Things to do in Rotterdam

Food · Blaak, Centrum

A horseshoe of flats arched over a food hall, its inner surface covered by an 11,000 square metre painted ceiling.

Local tip: The hall itself is priced for visitors. The actual shopping is outside on Binnenrotte on Tuesdays and Saturdays — the largest open-air market in the city, and a fraction of the price for the same produce.

Landmark · Wilhelminapier

The white asymmetric bridge locals call the Swan, and the tower cluster on the south bank behind it.

Local tip: Hotel New York at the end of the pier was the Holland America Line headquarters, and roughly a million Europeans left for North America from that quay. The water taxi across from Veerhaven is faster than the metro and costs a few euros.

Neighborhood · Rotterdam-Zuid

A former docks peninsula and Chinatown, now the city's most concentrated eating and drinking strip.

Local tip: Deliplein is the centre of gravity and Fenix Food Factory the weekend anchor. The Fenix migration museum in the old warehouse next door is the best single explanation of why this city looks and sounds the way it does.

Nightlife · Cool, Centrum

One street of bars and galleries running into the park that holds Boijmans, Kunsthal and the Depot.

Local tip: The Depot is a mirrored bowl holding the museum's entire collection in open storage — you walk through the racking rather than a curated show, which no other major museum lets you do. Book a slot; walk-ups are often full.

Nature · Kralingen

A large lake and woodland ten minutes from the centre, with two eighteenth-century snuff windmills on the shore.

Local tip: The north shore has the swimming and the sailing club; the south side is quieter and has the running loop. The Plas is dug-out peat, which is why it appeared so conveniently close to the city.

Culture · Spaanse Polder, Overschie

A 1931 glass-and-steel tobacco and coffee factory, UNESCO-listed and now offices, on the Delfshavense Schie.

Local tip: Le Corbusier called it the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age, and it survived the bombing that erased the centre. It is a working office park, so access is by guided tour or during open days — check Chabot Museum and Open Monumentendag listings rather than turning up.