25 Reasons to visit Rotterdam in 2025

Rotterdam is a city that is constantly changing, but next year is truly exceptional. This article lists no fewer than 25 reasons to visit Rotterdam in 2025. Including a number of world firsts... Curious to learn more? Keep reading.

1. On 16 May, FENIX will open its doors.  The first museum in the world that tells the stories of migration through an international art collection. Located in the restored historic Fenix warehouse which has been radically transformed by MAD architects.

2. The National Museum of Photography will move to an eight-story historic warehouse. A new home for the national collection of over 6.5 million photographic images, one of the largest museum collections of photography in the world. 

3. Near the Maasvlakte beach, the new, multifaceted port experience centre Portlantis emerges. With over 3,500 square metres spread across five floors, this will be an inspiring, unique and interactive exhibition centre and meeting place nestled within the port.  The striking building is designed by the renowned and Rotterdam based architecture firm MVRDV. Portlantis opens on 22 March 2025.

4. Celest is a new premium cocktail bar and restaurant on top of the 57th and 58th floor of the Zalmhaventoren. Making it the highest bar in the Benelux. The interior design by DoepelStrijkers is inspired by the short story ‘The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall’ by Edgar Allen Poe and takes visitors on a journey to the moon.

5. Kunsthal will be paying homage to the famous Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, who is known for being one of today’s most avant-garde couturiers. The exhibition Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses presents a hundred iconic creations that reveal Van Herpen’s continuous search for new interpretations of femininity and which challenge our views on Haute Couture.

6. For the first time, Rotterdam will host a Design Biennale dedicated exclusively to design, emphasizing experimental and speculative design in all its forms, including applied arts, installation design and what is currently referred to as functional art. The event aims to position Rotterdam on the global stage as a hub of creative renewal, innovation, and experimentation.

7. Spread over two floors with more than 10,000 meters of exhibition space, the renowned OBJECT design fair will be organized in the city center of Rotterdam for the first time in 2025.

8. The world's first coffee hotel will open early 2025. Designed and developed by Rotterdam coffee roaster and café Man met Bril. The hotel will have 20 hotel rooms/studios, a roastery, a coffee bar, meeting rooms, sports facilities, a restaurant and a sunny terrace.

9. A giant slide from the roof? You can experience it during the 10th edition of the Rotterdam Rooftop Days this coming spring. This festive anniversary centers around the roof of the Maritime Museum and is fittingly called the Rotterdam Rooftop Roetsj.

10. At Fundamental.eatery, you will embark on a gastronomic journey in a chef’s table-atelier. In an open space of 120 square meters, there is room for 24 guests to enjoy an à la carte menu in a refreshing atmosphere. Expect an experimental take on ingredients, flavors and architecture.

11. The monumental Tramhuis will become a new city kiosk for walks. You will find the building at the end of the sculpture route in the city centre. A nice starting point to start a thematic walk.

12. Hofbogenpark, a 2 kilometers long city park, on top of a former railway viaduct, starts construction in 2025. It is designed on bio-inclusive and climate adaptive principles by De Urbanisten . The park has a circular and natural water filtration system and, wait for it… separate staircases for small mammals, so that even hedgehogs can enter the elevated park safely.

13. On May 14, 2025, it will be 85 years since Rotterdam was bombed, destroying half of the city center. Around that day, 100,000 poems will be scattered over the city center from a helicopter. This art intervention is called Bombing of Poems and is part of the festivities leading up to the 55th Poetry International Festival in June.

14. The old post office is one of the three large buildings on the Coolsingel that survived the bombing of the Second World War. It is currently being redeveloped and is scheduled to be completed in 2025. The design by ODA architects, simply called Post Rotterdam, features a new 150-meter tower that rises towards the rear of the building and straddles the existing open courtyard. The original splendour of the Great Hall, a vaulted marvel soaring 22.5 meters in height, is also being restored.

15. Rotterdam Architecture Month is the Netherlands’ largest architecture festival about the future of the city. The month takes place in June and each year a new appropriate location is chosen for the festival heart. It is open to everyone, regardless of knowledge or experience with architecture.

16. The 26th edition of Art Rotterdam is taking place at Ahoy Rotterdam for the first time. The internationally renowned art fair will therefore expand and offers even more space to talent.

17. For children aged four and over, Future Makers! is a not to miss exhibition that opened recently and stays on display till 2026 at Nieuwe Instituut. Children go on a real adventure, with an out-of-this-world creature at their side. They can design a never-ending flag, make a magical menu and become a climate hero of tomorrow.

18. It is dubbed 'the healthiest building in the Netherlands', and 2025 sees the completion of SAWA. A unique, circular and Paris Proof wooden residential building 50 meters high. The building is constructed entirely in CLT (cross laminated timber) and Glulam (laminated wood): the use of concrete has been kept to a minimum.

19. International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is partnering with Katoenhuis on the 2025 edition of its Art Directions Programme - a space dedicated to immersive media where the festival steps out of the screening room and pushes the limits of what cinema can be, with immersive works from multidisciplinary creators.

20. Kunsthal Rotterdam is showing Cute, an exhibition delving into the cultural and social significance of cuteness, from 5 July to 23 November 2025. It highlights kawaii, internet memes, and design. Visitors will encounter iconic elements such as Hello Kitty, a symbol of the kawaii movement, alongside more recent examples like internet memes and emojis that dominate digital communication.

21. The Rijnhaven area is being redeveloped and last summer urban swimming was allowed for the first time. And it has been confirmed that it will return next summer. And you can even combine a swim with a Kuuma sauna overlooking the waterfront.

22. In A Surreal Myth, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen pairs six contemporary artists – none of whom identify as male – with the museum’s rich, renowned surrealism collection. Expect a 21st-century look at an iconic movement. On view: autumn 2025 at Depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

23. Veerhuis will be a place where everything revolves around text, language and writing. The building dates from 1917 and is being thoroughly renovated. It is expected to open in the fall of 2025.

24. Multi Multi is a versatile lunch café and catering studio, led by Laurence van Bergeijk and Lieke van der Wel. Focussing on serving real, honest, good food and creating events that combine music and art. Besides their own projects, Multi can be hired to provide a wide range of services. From cooking and producing to programming, branding, and hospitality consultancy.

25. Watch this space.