Rotterdam

History:

Settlement at the lower end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900. Around 1150, large floods in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective dikes and dams. A dam on the Rotte or 'Rotterdam' was built in the 1260s and was at the present-day Hoogstraat ('High Street').

Although Rotterdam did well after the Middle Ages and in the 'Golden Century' - roughly between 1650 and 1750 - it was not before the second part of the nineteenth century that the city started to develop itself rapidly. Helped by the digging of a new seaway (the Nieuwe Waterweg) Rotterdam was rid of access problems caused by the silting of the river and started receiving ever bigger ships with cargo for/from the booming Ruhrgebiet in Germany. Port related trade and industry skyrocketed, and the city started to draw lots of migrants from the then poor Brabant province, for whom the southern part of the city was constructed. At the turn of the twentieth century Rotterdam was well under way to become the largest economic centre in the Netherlands. It was between then and the second world war that large prestigious construction works were undertaken, in part to show off the new found economic pride.

By plane:

1 Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM IATA). It is the 3rd largest airport in the country. It is 6 km north of the city centre. There are direct flights from cities in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Commercial airlines that operate to the airport include Transavia, Lufthansa, British Airways, and Turkish Airlines. (updated Jun 2016)

Services:

VVV Rotterdam-The Hague Airport information point, Rotterdam Airportplein 60 (at the arrivals hall). 07:30-23:45. Come here if you have questions about Rotterdam. The place to hear history. The gift shop is open 09:30-18:00. (updated Oct 2021)

How to reach:

To plan a trip (for all public transport in the Netherlands) see 9292.nl

Depending on the amount of travel with public transit in The Netherlands it is possible to buy a so called OV-Chipkaart or it may be more convemient to pay with a contactless credit or debit card by touching in & touching out on each trip. see for more information under Get Around.

By bus/metro

Bus 33. Connects the airport with Meijersplein/Airport metro station, from where you can take metro line E to Slinge (for Rotterdam Centraal and Rotterdam city center).See for more information the By Metro section under Get Around. Bus 33 also connects to Rotterdam Centraal station via the Overschie district. (updated Jun 2024)

Bus 300. 15 July - 20 September: Fri-Mon only. Direct service to Rotterdam Centraal. No stops in between. (updated Jun 2024)

By taxi

See #Get around.

Other close airports:

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS IATA) is 58 km north of Rotterdam and has much more flights than the Rotterdam airport. NS (Dutch Railways) operates Intercity Direct high-speed rail service, every 30 minutes to Rotterdam. The journey takes 27 minutes. You have to pay an addition for the journey from Schiphol to Rotterdam, so regular intercities in direction Rotterdam Centraal and Rotterdam Blaak are cheaper (but slower) (these intercities also call at Schiphol).