Have an afternoon to kill in Rotterdam?
Do not waste it in the airport, go to the Euromast.
The Euromast (Euromast) is a 186 meters tall tower, the highest building in Rotterdam, designed by Hugh Maaskant starting with 1958, and improved throughout the years.
To get there, take the buss 33 from the airport to the Bentinckplein station, and then take the bus 44 to the Erasmus MC/s Gravendijkwa station. From there, you should have to walk 15 minutes and you will get to the tower. The trip should take you slightly less than an hour. If you take a cab, you should get there in 20 minutes.
Know however that the first two kilometers are taxed with 7.5 euros, and the following with 2.2 euros per kilometer. So you would pay somewhere around 25 euros, or an estimated $36 (at the exchange rates of January 2010).
Once you get to the Euromast, you would buy an entrance ticket of 8.7 euros ($12.6), get to the elevator and go to the “crow nest” located at 101 meters above the ground. Here you can simply enjoy the view – a beautiful panorama of the city – or you could have a drink and a bite to eat in the restaurant.
Rotterdam is of course a genuinely marvelous city and anybody should take the time to visit it. But if you only have a few hours, then the Euromast will be the perfect answer to your desire to glance at the most important attractions of the city. From the tower, you will be able to see the Rotterdam Port, the Kuip football stadium, the New York Hotel or the Erasmus Bridge (Erasmusbrug), also called the Swan Bridge, due to the shape of its pylon.
