Rotterdam · City of Architecture

Full of energy and innovation, Rotterdam reinvented itself after the bombing of the Second World War. It broke with the past and chose modern architecture. The motto: light, air and space, was groundbreaking for that time. Rotterdam still embraces experimentation: almost anything is possible. Here, you are constantly surprised by new initiatives: from a rooftop city farm to a music festival in the harbour, from an exclusive rooftop bar to a brewery in an old warehouse. If you love architecture then a visit to Rotterdam — with its patchwork of architectural styles — is a must. Icons of the Nieuwe Bouwen era stand beside the typical reconstruction-architecture from the sixties, seventies and eighties. They clash cheerfully with the hypermodern landmarks that have been built in recent decades: the Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam Central Station, De Rotterdam, the Timmerhuis and of course the Markthal.