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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 about.
The Netherlands’ second-biggest city has spent decades struggling to shrug off a reputation as a drab, industrialised port city whose architectural gems were flattened by the Nazis.
But in recent years it has undergone a cultural resurrection and built itself up to become a trendy destination thanks to its rugged charm, relaxed atmosphere and quietly thriving foodie scene.
And now it’s even easier to get to – if London St Pancras International station is handy for you – with the new Eurostar highspeed rail service and a journey time of three hours (it’s longer on the return because immigration has to be cleared in Brussels).
Quirky
The best place to experience the toast of 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.
Housed in a gritty former shipping warehouse, there are seven talented producers here selling local products 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 produced 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 and burgers and pintxos and a bar, it’s a great place to spend a Friday night on a long weekend trip.
And there’s far more to Rotterdam than fun food – it’s also an architects’ playground waiting to be explored. The “vertical city” building of three overlapping 44storey glass towers reaching
490ft, and the iconic Erasmusbrug bridge have transformed the landscape.
Perhaps the most Instagramable are the yellow cube houses. Built in 1982-1984 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 “ShowCube” museum.
Just yards away you’ll find the newly built Markthal, a stunning modern building housing another mouthwatering foodhall with 100 fresh produce units, 15 food shops and eight restaurants.
The horseshoe shaped building, which features two walls of glass, was opened in 2014. The 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.
Thankfully, some buildings survived the Luftwaffe blitz in 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 in English, was Europe’s first high rise building when it was constructed in 1898.
Still standing today, the 10-storey Art Nouveau building is one of the few in the city centre to remain, along with the Grote of SintLaurenskerk, a gothic church from the mid-1400s. Art lovers will enjoy a trip to the Kunsthal Rotterdam museum.
There are exhibitions featuring old masters to contemporary art and from innovative design to engaging photography.
A fun exhibition on kinetic art, Action and Reaction, is showing until January 20 (kunsthal.nl/en)
Rotterdam has the added benefit of not being bogged down in 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 Hofplien, a former railway station locals rallied to save from demolition. It now holds cool cafés, shops, restaurants and music venues.
Here you’ll find live music venue The Bird, a major draw on open mic nights.
Shouldn’t you be making tracks for Rotterdam soon?