Rotterdam: 5-Day Itinerary
Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.
Five days is our 4-day itinerary (the modern centre, Delfshaven and the port, Kinderdijk, and Delft) with a fifth day added for The Hague: the Mauritshuis, Scheveningen beach, and Madurodam, about 25-30 minutes away by train. Want a lighter sixth day too? Our 6-day itinerary adds Dordrecht.
Day-by-day at a glance
| Day | Focus | Est. spend (excl. hotel) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cube Houses, Markthal, Erasmusbrug, Kop van Zuid, Depot Boijmans | ~EUR30-50 |
| 2 | Delfshaven, kapsalon, Spido cruise or FENIX, Euromast | ~EUR30-50 |
| 3 | Kinderdijk windmills by Waterbus | ~EUR20-35 |
| 4 | Delft: Vermeer sites, Royal Delft pottery | ~EUR15-30 |
| 5 | The Hague: Mauritshuis, Scheveningen or Madurodam | ~EUR30-45 |
Book these before you go
- Depot Boijmans tickets : book online, it’s the only part of the Boijmans campus currently open.
- Waterbus to Kinderdijk : confirm the current timetable and fare before you go.
- Mauritshuis tickets : book a timed slot online rather than risking a walk-up queue.
- Check hotel rates in Rotterdam : the city centre is walkable but pricier.
Day 1: The modern centre and Kop van Zuid
Morning: The Markthal, free to walk through, then the Cube Houses five minutes away, free from Overblaak street; the Kijk-Kubus show cube runs around EUR3-4 (verify current price).
Afternoon: Cross the Erasmusbrug into Kop van Zuid for De Rotterdam, Hotel New York and the SS Rotterdam. The Depot Boijmans, opened 2021, is the part of the Boijmans campus you can actually tour, not the main museum next door.
Evening: Dinner at the Markthal, or Witte de Withstraat.
Day 2: Delfshaven and the port
Morning: Delfshaven escaped the 1940 Blitz entirely; the Pelgrimskerk marks where the Pilgrim Fathers departed for America in 1620. Lunch: a kapsalon, invented here in 2003.
Afternoon: A Spido harbour cruise shows you Europe’s largest port from the water (verify current routes and prices), or FENIX, the 2025 migration museum.
Evening: The Euromast at sunset.
Day 3: Kinderdijk, the top day trip
Morning: The Waterbus runs from Rotterdam to Kinderdijk in around 30 minutes each way (verify current timetable and fare at waterbus.nl). Walk the dyke path past all 19 UNESCO-listed windmills.
Afternoon: Back in Rotterdam by mid-afternoon; the Kralingse Plas lake fills the rest of the day.
Evening: A relaxed dinner after a full day of walking.
Day 4: Delft
Morning: Trains from Rotterdam Centraal run as often as every five minutes, journey time around 12-15 minutes. Delft is Vermeer’s birthplace, buried in the Oude Kerk.
Afternoon: Royal Delft (De Porceleyne Fles) pottery factory; the Nieuwe Kerk holds the royal burial vault.
Evening: Back to Rotterdam for dinner in Witte de Withstraat.
Day 5: The Hague
Morning: Around 25-30 minutes by train (verify current timetable). The Binnenhof, the historic seat of Dutch parliament, and the Mauritshuis museum, home to Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”
Afternoon: Scheveningen, the North Sea beach district, draws roughly 10 million visitors a year, or Madurodam, the miniature-Netherlands park, if travelling with kids.
Evening: Back to Rotterdam for a farewell-feeling dinner, you’ve covered the full region by now.
Is 5 days enough for Rotterdam?
Five days comfortably covers the city core plus three of the region’s best day trips, Kinderdijk, Delft and The Hague, each with the time it actually needs rather than a rushed half-day. If you want a lighter, more local sixth day added on top, our 6-day itinerary folds in Dordrecht.