Private Pedicab/Rickshaw Tour of Rotterdam

Rotterdam Centraal Station

10 min

Before the Second World War there was no Central Station, but there were four stations around the center. In 1957, the central station was opened at its current location. In 2004 a total renovation of the central station was started, in 2014 the current end result was delivered. The old station could no longer cope with the passenger influx.

Luchtsingel

10 min

In 2011, the municipality of Rotterdam organized the first city initiative, an administrative instrument to stimulate administrative innovation and citizen participation. The inhabitants of Rotterdam were called upon to submit projects that would bring about the enlivening of the city and improve the quality of life in the city. An amount of 4 million has been set aside from the city initiative to implement the project.

Delftse Poort

10 min

In the Middle Ages, one of the 10 city gates that Rotterdam had here. In the 30s, the city of Rotterdam grew rapidly and the gate stood in the way, as they wanted a better flow for the increasing traffic. It was decided to move the gate about 100 meters (a demolition of the gate met with a lot of resistance). During the bombardment in the Second World War, the gate was severely damaged, a year after the bombing the gate was demolished, because it could no longer be finished. Some ornamental works from the old gate were saved and incorporated into the walls of the buildings on the corner of the town hall square.

City Hall Rotterdam

10 min

The town hall was built between 1914 and 1920 (by Henri Evers) and is one of the few buildings in the center of Rotterdam that survived the bombardment of May 14, 1940.

Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk

10 min

The laurenskerk is the only remnant of the medieval center of Rotterdam. The laurenskerk is a cross between a hall church (all buildings equal in height) and a cruciform basilica (here the side towers are lower than the main tower). The church was built between 1449 and 1525.

Markthal

30 min

Modern complex with a covered market and several restaurants under an arch of apartments.

15 min

In the 70s of the 20th century, architects wanted to create hospitable residential areas with the participation of the residents and other users in response to the large-scale and a gray modernism of the architecture of the reconstruction after WWII. Piet Blom, structuralist and adept of Aldo van Eyck, assumed that large-scale buildings had to be built to the size of people by building them from small-scale recognizable elements. The basic idea, that the building is built on columns, so that the space under the buildings can remain public, is inspired by Le Corbusier

Meent

15 min

Currently, the meent is one of the hotspots in Rotterdam. There are many cafés, eateries and clothing shops. In the 90s, the meent was a street where mainly temporary employment and travel agencies were located, the meent was an atmosphereless street with a lot of vacancy. Robin von Weiler is no stranger to Rotterdam. He owes his nickname Mr. Meent to everything he has done for this street and still does.