While most of The Netherlands is flat and barely above sea level, with only the occasional church spire breaking the wide horizons, Rotterdam is looking up from every angle, with skyscrapers piercing the skyline everywhere. It’s a project that has steadily accelerated since the German Luftwaffes carpet-bombing of the city at the outset of the Second World War. Over the past two decades, Rotterdam seems to have become an architects paradise. Steel beams, glass facades, and apartment blocks have been implanted into the sandy surface at just about every possible angle.

The city’s new symbol is the Erasmus Bridge. Opened in 1996, it spans the 800 meters between both banks of the Maas, opening a whole new section of the city for development. The 140-meter pillar, from which suspension cables hold up the road, tram, and cycling lanes, is so handsome it earned the nickname “the Swan”. When it started lightly shuddering in the wind, the bridge was dubbed the Orgasmus Bridge. One architectural gem no one should miss is Piet Blom’s 1984 cube houses, a spectacular array of what looks like giant Lego pieces stacked together on their vertex; they can be found in the city’s old harbor. Facing the cubes is the 1898 Witte Huis (White House), at a mere 46 meters, Europe’s first skyscraper and currently, host to the Mariners Museum.

Rotterdam has its own modern subway system, but most of the sights can be covered by foot. The most telling and adventurous way of locomotion is the water taxi. The small wooden boats zigzag their way around the traffic on the Maas and link the Hotel New York with the Veerhaven and the Leuvehaven. Rotterdam is attracting many urban design lovers to get a front-row seat in hatching a very active new city, drawing visitors away from rival Amsterdam’s tranquil canals, bourgeois architecture and coffee shops. Call our escort service, and we will find the perfect She-International escort to accompany you on a visit to Rotterdam.