Rotterdam, Netherlands, Shopping Streets

travel videos & photos at: townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links.
One of the great things about visiting Rotterdam in the Netherlands is the vast pedestrian zone in the center. There are several major streets that function like a big outdoor shopping mall that you would love to explore, along with some quaint side lanes that will entice you to have a look.
And now we're going to enjoy a detailed visit to the vibrant center of downtown Rotterdam, especially the Lijnbaan, the most famous of all the pedestrian malls. The map shows the city center and our routing, including several side malls that branch off from the main street.
Lijnbaan was the first time in Europe that an automobile street was converted to exclusive use by pedestrians, making it Europe's first modern pedestrian shopping street.
It opened in 1953 after the devastation of World War II. By now this pedestrian concept has been copied by nearly every city and town in Europe and in many places throughout the world.
The stores are integrated so well with the street that it functions almost more like a standard shopping mall than a pedestrian lane, enjoying the advantages of both styles.
You'll want to get off the main lane now and then for added shops and cafés.
One of the side malls branching off here is Stadhuisplein facing the old City Hall, which we're going to visit later in the program -- a wonderful outdoor plaza with lots of dining facilities out on the terrace, very popular spot.
Shopping malls did not even exist yet in 1953, so this was really some visionary planning. The famous American shopping mall developer Victor Gruen visited here back in 1953 and was disappointed that this had opened already before his own first shopping mall ever opened.
Extending across from Stadhuisplein is another one-block-long mall, Korte Lijnbaan with more famous shops and places to eat. It's worth a little stroll to enjoy both of these side malls.
Continuing on a few blocks further south on Lijnbaan, we get to another really lovely side mall called Beurstraverse.
First crossing a rather busy intersection with lots of pedestrians and trams. There are still no cars allowed down here, but you've got these trams on steel rail at street level going by. It's a safe mix with the alert pedestrians.
From here we can look down into this lovely shopping mall called Beurstraverse. It's really something quite different. We have a split-level street scene with shops up above and shops down below, with some benches and tables out in the plaza.
It's a brilliant design because this encourages people to shop on two levels instead of just one, which is often a challenge on a normal shopping street. People just stay on the one main level on the shopping street.
Of course in a shopping mall it's always multilevel and you've got escalators and nice stairways, and that's what we find here. It's another one of these hybrids between shopping mall and a retail pedestrian street.
There is a charming curve to the architecture of the plaza which gives it cozy and comfortable feeling.
The nickname for this places the Koopgoot, that means 'shopping gutter', and from that lower level you can walk right into the metro station.
Looking down from street level for a final view of that lower mall, a lovely place to visit. Often when you're walking in the streets of the Netherlands you'll come upon a big calliope playing some pipe music. The street continues as Hoogstraat heading over to the Markthal that we've shown you in another episode.
Leaving the shopping malls now, walking a few blocks south to one of the most popular streets in the city, Witte de Withstraat.
Witte de Withstraat is one of those perfect urban streets. It's got everything. There are sidewalk restaurants, ethnic cuisines, cafés, bars, music clubs at night, art galleries, shops, wide sidewalks for pedestrians, trees providing shade. You can see why it's one of the most popular places for the locals to hang out.
The atmosphere here is more relaxed and slightly Bohemian compared to the shopping malls that we've just seen earlier, and yet it's a family-friendly place, unlike during the 1970s when it was noted for seedy bars and illegal gambling. Now it's a bit of urban heaven.
Right around it is a residential neighborhood that also includes some small hotels and vacation rentals.
Now we're walking a few blocks back up north to the City Hall, the Stadhuis.
Behind me is the City Hall. It's one of the few buildings that survived the bombing of World War II.
Called Stadhuis, it's a grand structure that was built between 1914 and 1920 in somewhat of a Renaissance style, located on a major boulevard, the Coolsingel, and still functions today is the seat of government with the mayor's office and the Council Chambers.
The building is open with free admission to the public areas on the ground floor, where you will find some lovely surprises. So step inside.
It's a beautiful building with an amazing lobby.

[@rogersexton7857]

Superb video, and thanks for your excellent commentary. I first visited Rotterdam in 1978 and it was obvious back then that the Dutch had done the right thing -to 'rebuild the city from scratch'.

[@arandomki]

A beautiful and lively city

[@apgoldapgold]

You have a nice presentation style !

[@micheleandheryorkie4496]

Thank you for this video. I lived in Rotterdam for a few months back in the 90’s and the shopping district is so different now. Brought back memories ❤️

[@gary96397]

Do you remember dirty Harry's bar on the neuwe binnenveg?

[@richardcore]

Great to see videos from my hometown! Good job!

[@lvlygrey]

Oh very nice!

[@Marchan58]

I feel as if I were this place. thank you.

[@jankokpit]

Rotterdam also has a world renowned zoo, called "Blijdorp Zoo". It's known for it's Art Deco architecture.

[@carloscattaneo9779]

Great video Dennis!

[@TravelingisFREEDOM]

This seems to be a very interesting place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job! Subscribed!!

[@Holy.Spirit]

Great video! Alway enjoy !

[@RichardRenes]

You can even get a guided tour to the city hall too .. for free... but it requires a reservation. The dome of the tower mirrors the dome of the tower of the Arminius church at the entrance of the Museumpark (across the Picasso statue you showed.) Both are from the same architect: Henri Evers. The coats of arms on the city hall are those of Rotterdam, and the burroughs that were added to Rotterdam at the time when the building of the city hall commended... so it has Charlois, Kralingen, Katendrecht. Cool, 's Gravenzande (as Hoek van Holland was part of that municipality at the time.. it reverted back to it's own town later) and Delfshaven , but not Schiebroek, Hillergersber, Overschie or IJsselmonde as those were added in 1941 by the Nazis The design was the 'winning' entry in a competition where the jury was led by the architect and he and the mayor back then were close friends so... while a nice building, there were (in my opinion) better designs available. Google Kromhout stadhuis Rotterdam to see the entry that was favored by most of the city counsel

[@denniscallan]

Thank you for that fascinating information, which I did not have time to present in the video.

[@borderreiver3288]

never realised Rotterdam was totally destroyed in the war...they have built some amazing places...

[@cafebenze3609]

hi man it's a fantastic city

[@sutian908]

ฉันชอบ เมืองนี้

[@CityWalks]

Great tour. Almost like Rick Steves with the information. Thanks for sharing Rotterdam with us. -Henry

[@barbarahuff117]

Good travel log. We like all your trips.

[@Ozymandias1]

8:19 If you venture outside the center there are lots of pre-bombing buildings left. As you say the bombings were mainly concentrated on the center. There are markings that denote where the "brandgrens" (burning border) was and you can see new buildings on the one side and old ones on the other side. There was an area in the west of Rotterdam that was bombed later on in the war. By the Americans. Because they made a mistake in finding their target. It's known as "het vergeten bombardement" (the forgotten bombing) because it was seen awkward to remember such an event after WW2.

[@walkingtravelandtourhongko1848]

awesome

[@parvizzarrinkelk5766]

mooie

[@souadahmed146]

dat is mooi land

[@stefandee1970]

Spent few hours there. ❤

[@riyanhandoko3398]

Hey dennis just would like to thank you for taking these videos. Currently i dont hv the budget to travel anymore but your videos helped a lot. Not sure whether you are reading comments but just would like to leave few good words as the internet world can be so mean. Take care

[@denniscallan]

yes I read all, thanks for viewing, glad I can take you on a free ride.

[@mrdmasiv2452]

Nice video i also have been to rotterdam.

[@muhammadsheraz4487]

Wao, Great stunning views, love to watch your Great videos Dennis. Much love and respect from Pakistan. 🌹🌹🌹🌍

[@ktw380]

❤👍❤👍❤

[@rolanddepous2148]

WELKOM TO ROTTERDAM THANKS DANKE WUNDERBAR GÜZEL GRANDE MERCI GRAZIE

[@houtevd]

Hi Dennis, Thanks very much. Thoroughly enjoyed your video, being a former resident of Rotterdam. Keep them coming. However the photo 08:40 is I believe from Nijmegen, not Rotterdam :-)

[@denniscallan]

You are correct, thank you so much. I am in the final stage of writing my Netherlands guidebook, so have now made that correction for the book edit. I will announce the book availability in the coming months.

[@ZafranShakiel]

I hope i can be there... But unfortunately, it costs too much to get there. I'm from Indonesia... Maybe you should explore Indonesia too...

[@angelg.8462]

I want to visit the Netherlands in May. I am wondering if it's cheaper to fly and stay in Rotterdam as a base and just visit the other cities. I'm not sure I'd like being around all the tourists in Amsterdam a whole week😉

[@denniscallan]

It is not cheaper to stay in any one place. That would require many total hours on the trains, so probably better to pick at least two or three cities as home base. You can get an idea of connections in my summary movie kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJbPo4iJbNGWrtE

[@haroldjosephcollinsIII]

When i think of this country i think about me. ~ Owner.

[@ahmedmessari6706]

I think i was there

[@jaccovermeulen2762]

Koopgoot is almost pronounced as Cope Goat. (just change the G to the dutch harsh one.)

[@denniscallan]

Thank you. That Dutch G is a tricky one.

[@user-ml3kl3it2x]

Rotterdam heeft kwaliteit en voor iedereen wat shopping Shops met metro ,tram en trein verbindingen. The Mall in Leidschendam-Voorburg is aan de buitenkant iets aparts maar binnen is het niets bijzonders. In bijna alle draaideuren zitten al vanaf de opening scheuren in het deurglas wat niet vervangen wordt. Het ziet er verpauperd uit. Om bij The Mall te komen sta je tot en met ergernis overal in de File! Voor bezoekers kan dit oplopen tot 2,5 uur in en uitgaan. De Leidschendammer en Voorburgers komen niet meer in The Mall daar het niets meer biedt dan andere winkel centra ‘s. En er mag overal patat gegeten worden omdat lunchen niets bijzonders is. The Mall is een Flop en is binnen niets bijzonders en geeft een beeld van dichte / gesloten winkels wat jammer is maar wel een Feit.

[@denniscallan]

translation: Rotterdam has quality and shopping shops for everyone with metro, tram and train connections. The Mall in Leidschendam-Voorburg is something special on the outside, but inside it is nothing special. Almost all revolving doors have cracks in the door glass from the moment it is opened, which is not replaced. It looks run-down. To get to The Mall, you'll find yourself stuck in traffic jams everywhere, to the annoyance! For visitors this can take up to 2.5 hours in and out. The Leidschendammer and Voorburgers no longer come to The Mall as it offers nothing more than other shopping centers. And fries can be eaten everywhere because lunch is nothing special. The Mall is a Flop and is nothing special inside and gives an image of closed / closed shops which is a shame but a fact.