Rotterdam, the Netherlands
15-19 April 2019
Rotterdam - The young, dynamic global City, continuously renewing itself at a rapid rate. Sparkling skyscrapers, an impressive port, super-cool restaurants and food markets, renowned museums and awesome festivals... It's the bike friendly City that has it all!
Full of energy and innovation, Rotterdam reinvented itself after the bombing of the Second World War. It broke with the past and chose modern architecture. The motto:
light, air and space, was ground breaking for that time. Rotterdam still embraces experimentation: almost anything is possible. We loved our first visit to Rotterdam. So much to see and do! Three days is the perfect amount of time to explore, we felt that we had really connected.
Our trip went a little like this:
Sunday 14th - We travel up late afternoon to Waterloo and stay at Southwark Travelodge.
Monday 15th - Early train to Gatwick to catch our 11:30 flight to Schipol, Amsterdam. Great trip, only 45 mins., then 25 mins. train to Rotterdam. We take the tram down to our hotel and are settled in by 4pm. The
‘nhow Rotterdam’ is iconic and certainly stands out on the fashionable south bank of the harbour. We are soon off out to explore. Our walk takes us north-west from our hotel towards the beautiful canals and streets of the Delfshaven district, past the iconic Euro Mast, we discover beautiful green spaces and pretty views. We soak up the atmosphere before hopping on a tram back towards the centre to enjoy a drink, the locals are very friendly and share hints and tips. We walk around the cool Witte de With straat… lots of great bars and places to eat outside. We enjoy food at an Italian just off the main stretch.
Gusto is lovely. We walk back to our hotel and grab a nightcap on the terrace of the famous Skybar.
Tuesday 15th - A sunny morning! Woken up by the window cleaners! We enjoy our buffet breakfast before heading out to explore. First up, the
Kunsthall in the Museum Park. Great collection, we also relax with a coffee in the sunshine. We then walk up to the train station to make our way to Leiden, where we catch a bus to the
Keukenhof. The sun is still out as we enjoy 2 hours soaking up the atmosphere, the colour, the eye popping displays and the heady scent from the millions of hyacinths. We join the Q for the bus back to Leiden and are lucky to board the first to arrive at the stand. We recharge on the train to Rotterdam and pick up some snacks from the local supermarket. We enjoy a buffet dinner while enjoying the City views from our 17th floor room. Spotify serves up some great local music too - discoveries include the chilled electro pop of
HAEVN and Suzan & Freek.
Happy days.
Wednesday 16th - A little cloudier today, but still warm enough to walk around and enjoy the City. We walk around the pier where our hotel stands before heading to the East of the City. We cross the river and head towards the architectural rich area of the harbour City. We see the first ‘sky scraper’ in Europe, the 10 story
'White House' is still impressive. Close by are the super crazy
Cube Houses, they are incredibly eye catching. We then head West towards Witte de With straat. Before heading to the fantastic
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, we enjoy a coffee and a leg rest at the
King Kong coffee shop. The art on show at the Gallery is very moving and beautifully staged. An afternoon power-nap is required, we head back to our City pad to recharge. In the evening we once again head east towards the Cube Houses to enjoy a beer next to the water, then a glass and Tapas in the mega-cool
Market Hall before heading to a new Dutch restaurant just off Witte de With straat. The
Dertien is fab and cooks with seasonal, local ingredients. A lovely way to round off a fabulous day in Rotterdam.
Thursday 17th - The sun is back, big time! Today is all about the Hague and the coast. Breakfast is early to allow for a plump day. We are soon on a train to The Hague, just 20 mins out of Rotterdam, this is the seat of the Government for the Netherlands. First up, the
Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery. This lovely, smaller Museum, is a treasure trove of painting from the Golden Age. The small rooms that house the paintings are busy with tour groups - but, we do manage to enjoy the beautiful art.
‘The Girl with a pearl earring’ and the exquisite
‘View of Delft’ town scape by
Vermeer are a real highlight! Our ticket also includes entry to
Galerij Prins Willem V, built in 1774, this is the first public gallery of the Netherlands and houses 150+ beautiful paintings. We take time out for coffee and cake in the sunshine before heading to
‘Escher in the Palace’. This grand Palace was once home to the Royal Family - it now houses a fascinating collection of original prints and craft tools of the graphic artist,
M C Escher. We enjoy the beautiful works on show, and before we realise, an hour has passed. The sun is still blazing, so, we agree that a trip to the coast is the only way to stay cool. A short tram ride north-west from the Hague is the seaside resort of
Scheveningen. This popular destination reminds us of English seaside resorts, and is clearly a favourite with the locals and visitors from further afield. We walk north from the main resort and relax at
Beach Club WoW, just one of the many beach bars that line the strip. Time to pop back to The Hague via the tram before boarding our train to Rotterdam. It’s Pizza Thursday, so - once back at our hotel we head to The New York Hotel for a beer in the sun before grabbing a tack-out from the local
Happy Italy Pizza restaurant.
Friday 18th - Sunny and hot again… today we head home. Pack, breakfast then a quick walk and tram ride up to the Central Station and we are on our way to Schipol Airport. Our flight takes off on time and we arrive at Gatwick early pm, in time to get the train down to Southampton. And
10 out of 10
