Boat Tours, Rotterdam

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The boat excursion with the the passengership 'Nehalennia' takes you from central Rotterdam to the village of Kinderdijk in about an hour, up the river 'Nieuwe Maas' and 'Lek'.

Rotterdam is the only high-rise city in the Netherlands with a true skyline. It houses several of the tallest structures in the Netherlands. It has a reputation in being a platform for architectural development and education through the Berlage Institute. Rotterdam is standing in the best European SkylineTop together with Frankfurt, London, Paris, Brussels, Moscow, and Warsaw.

VIDEO of my trip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvExpWtO80

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The Spido (pronounced Speed-oh) tour boats depart from their own private dock located below the Erasmus bridge so they are very easy to find. The tour boats are pretty large (ours held 660) so unless its a high day or holiday your likely to get aboard. When you do rush right to the top deck, its open to the elements and gives you by far the best views especially if your taking photos.

The automated recorded? speaker describes frequently what your passing and in several languages including English, and is quite clear.

From Central station Metro Leuvehaven, Tram 7, 20, 23 or 25
We bought a combined ticket with the Euromast so saved a couple of euros.

The pancake boat next to the Euromast is a great attraction for families. On a boat tour through Rotterdam you can see all major sights like the port, the SS Rotterdam, hotel New York, the Erasmus bridge and the Euromast. While you're enjoying the view you can eat as many pancakes as you can! They serve all kinds of pancakes and kids can prepare their own ones with all kinds of ingredients! There's even an indoor playground for the kids.

Located near the Erasmusbrug are the Spido boats. If you take a tour on one of these, you'll get to see Rotterdam from the water and see what used to be the worlds biggest port. It also gives you a very different view of Rotterdam.

Spido boatride through the harbours of Rotterdam takes you from the foot of the Erasmus bridge to the east towards Brienenoord bridge and back west, under the Erasmus bridge towards the imposing harbour area.

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While doing the Spido Harbour tour, you will see some interesting things on both banks of the Nieuwe Maas. This includes for example the wharf where the "Delft" is built. This is a 18th century sailing ship built in traditional way. The wharf is also open for public. I haven't visited it, but for further details, you can check http://www.dedelft.nl/index.html

Keep your eye open for signs like the one on the second picture. They show the kilometers of the Rhine river. This sign, kilometer 1007, is one of the last before the river (here: Nieuwe Maas) flows into the North Sea.

Depending on the Spido tour you take, the functions of several parts of the harbour are explained. So, you will get a small insight and see some order between all the containers, cranes and vessels.

For more information about the Spido harbour tours, please check my tip called "Spido Harbour tours". for details about an unsually shaped, checkered building, check out my tip about the "Shipping and Transport College" (Off The Beaten Path).

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If you want to see the harbour, you will get your 75 minute overview with Spido. Depending on the day of the week and time of the year, also longer tours are offered. The tour starts close to the Erasmusbrug and continues along the Nieuwe Maas through the harbour areas of Rotterdam. You will see big ships and containers and get your background information in four different languages. Structures along the Nieuwe Maas and older parts of the harbour close to the city center also for a part of the tour. On the spacious boat, you can seat inside or on the open deck, drinks and snacks are offered for sale.

Tickets are available at the Spido office (8 EUR). Once the tourist information at Coolsingel also had tickets for sale, but this was given up in the time they moved their office to another building at Coolsingel in 2006. Perhaps, this will be or was picked up again.

The tour is a little too “touristy”, but if the weather is nice, it’s a good way to start a day in Rotterdam. For details and pictures about the sights along the Nieuwe Maas check out my tip called "Along the Nieuwe Maas with Spido"

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You cannot visit Rotterdam, one of the largest harbours of the world, without seeing the harbours. I made a harbourtrip by boat with Spido to see the harbours not too far from the citycentre. It was a trip of one and half hour, but you can make extended trips as well of three or six hours to the more far away areas into the direction of the North Sea like Botlek, Europoort or even the Delta Works.

We visited the Waalhaven and other parts of the harbour to see cargo ports of the highest standard. It's impressive to watch the huge amount of containers. The huge cranes lift the containers from all over the world to forward them to their final destination by road, rail or inner waterway in Europe... or the other way round.

It is fascinating to look at all the activities in the harbour, the docks, the huge cranes, the container- and cargoships and all other traffic at the water.