Top 5 things to do in Rotterdam

This monumental modern building houses Rotterdam’s most spectacular food market. You’ll find everything here, cheese, cake, Genever gin, meat, fish – stall after stall of deliciousness. And, if looking at all that food makes you hungry, there are restaurants where you can sit and eat as you watch the frenzy of consumerism going on around you.

For fabulous 360 degree views across Rotterdam, head to the top of the Euromast tower. The first level is the main viewing platform with a restaurant where you can sit and admire the views over breakfast, lunch or dinner, or even stay the night in one of the two luxury hotel suites.

If you’re a sucker for baby animals, this is the time to visit Rotterdam zoo to see the three rare Asiatic lion cubs, born in August 2018. All three are girls and they're called Asha, Reena and Mette.

There is no shortage of museums and galleries to visit in Rotterdam, in fact there’s an entire district called Museumkwartier, so you can even try pack them all into one day.

The Kunsthal is worth a visit for the building alone, designed by Rem Koolhaas in the late 1980s, it’s an iconic example of modern Dutch architecture. At first view it is a very simple, apparently transparent, square box but, as you explore the space, the complexity of the design becomes more obvious.

Most of the old city of Rotterdam was destroyed during the war, the little that’s left is around the old harbour of Delftshaven. Full of quirky old buildings, houseboats, windmills and all things Dutch, Delftshaven is an oasis of calm in the high octane, ultra-modernity of Rotterdam.