Rotterdam’s hot life on Maas
The city’s now a quirky gem of cool art and gourmet grub, says
HEY YOU, hiding in the shadows behind Amsterdam! Yes, Rotterdam, I’m talking about you. You can come out now, you’ve nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, you have rather a lot to be proud of.
The Netherlands’ second largest city has spent decades struggling to shrug off a reputation as a dingy, industrialised port whose architectural gems were flattened in the Second World War.
Yet is has undergone a cultural resurrection in recent years and built itself up to become a trendy destination thanks to its rugged charm, relaxed atmosphere and quietly thriving foodie scene.
Now it’s even easier to get to – if London’s St Pancras International station is handy for you – with the new Eurostar high-speed rail service and a journey time of three hours (it’s longer on the return because immigration has to be cleared in Brussels).
The best place to experience Rotterdam’s produce is to head to one of the quirky food markets.
I started at the Fenix Food Factory, home to an array of vendors looking to make their mark on the city’s food scene.
Housed in a gritty former shipping warehouse, there are seven talented producers here selling local fare from the Kaapse Brouwers brewery, Booij Kaasmakers cheese, the Firma Bijten butchers, Jordy’s Bakery, CiderCider, Stielman coffee roasters and Rechtstreex, a local farmer.
Kaapse Brouwers brewery offer a stellar selection of beers and ales lovingly brewed on site.
The factory faces the River Maas and benches on the adjacent quay offer the best views of the Rotterdam skyline, making it the perfect place for a relaxing drink.
If that’s not enough gourmet fun, just a 10-minute walk away is Foodhallen, the city’s newest food market in the basement of the Pakhuis Meesteren warehouse. Boasting 15 stands, from local restaurants with pizza to Vietnamese street food, burgers, pintxos and a bar, it’s a great place to spend a Friday night on a long weekend trip.
However, there’s much more to Rotterdam than food – it’s also an architects’ playground just waiting to be explored.
The impressive “vertical city” building – three overlapping 44-storey glass towers reaching a height of 490ft and the iconic Erasmusbrug bridge have transformed the landscape.
Perhaps the most Instagrammable are the yellow cube houses. Built in the Eighties and designed by award-winning Dutch architect Piet Blom, the 40 small yellow dwellings, shaped like tilted cubes, are built on concrete pillars to mimic trees. Visitors can see inside these fascinating houses by visiting the Kijk-Kubus or “Show-Cube” museum.
Just yards away you’ll find the newly built Markthal, a stunning modern building housing another mouthwatering food hall with 100 fresh produce units, 15 food shops and eight restaurants.
The impressive horseshoeshaped building, which features two walls of glass, was opened in 2014. The vast interior is decorated with the country’s largest artwork Hoorn des Overvloeds (Horn of Plenty) which covers 4,000 tiles and was produced using software from Pixar. It is well worth a visit to see its vibrant colours in person.
LUCKILY, some buildings survived the Luftwaffe blitz of May 1940. The renowned Hotel New York is in a 1901 building on the banks of the River Maas that once housed the Holland America shipping line head office and was the spot where thousands began their journey across the Atlantic for a new life in North America.
The Witte Huis, or White House, was Europe’s first high-rise building when it was built in 1898. The 10-storey Art Nouveau building is one of the few in the city centre to remain, along with the Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk, a Gothic church from the mid 1400s.
Art lovers will enjoy a trip to Kunsthal Rotterdam, a museum housed in a striking building. There’s much to see and a fun exhibition on kinetic art called Action And Reaction is showing until January 20 (kunsthal.nl/en).
Rotterdam has the benefit of not having the crowds you find in Amsterdam and it’s easy to explore on foot.
Head to De Hofbogen, a hip area popular with locals. It’s home to Hofplein, a former rail station that now houses cool cafes, shops, and restaurants. Here you will find live music venue The Bird.
Shouldn’t you be making tracks for exciting Rotterdam soon?