15 x the best places for a (summer!) staycation in Rotterdam
Although we are allowed to leave the country again and, in that respect, we are no longer forced to have a staycation, a staycation is still a good idea! Team HQ camps - in case you haven't noticed - mainly in and around it Amsterdam. However, that doesn't mean that we don't comb the rest of the country and that we don't have a different treasure in every town. Ha! Staycation in Rotterdam, on a beautiful summer day? We got you covered: these are our favorite addresses.
A little holiday in your own country starts with a nice stay: one foot over the threshold The Slaak Rotterdam, a Tribute Portfolio hotel, and you are definitely sold. At least we were. Rotterdam's Slaakhuys, the place where the newspaper 'Het Vrije Volk' used to be written, was given a beautiful makeover with that typical 50s flair of muted colors and organic shapes. A luxurious 50s: also marble, gold-colored details and globe lamps everywhere.
And: not unimportant: The Slaak is located between the city center and the Kralingse Plas, the nicest place to be with nice weather in Rotterdam! So make use of the bicycles that are ready for hotel guests.
Aloha is, if possible, our favorite place in Rotterdam. From the outside, the concrete block on the Maas that once housed the Tropicana tropical swimming paradise was and is hideous, but inside the part was Aloha is undergoing a major overhaul. The result was one low waste bar-restaurant with a casual and creative atmosphere, with that 'inexplicable' that makes it a return address. The old whitewater course still runs straight through the business and where it ended is now the toilet. Surrounding it is a mid-century decor with vintage classics of retro side tables, sofas and an abundance of plants – succulents on the tables, sansevierias in front of the windows and banana plants everywhere. You can have a drink at the bottom of the indoor pool and hang out in beach chairs with a panoramic view over the Maas on the terrace above, where the outdoor pool once was. Bonus points? Yes. Aloha is open seven days a week.
Would you rather have a cup of coffee to go? Check Here is the list of the best (take away) coffee and treats in Rotterdam
Want to be on a boat that is still stationary? You really want that! This boat not only has a dike of a terrace where the sun has free rein, it also has a swimming pool and that is quite cool (and cooling, especially when the mercury rises above 25 degrees). Go, go, on board SS Rotterdam! Holiday vibes guaranteed.
Rotterdam is not poorly equipped with vegan restaurants: several have opened in recent years, including all you can eat concept Rozey the most notable is: dinner and lunch for a fixed amount. The bruschetta is delicious but the beet carpacio is a favorite, just like the pinkyburger.
Also Jack Bean is highly recommended in the vegetarian area in Rotterdam. The dishes you can get here are easy, fast, accessible and above all very tasty. They cook exclusively with plants and work with local sustainable farmers. Guilt-free enjoy with Jack Bean!
Calaboose is a cocktail bar like we never knew it before. Bee Calaboose in a tropical setting the mixed drinks are served with satay combined. That's a new one. And a damn nice one! Okay, not just satay but also a whole range of Indonesian bites and so that one refreshing cocktails. Every third Friday of the month a Rotterdam DJ spins the evening together. Already the best evening of the month.
Cycling (or driving) just a little bit out of the city is always worthwhile, even in Rotterdam. If you do, then set course for the Garden of the Four Winds to the Kralingse puddle, as we mentioned above, one of the most beautiful and relaxed places in Rotterdam, anyway, but even more so when the sun shines. Here you are on the water. Tip: go at the end of the day. Thanks to the lights above the wooden deck on the water, it is even more idyllic.
A cup of coffee is only really good coffee when we know where the beans come from, when we can follow the roasting process and when there is a perfect layer of foam. Man with Glasses Coffee brought the trend to Rotterdam and Hopper has long been the address for coffee-loving Rotterdam. The latest addition to the 010 coffee scene is Mecca. Owners Rita and Sven opened a new mecca for coffee and natural wine in a corner building on the Noordsingel. In addition to coffee and wine, they have a Middle Eastern buffet that is different every day. With dishes such as broad beans with tzatziki, roasted cauliflower, fresh homemade pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush, muhammara, labneh and lamb stew, the choice is enormous.
It is not without reason that Rotterdam is our number 1 port city: anyone who gets the chance spends a day on the water in Rotterdam. The fastest and easiest way to do that? Take the water taxi! Quick, simple and still fun.
Where are you going then? To the Head of South for example, where you, among other things, Hotel New York find, and numerous terraces on the water. Or make sure you score a tasty take-out and find a spot in the grass at the water's edge.
And then? Then it is absolutely not an option not to go to Katendrecht, Fenix Food Factory and the restaurants around the Deliplein (The Sailor and the Girl is a favorite here!)
If the sun has already set, make sure you catch up TRES you can go to: anyone who wants a quirky and a bit mysterious dinner in a former jazz cellar can go to it Rotterdam Tres which has recently been added to the monumental Entrepot building is located on the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. A dark room but a fresh location where you can expect a full evening program: no fewer than 18 courses, with products from Dutch soil accompanied by text and explanations from the enthusiastic staff. They talk frankly (and a little proudly too) about the small-scale farmers, fishermen and craftsmen who supply the fresh products. This is what the homemade garum and miso are made from, the chicken skin with smoked eel, a sea buckthorn marshmallow and peanut butter without peanuts (using a modern fermentation technique). Bonus points for the surprising, not cloyingly sweet non-alcoholic drink arrangement (of course an alcoholic variant can also be ordered).
The chaff separates from the wheat: if we eat meat, it must come from a good source. That is the case with the restaurant The Iron Lady in Rotterdam. Finally a steak restaurant – that doesn't look like a butcher's shop or lumberjack's hut – where you can eat a well-prepared steak at a reasonable price in an intimate, soft ambiance. The operators investigated and came across the flat iron steak as the ideal piece of beef. The shoulder is firm yet tender, as it is in the US house steak of butler steak named. It is cleverly cut steak and therefore a lot more affordable than a sirloin steak or a round steak, but at least as tender. And that is exactly what you eat with The Iron Lady in the Pannekoekstraat, for a mere 11 euros. Or you might be craving a veggie burger.
The men came from Antwerp Black Smoke blow over. There, in Antwerp, there is a restaurant Black Smoke the top floors of the former de Koninck brewery – an industrial building with a roof terrace and outdoor drinks area on the ground floor. On the menu: barbecue dishes, all year round. This combination of an industrial building that previously had a different purpose and better barbecue meals found its way to Rotterdam: Black Smoke Rotterdam opened in the monumental Van Nelle Factory.
In any case, the sun always shines at the Mexican Supermercado. If you want it fast, good and cozy (and then want to hang around all evening) go to the colorful place in Rotterdam Supermarket. Mexican on the menu here, an affordable everyone's friend where not much can necessarily go wrong, but it must be executed well. Baking nachos that bulge but don't leave your hands greasy, for example, and the best fresh ceviche. The owners of Supermarket opened a new one just a few meters away. Just as good but of a completely different caliber: Williams Canteen. Owner Kim and his business partner Jamil opened the stylish 'canteen' for the whole day. The atmosphere is subdued, relaxed, and the menu is lightly inspired by canned everything. There is coffee from Man met Bril and a fine selection of beer from the Rotterdam Cape Brouwers, in cans. Of course also sardines and you can make your own 'canned signature cocktail'. Everything organic where possible.
Who says outdoor living, says Villa August. After just one look at the website you will understand what the owners had in mind: a playful restaurant (plus hotel!) where the dishes are prepared as much as possible with products from the own garden and where only pure ingredients are used. That worked. There is a flower garden, a vegetable garden, an orchard and an Italian garden, all around the fantastic old pump building of the Dordrecht water tower where Villa Augustus is located. A good place to wander around. The blackboards above the kitchen show dishes that are made in small quantities and change from day to day. Gooseberry ice cream, wild boar rillettes with plum compote or fresh capuchin soup, whatever presents itself. Every morning the ash wood-fired wood oven is lit to roast or bake fish, tomatoes and beets, but the favorite remains the seasonal pizza. Breakfast buffet with the whole family? Villa August.
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