady selling flowers that grow nearby Rotterdam. Some of the flowers in our street come from her.
The vegetable and fruitman that has always been there and is supported by many people in the neighbourhood
Hans Verveer groente en fruit v.o.f.
205B BergwegThe vegetable and fruitman that has always been there and is supported by many people in the neighbourhood
Marco sells nice cheeses and delicatessen, I always leave with much more tasty products than I planned to.
We Say Cheese
209 VoorburgstraatMarco sells nice cheeses and delicatessen, I always leave with much more tasty products than I planned to.
If you need something for your bicycle, go here! Check the drawer cabinet, find the drawer with 'erotica' on it and ask them to show you what is in there :-D
De Kromme Spaak
211 VoorburgstraatIf you need something for your bicycle, go here! Check the drawer cabinet, find the drawer with 'erotica' on it and ask them to show you what is in there :-D
Not even listed on GMaps but there is a small flower kiosk on the Bergweg at the corner of the Schiebroekselaan located on top of and halfway in a bomb shelter! Not always open but the lady here makes really very beautiful bouquets if you ask her to.
Schiebroekselaan
SchiebroekselaanNot even listed on GMaps but there is a small flower kiosk on the Bergweg at the corner of the Schiebroekselaan located on top of and halfway in a bomb shelter! Not always open but the lady here makes really very beautiful bouquets if you ask her to.
If you are creative and like to make stuff with waste materials check this place out! And have a croissant at Le Petitjean around the corner (limited opening times).
Scrap XL
6C SchoterbosstraatIf you are creative and like to make stuff with waste materials check this place out! And have a croissant at Le Petitjean around the corner (limited opening times).
Modern Architecture in/around Rotterdam
Rem Koolhaas/OMA, Winy Maas/MRDHV, Superuse Studios, Francine Houben/Mecanoo: Rotterdam houses some famous and interesting modern architects and their buildings. I guess because it was bombed in WW2 and renovated by modernists in the fifties: there is more place for experiment here than in most other Dutch cities. And Technical University Delft with its 'Bouwkunde' ('the Art of Building') faculty where most of them have studied is nearby.
See the ship in the horizon? De Rotterdam is built by Rem Koolhaas, who says he is critical of the enormous buildings architects are asked by cities to build...
(Koolhaas lives in Amsterdam.)
There are offices here, the bar is on the seventh floor. In floor area (one of the) biggest building(s) of the Netherlands.
Don't mix this De Rotterdam up with the yacht De Rotterdam, which you can also visit.
23 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
De Rotterdam
See the ship in the horizon? De Rotterdam is built by Rem Koolhaas, who says he is critical of the enormous buildings architects are asked by cities to build...
(Koolhaas lives in Amsterdam.)
There are offices here, the bar is on the seventh floor. In floor area (one of the) biggest building(s) of the Netherlands.
Don't mix this De Rotterdam up with the yacht De Rotterdam, which you can also visit.
This former swimming pool now serves as an experimental circular city. The aloha bar is nice to have dinner, the offices are built by Superuse Studios with second hand materials including windows of the judicial court of Maastricht. Superuse architects Jan Jongert and Cesare Peeren were circular before the word existed. They live in de Gerard Scholtenstaat, not far from Lisstraat. Take a peak: it is an interesting street which they helped save from demolition.
8 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
BlueCity
100 MaasboulevardThis former swimming pool now serves as an experimental circular city. The aloha bar is nice to have dinner, the offices are built by Superuse Studios with second hand materials including windows of the judicial court of Maastricht. Superuse architects Jan Jongert and Cesare Peeren were circular before the word existed. They live in de Gerard Scholtenstaat, not far from Lisstraat. Take a peak: it is an interesting street which they helped save from demolition.
Hard to miss this building by Winy Maas who also teaches at TU Delft. The arcs look like this because it was cheaper and therefore only possible to make them like this within the budget: Winy is the pragmatic type. Appartments overlook the market. I like this function mix.
304 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Mercado del Salón
298 Dominee Jan ScharpstraatHard to miss this building by Winy Maas who also teaches at TU Delft. The arcs look like this because it was cheaper and therefore only possible to make them like this within the budget: Winy is the pragmatic type. Appartments overlook the market. I like this function mix.
Finished recently, another Winy Maas creation, apparently inspired by an IKEA bowl. A highbrow critic wrote it is the symbol of Rotterdam vanity: only busy with itself. Maybe. Everytime I pass it I like how it shows something new... I haven't been inside yet, please let me know if you have!
308 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
18 MuseumparkFinished recently, another Winy Maas creation, apparently inspired by an IKEA bowl. A highbrow critic wrote it is the symbol of Rotterdam vanity: only busy with itself. Maybe. Everytime I pass it I like how it shows something new... I haven't been inside yet, please let me know if you have!
Interesting maybe for specialists: the recent modernisation of the museum area was led by Francine Houben/Mecanoo. Other works by Mecanoo: Delft Central Station, Rijnhaven area. Mecanoo is an architecture and urban planning and mobility bureau, very active worldwide. Their office is housed in a classical canal building in Delft. I interviewed Francine Houben once about bicycle highways, she lives in Rotterdam and told me she loves to (e-)cycle to Delft (many possible routes but non of them a bicycle highway, and maybe better so).
308 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
18 MuseumparkInteresting maybe for specialists: the recent modernisation of the museum area was led by Francine Houben/Mecanoo. Other works by Mecanoo: Delft Central Station, Rijnhaven area. Mecanoo is an architecture and urban planning and mobility bureau, very active worldwide. Their office is housed in a classical canal building in Delft. I interviewed Francine Houben once about bicycle highways, she lives in Rotterdam and told me she loves to (e-)cycle to Delft (many possible routes but non of them a bicycle highway, and maybe better so).
Van Nelle (tobacco) wanted to have his factory next to the railway, not to transport tobacco but as advertisement: so people would know the brand. Now UNESCO world heritage and a venue for ART Rotterdam and other events. A guided tour is possible via city rotterdam tours.
Ps the orange low building next to it is the city prison.
17 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Van Nelle Factory
Van Nelle (tobacco) wanted to have his factory next to the railway, not to transport tobacco but as advertisement: so people would know the brand. Now UNESCO world heritage and a venue for ART Rotterdam and other events. A guided tour is possible via city rotterdam tours.
Ps the orange low building next to it is the city prison.
Architect Piet Blom wanted to bring the village life back into the city and therefore let chicken loose at one of his urban projects (not this one). There are also cube houses in Helmond.
While you are here, visit the library next door if you have the time: take the escalators up and enjoy the atmosphere. Architect: Jaap Bakema.
196 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Casas Cubo
70 OverblaakArchitect Piet Blom wanted to bring the village life back into the city and therefore let chicken loose at one of his urban projects (not this one). There are also cube houses in Helmond.
While you are here, visit the library next door if you have the time: take the escalators up and enjoy the atmosphere. Architect: Jaap Bakema.
Formerly the Dutch Architecture Institute - an archive and place with interesting exhibitions and a good very bright cafe with huge plants just opposite the Depot. The cafe is also a good place to work.
26 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Het Nieuwe Instituut
25 MuseumparkFormerly the Dutch Architecture Institute - an archive and place with interesting exhibitions and a good very bright cafe with huge plants just opposite the Depot. The cafe is also a good place to work.
With the kids
Nearby playground hidden behind houses, made out of a wind turbine by circular architects living in the neighbourhood. Fun for at least one visit. Check opening times online. https://www.kinderparadijs.net/
Kinderparadijs Meidoorn
47 MeidoornstraatNearby playground hidden behind houses, made out of a wind turbine by circular architects living in the neighbourhood. Fun for at least one visit. Check opening times online. https://www.kinderparadijs.net/
Good place to know near the central train station, this is a nice free urban playground with air hockey our kids love. There is a small second hand childrens clothes shop inside (not always open). Check opening times through google maps
Stichting Speelcentrum "Weena"
50 DiergaardesingelGood place to know near the central train station, this is a nice free urban playground with air hockey our kids love. There is a small second hand childrens clothes shop inside (not always open). Check opening times through google maps
Schouwburgplein
SchouwburgpleinOur kids can play with the fountains for hours when it's warm.
Mostly in Dutch but programming also for the very young, for example baby concerts, you could check out their website studiodebakkerij.nl
6 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Studio de Bakkerij
283 BergwegMostly in Dutch but programming also for the very young, for example baby concerts, you could check out their website studiodebakkerij.nl
Nice place to get an overview of Rotterdam, our local Madurodam! Don't expect too much, but it's fun for kids for an hour or two.
24 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Miniworld Rotterdam
745 WeenaNice place to get an overview of Rotterdam, our local Madurodam! Don't expect too much, but it's fun for kids for an hour or two.
The local swimming pool since before the war, with some 90 year olds still swimming there since the beginning. The outside pool is open when it's 20 degrees or warmer outside. Inside might be closed during summer. Check https://www.vanmaanenbad.nl/
A bit further but fun swimming pool is de Wilgenring, family swimming on sundays, check
https://www.sportbedrijfrotterdam.nl/locatie/sportcentrum-de-wilgenring#roster
12 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Van Maanenbad
8 Van MaanenstraatThe local swimming pool since before the war, with some 90 year olds still swimming there since the beginning. The outside pool is open when it's 20 degrees or warmer outside. Inside might be closed during summer. Check https://www.vanmaanenbad.nl/
A bit further but fun swimming pool is de Wilgenring, family swimming on sundays, check
https://www.sportbedrijfrotterdam.nl/locatie/sportcentrum-de-wilgenring#roster
Beaches
Enjoy the beaches, dunes and sea of South-Holland! The dunes are really wonderful for cycling, walking, running. The sea is fresh but pleasant once you are 'through'. The beaches are large and sandy and good for big walks.
Reachable by car or a pleasant bike ride from Hoek van Holland Haven (see over there). Nice more quiet beach with the best beach tent of them all: de Pit. Expect waiting times for over an hour for their pizzas on sunny days but you can sit in the sun and enjoy the beach in the meanwhile.
's-Gravenzande
Reachable by car or a pleasant bike ride from Hoek van Holland Haven (see over there). Nice more quiet beach with the best beach tent of them all: de Pit. Expect waiting times for over an hour for their pizzas on sunny days but you can sit in the sun and enjoy the beach in the meanwhile.
These woody dunes near the Hague are beautiful but how to reach them without a car? Take your bike in the train (read how and when (not) in this guidebook!) and take the train to Den Haag Laan van Nieuw Oost Indie (NOI). Then it will be a very nice ride of half an hour to Meijendel.
134 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Meijendel
MeijendelsewegThese woody dunes near the Hague are beautiful but how to reach them without a car? Take your bike in the train (read how and when (not) in this guidebook!) and take the train to Den Haag Laan van Nieuw Oost Indie (NOI). Then it will be a very nice ride of half an hour to Meijendel.
Scheveningen beach is one of the most famous and busy beaches of the Netherlands, next to the Hague and fun to explore, also for the pier with the ferris wheel, the Kurhaus and exhibition zone Beelden aan zee (scuptures at sea). Many many beach tents to eat.You can take a train from Rotterdam central station to The Hague HS (Hollands Spoor) and then take tram 1 towards Scheveningen noord (stop Beelden aan zee). Or take a (just a bit less frequent) train to The Hague CS (Central Station) and take tram 9 towards Scheveningen noord (stop Circustheater). Or you can take the metro to The Hague CS, which is slower but a bit cheaper. Use GMaps to guide you.
222 Recomendado por los habitantes de la zona
Scheveningen
HavenkadeScheveningen beach is one of the most famous and busy beaches of the Netherlands, next to the Hague and fun to explore, also for the pier with the ferris wheel, the Kurhaus and exhibition zone Beelden aan zee (scuptures at sea). Many many beach tents to eat.You can take a train from Rotterdam central station to The Hague HS (Hollands Spoor) and then take tram 1 towards Scheveningen noord (stop Beelden aan zee). Or take a (just a bit less frequent) train to The Hague CS (Central Station) and take tram 9 towards Scheveningen noord (stop Circustheater). Or you can take the metro to The Hague CS, which is slower but a bit cheaper. Use GMaps to guide you.
Art
if you want to visit something really local. Friends of ours run an art gallery in a former church on the Nootdorpstraat, about 10 minutes walking from home. If the door is open, see if Ferry is around, and just tell them that Tom suggested you to visit.
Heilige-Familiekerk
4 Nootdorpstraatif you want to visit something really local. Friends of ours run an art gallery in a former church on the Nootdorpstraat, about 10 minutes walking from home. If the door is open, see if Ferry is around, and just tell them that Tom suggested you to visit.