As I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, taking the Eurostar train from London into Europe is the best way to travel. It’s low stress, easy and you can take lots of delicious snacks (including wine!). It can sometimes be a bit pricey, but if you book in advance then prices are pretty good. Plus once you add up costs of getting to and from the airport, it actually doesn’t break the bank. We have a friend from Breda so we decided to head there to visit her, via a brief stop in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is an interesting place to visit, it was almost completely decimated by bombing in WWII and had to be rebuilt. The consequence has been an innovative and modern city. We stayed on the famous Witte de Withstraat at a place called Hotel Bazar, which I highly recommend – great service, good rooms and fabulous breakfast. If you are only visiting Rotterdam briefly then staying on Witte de Withstraat is where you want to be. It is full of cafes, restaurants and bars. We had a good time at De Witte Aap (The White Ape), where I discovered my favourite beer – Cornet (its actually a Belgian one).
There are a couple of great areas to check out on foot. The first is the Delfshaven area. This is the only district in Rotterdam that was not destroyed by the bombing in WWII, and it is a lovely place to stroll through. Here you can see the Old Church where pilgrims held their last service before sailing for the New World across the Atlantic. The history of the place is really mesmerizing. Near Delfshaven is also Het Park, which is a nice spot for a picnic or a short walk.
The next area to explore is a walk from the Erasmusbrug (Erasmus Bridge) to the Markthal (Market Hall). Erasmusbrug is a pretty spectacular bridge and the nearly war memorial is an interesting sculpture to admire. From here you walk to the Oudehaven (Old Harbour) for a bit of history and the nearby Witte Huis. The Witte Huis is a lovely building to look at, and was the first high-rise building in Europe. It is also one of the only buildings to survive the Blitzkrieg in WWII in central Rotterdam, which makes it an even more spectacular building to see.
From the Witte Huis it is a short stroll to The Cube House (Kijk-Kubus), which was probably our favourite place to visit in Rotterdam. It is a completely bizarre place to wander around, it was designed by Piet Blom and the cubes that it is formed from are tilted at a 45 degree angle. Across the square you then get a good view of the Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk, which is considered to be one of the only medieval buildings left standing in all of Rotterdam. It was built between 1149 and 1525, and provides the perfect juxtaposition to the nearby Markthal. The Markthal is where you want to finish up when you are hungry. Its the perfect lunch spot with lots to choose from and plenty of stalls selling everything from cheese to stroopwafels (Andrew’s favourite!).
Overall our brief time in Rotterdam was wonderful. We really enjoyed this modern city that has literally risen from the ashes. Cost wise, it is much cheaper than the more famous Amsterdam.
Here is a breakdown of our costs for 2 people for 1 day:
