AMS to Rotterdam

Rotterdam, Europe's largest port and a showcase of modern architecture, is 57 km south of Schiphol Airport. The direct train takes about 25 minutes, making it an easy and frequent connection from the airport to this dynamic, design-forward city.

Rotterdam is the anti-Amsterdam — where the capital preserves its 17th-century canal houses, Rotterdam was leveled by the 1940 Blitz and rebuilt as a laboratory for bold modern architecture. The result is one of Europe\'s most visually exciting cities, where Piet Blom\'s Cube Houses, MVRDV\'s Markthal, Rem Koolhaas\'s Kunsthal, and the Erasmus Bridge create a skyline unlike any other in the Netherlands.

The Markthal (Market Hall) is Rotterdam\'s signature building — a horseshoe-shaped arch housing apartments above a covered food market, its ceiling adorned with a vast 11,000-square-meter digital artwork of fruits and flowers. Inside, dozens of stalls sell everything from Surinamese roti to Dutch stroopwafels. Nearby, the Witte de Withstraat is the city\'s cultural axis, lined with galleries, restaurants, and bars.

Rotterdam\'s multicultural character (over 170 nationalities) shapes its food scene, from the Katendrecht neighborhood\'s Chinese and Cape Verdean restaurants to the Turkish shops of West-Kruiskade. The Maritime Museum and the historic SS Rotterdam ocean liner celebrate the city\'s identity as Europe\'s gateway port. Delfshaven, the only neighborhood that survived the bombing, preserves a picturesque slice of old Holland.