Cruises To & From Rotterdam, Netherlands

Foodhallen
Address: Wilhelminakade 58, 3072 AR Rotterdam, Netherlands

For grazing and exciting street food, head for Foodhallen, a former warehouse that now houses 12 different outlets offering everything from spicy bao buns to sushi, pizza, Caribbean seafood, and Spanish tapas. The place is always buzzing with locals, and there’s a terrace for al-fresco dining. 

Fenix Food Factory
Address: Nico Koomanskade 1025

Also convenient for the cruise terminal is Fenix Food Factory, a farmers’ cooperative that incorporates a brewery and wine bar. Shop at the deli or buy snacks to go from the market kitchen, from soups and salads to cheeses, pizzas, dips, and frittatas. 

Man Met Bril Koffie
Address:  Vijverhofstraat 70 

Rotterdammers are passionate about coffee, and you’ll find cool coffee shops everywhere that serve as hubs for working, studying, or catching up with friends. True aficionados, though, should head to Man Met Bril Koffie, where there’s a roastery and all-day breakfast of healthy fruit bowls, pancakes, pastries, and variations of avo on toast, as well as the best flat white in town.

Rotterdam was founded in 1270. Thanks to its strategic position close to the North Sea, it’s grown to become Europe’s largest seaport, a position reinforced by the construction of the Nieuwe Waterweg deep water channel to the North Sea at the end of the 19th century. 

The city was badly bombed during World War II, with 1,300 bombs obliterating most of it during a single night. Rotterdam has since reinvented itself as a tech hub and center for avant-garde architecture, all-glass towers, graceful bridges, and brightly painted buildings, not to mention a lively cultural and culinary scene. The city also has an impressively diverse population and a large contingent of university students.

There are souvenir shops inside the terminal itself, but to discover the city’s impressively eclectic offerings, you need to venture further out. For fashion, antiques, and interiors, head for Oude Binnenweg and Nieuwe Binnenweg. For everything under one roof, including high-end designers, try the chic department store De Bijenkorf, in the center. The renovated railroad arches of Hofbogen are the place for vinyl and art. You’ll find art galleries and concept stores all over the city, too.

Locals get around Rotterdam using public transport or bicycle; this is an easy city to navigate. Walk along busy canals, take a boat tour, hop on a water taxi, or ride the efficient tram network. One of the best ways to get oriented in this buzzing city is to join a guided cycling tour, which stops at points of interest along the way. If you want to head out of town to Kinderdijk to see the famous windmills, take the scenic waterbus. For Delft, home of the iconic blue-and-white pottery, it’s just a 15-minute train ride.

The currency in The Netherlands is the euro. There are ATMs throughout the city if you want cash, but contactless or credit card is the accepted way to pay in Europe. The Netherlands doesn’t have a big tipping culture, but you can leave 10 percent in restaurants for good service and round up taxi fares to the nearest euro. Tour guides don’t normally expect a tip, but a few euros is always appreciated.