In between the Zwaanshals and the river Rotte tucked away in a block of houses is Rotabs. An interestingly shaped building. It was empty for some time after having served as a building for the municipal sanitation service Rotab. Hence the name Rotabs. Luckily this place was included in the renovation plans to spruce up the entire block which is still in progress. The building is now turned into a creative warehouse where entrepreneurs of diverse disciplines have put up small businesses. The inside is divided into several units which have tenants like a photographer, a publisher, a goldsmith, a café and a gallery. There are some units left waiting for other daring adventurers to set up shop and where new neighbors have opened shops on the Zaagmolenkade recently. Initiator Paul Posse is active in the neighbourhood and hopes to create an area like a Camden Town in the Oude Noorden. As Rotabs can be pretty hard to find even for locals, a special bus service is in the making to transport anyone interested to visit this part of the town where much is waiting to be discovered. Want to find it yourself? Just walk into the Zwaanshals where there’s an entrance through a building leading you to Rotabs. Or do a Route du Nord weekend or visit the Swan Market which is organized several times; an introduction to this area and it’s creative spots, artists and variety of shops. Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Rénia Sastrowidjojo
ROTABS Stylecenter | Art & culture, Festivals & events, Music, Shopping
Zaagmolenkade 46 | Noord | +31653623230
Wed – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 10:00 -17:00
Shopping – All our local tips
Our favorite Rotterdam special local shops, stores and malls. This is where our Rotterdam locals do their shopping… Rotterdam insider tips: always up-to-date!
Tip: Download our One of my favorite shops in town is ‘La Bourse’. This perfumery sell beauty products of the better brands. The service here is so good and the staff is very friendly. They know the products well and know what they’re talking about. Also, the prices here are sharp. You get a good discount anyway, but as a regular client (which I am) you get even more. They alway give you nice samples and you can choose if you want a perfume or cream sample, how good is that! I always leave this shop happy. The only “flaw” might be that they sell ‘Essie’ nail-polish instead of ‘OPI’, but hey nobody’s perfect. La Bourse has three shops. The biggest one is on the Coolsingel, the other two are on the Meent (almost next to the Vlaamsch Broodhuys) and the Korte Lijnbaan. Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Marieke Koets
La Bourse | Shopping
coolsingel 54 | Center | +31104135893
Mon 11:00 – 18:00, Tue – Thu 10:00 – 18:00, Fri 10:00 – 21:00, Sat 10:00 – 17:30, Sun 12:30 – 17:30
The Netherlands Architecture Institute just reopened after a year of renovations. The museum has great new exhibitions: ‘Dutchville’ where you can experience every side of the city, ‘New Haloheim’ shows the ideas of the participants of the Ymere NAI price. In ’The Netherlands- off the shelf’ you can see the work of photographer Hans van der Meer. He made a series of photos of town centres to show what’s typically Dutch design in these towns. The exhibition ‘Treasury’ shows about 100 masterpieces from the NAI collection. The NAI expended with a new café, where you can get lunch, good coffee or stay for something stronger. There’s a big sunny terrace which is great to relax. Coming with kids? They can play, build and create at a space above the Café called the ‘Hands-on Deck,’ while you enjoy you’re beer/wine Oh and don’t forget to visit the inside bookshop! Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Carel Van Hees
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NAI | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Relaxing, Shopping | Adults € 8.00
Museumpark 25 | Center | +31104401200
Museum Tue – Sat 10:00 – 17:00
What do you do when you come to a country where they don’t even have good cupcakes? That’s right, you make them yourself and share it with the others. That’s what Rebecca did at least. She came all the way from Southern Virginia, via London and Bangkok, to Rotterdam and opened her store; Alice in Cakeland. This fantastic cupcakes shop on the Van Oldenbarneveldstraat has two floors. Downstairs is the workshop area. About one or twice a month Rebecca organizes a workshop with a different theme. Themes go from SATC and designer handbags to Sinterklaas, Christmas and Easter. Anything you can imagine and that’s suitable for that time of year. The new workshop calender is online, plus there are more workshop theme’s coming. Then there’s the shop on the upper floor. Here you can buy the most delicious cupcakes. Now you can buy cupcakes basically everywhere, but these cupcakes are the real American ones. Rebecca has worked hard and long to find the right ingredients and sizes to make the cupcakes perfect. Plus, she’s come up with special flavors. For new year’s for example she made champagne flavour cupcakes, and there’s ’mad berry’, ‘Lemon Vuitton’ and ‘The Cure’. The best thing is; she keeps on trying new things every time! Just too much and they all taste great. My favorite right now is the Oreo with chocolate, but I still need to try the tiramisu one… Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Marieke Koets
Alice in Cakeland | Shopping, Snacks | Cupcake € 2.50
Van Oldenbarneveldstraat 117 | Center | +31629290597
Wed – Sat 11:00 – 18:00 (closed when sold out)
I can write a lot about this cute little bakery, but only one thing is important… Koekela has got the best cakes and cookies in town and I dare say, maybe even the country! And now they’ve moved a couple of shops up the road to a bigger place where you can also sit and enjoy their goodness. For muffins or cupcakes I’d suggest going a bit further to Alice in Cakeland (check the article), but stay in for the cookies and brownies! Don’t want to go out? They have a webshop! Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Marieke Koets
Koekela | Shopping, Snacks | Muffin € 1.10
Nieuwe binnenweg 79a | Center | +31104364774
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 18:00, Sat 08:30 – 17:00
