Where will we be on King’s Day?! With the King and his family in Rotterdam!
I always wanted to be in Netherlands for Kings Day and here we end up in the same City as them on the same day!
King’s Day is the Dutch national holiday celebrating the King’s birthday on April 27th!
It looks like each year King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and their family spend it in a different Netherlands City each year. This year they will be spending it in Rotterdam, which I believe is close to home for them as they live at Huis ten Bosch Palace in the Hague.
How to Celebrate King’s Day in Rotterdam!
Celebrations start the night before as people deck themselves out in orange and hit the streets and canals. Even the royal family comes out to celebrate with Dutch citizens! And while the main party happens in Amsterdam, Rotterdam hosts the second biggest party in the country. Here is info on the Royal family, some history, and what is happening on this day – we will be part of a 4 million Euro party!! Planning on taking part in the celebrations? Check out this guide on How to Celebrate King’s Day in Rotterdam!
I am not sure what we will be doing in Rotterdam on King’s Day! Maybe people watching! lol. As I hear there will be lots of people! I always laugh at this picture from Kings Day Amsterdam. This is crazy the amount of people!!!
Here is info I received from cousin Vonnetje that will be very helpful for our day in Rotterdam.
“Hi Sonya, It will indeed be very busy in Rotterdam on King’s Day. In Delft, take the train to Dordrecht, get off at Blaak station. There is the Markthal, nice to walk around and have a drink, on the Blaak are also the cube houses. Nearby is the Laurenskerk, beautiful to view. Then walk through the shopping street to the “Koopgoot.
Then you can possibly go to the Oudehaven and Erasmus Bridge. Then you see hotel NewYork, there is the cruise terminal where Pake and Beppe boarded the boat to Canada, there are still cruise ships docked.” She also mentioned the Kijk-Kubus meseumhuis. aahh….which are the cube houses. Quite the design! (see pick below)
The Markthal looks like a gorgeous shopping centre!
The Bombing of Rotterdam
So much of Rotterdam was destroyed in May 1940 in the Battle of Rotterdam during the German attack. The objective was to support the German troops fighting in the city, break Dutch resistance and force the Dutch army to surrender. More than 30,000 buildings were destroyed, almost 1,000 people died, and 80,000 were left homeless.
What remains?
There is a city icon, The Schielandshuis, “House of the City” which is one of the preserved historic buildings in Rotterdam. Bart’s cousin Vonnetje sent me info on this and I want to make sure to see this. I think what is cool is that you have a 17th century building in the centre of the city surrounded by new buildings. It is sad to think of how much around it was destroyed. I am looking forward to learning more of the history of this City.
Other things that remain are:
– Sint-Laurenskerk (St. Lawrence’s Church)
– Rotterdam’s City Hall – was build between 1914 and 1920. In 2020 they recognized it as Rijksmonument.
– Delfshaven
I know we will have a great day touring around Rotterdam with all the other orange people! (we will have to remember to wear our orange to fit in with the locals!)
If you have been to Rotterdam, please share your favorite places to go and see!!
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