Rotterdam Nightlife: 13 hotspots popular with locals ( Eat+Drink+Party!)

Nightlife in Rotterdam: what is it like? In short? Amazing. Probably one of my favourite places to party in Europe. My love affair with Rotterdam started years ago when I visited as a guest of the tourism board to sample some of Rotterdam’s fabled nightlife. It was an awesome experience. If you’re looking for an awesome clubbing break in Europe without the Ibiza price tag, Rotterdam is a city that all music lovers and clubbers should visit. To help update this guide, I asked a few locals, actually Rotterdam hostel owners who always know the best and cheapest places to party and drink, about their favourite nightlife hotspots. These are their tips. In a relatively short radius of Witte de Withstraat you can discover the best of Rotterdam’s eclectic nightlife scene where on any one night you can listen to anything from Motown jazz, dubstep, electro, house or Britpop. This is my favourite place to party in Rotterdam.

Where to eat in Rotterdam

If you’re looking to line your stomach with some cheap and delicious food, these are the places where go to line their stomach before the big night out in town. For more tips, checkout this guide on where to eat in Rotterdam

1. Bazar

Address; Witte de Withstraat 16
Phone +31(0)10-206 51 51

I am a huge fan of Bazar which specialises in North African and Middle Eastern food. One of the reasons I love coming back to Rotterdam is to eat here. The interior is extraordinary: Turkish lanterns, rich Persian rugs, souk-style panelling and vividly painted tables. I highly recommend the Tavuk Shish Kebab. Plus the breakfast they serve is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Book ahead on weekends.

2. Restaurant “Bierhandel” De Pijp

Address: Gaffelstraat 90, 3024 EM Rotterdam

The oldest restaurant in Rotterdam, built in a former garage. De Pijp is one of those locals-only places that is kind of a hidden secret.

If you haven’t even been to De Pijp you are not a real Rotterdammer! It’s nothing fancy. You just sit down next to people you don’t know and chat, drink and eat.”

Monique Segeren, Hostel ROOM

3. Hans Bode

Address: Coolsingel / Beursplein, 3011 AE Rotterdam

Last but not least, do visit Mr Hans Bode, an icon of Rotterdam. In Coolsingel, you’ll find his food cart Hans Worst, where he roasts his biological, calorie-busting, delicious Rotdogs. Hans also loves serving his dogs with very spicy chillies. He has a special variety of habanero peppers that is apparently the second hottest chilli in the world. You have been warned.

Where to drink in Rotterdam

4. Sjatzi

Address: Westzeedijk 68A, 3016 AG Rotterdam

A favourite hangout spot for locals, Sjatzi is an old strip club turned hipster bar. The place still breathes the hedonistic atmosphere of its neon-lit past, with poles on the bar and mirrors all around. Male and female pole dancers grease the pole on weekends while attentive bartenders serve a nice selection of German beers, Russian vodka, cocktails and various kinds of caviar.

5. Suicide Club

If you are looking for something more upmarket and expensive,  cocktails at Suicide Club are fantastic plus they have a great rooftop view.

6. Aloha Bar

6.  Aloha Bar

Address: Maasboulevard 100, 3063 NS Rotterdam

Home to the former swimming pool Tropicana, complete with the wild water slopes that hostel owner Monique used to love as a kid, Aloha Bar is popular with locals in the summer thanks to its advantageous location by the river.

“On the outside terrace they built swings..where you have the best view of the skyline of Rotterdam.”

Joyce Brouwer, Hostel Ani & Haakien

7.  Bierboutique 

Address: Witte de Withstraat 40B

Bierboutique is a proper craft beer bar on Witte de Withstraat. A seemingly endless beer menu, outdoor seating perfect for summer afternoons and a cosy interior make it one of the most popular bars on the strip. If you’re an Untappd user, get your badge here.

Photo: Marc Heeman

Nightlife in Rotterdam guide

My happiest memories of Rotterdam are all under a blurry sheet of darkness when the street lights switch on. The volume goes up a few notches the moment the sun sets and all of a sudden you find yourself swimming in a pool of glorious humanity. Booze too. Witte de Withstraat. Rotterdam’s party street and one of Europe’s greatest streets. Think of Rotterdam as Ibiza but without the pricetag. Some of Europe’s coolest concept bars and clubs can be found in this city.

8. The Performance Bar

Address: Boomgaardsstraat 69, 3012 XA Rotterdam

Check out the Performance Bar on Boomgaardsstraat, which consists of a bar, a musical organ, a bathtub and a stage. They have interesting performances every hour on top of the bar, if it hasn’t turned into a bathtub.

9. De Witte Aap

Once voted as one of the best bars in the world by Lonely Planet readers, the evergreen De Witte Aap has a great selection of cocktails, craft beers and Belgian brews. The heated terrace means you can sit outside all year round, while DJs play on Saturdays. The building dates back to 1888 and was a grocery store until the war. It still has that brilliant sense of a place that has been a lot of things and is now exactly what it is supposed to be.

10. Rotown

I love the tropical charm of the Tiki Bar, Café LaBru with its vintage New York interior plus Rotown (Nieuwe Binnenweg 17-19 ) is another key favourite. By day a diner, in the evening the tables gets cleared and the decks come out. Often they host upcoming bands-the owners Tare great for picking out talented artists and bands that subsequently become major acts like The Wombats, Saybia, The Kooks and Franz Ferdinand have all performed. So who knows who you will see?

“If you like Soul & Jazz then BIRD is the best place to go in Rotterdam. Especially during the North Sea Jazz Festival you can see some really nice shows from big names here as they are the official afterparty for the Festival (Boogieball). Their location is also really nice; located under an old railway viaduct.”

Mirjam Verschoor, Hostel ROOM

11. Blender

Blender (Schiedamse Vest 91-93 ) Blender for cocktails is also a good shout. The trendy, industrial interior of Blender is modelled on the cocktail bars of New York.The place follows the concept of being part cocktail bar and part restaurant serving up nouvelle gastronomy. The restaurant gives way to becoming a nightclub at night where you find a very fashionable 25+ crowd of glamorous people dancing their night away. Cocktails here are on the pricer side starting from 7-10 euros pricemark but even just for the one drink, very worthwhile stopping here on your Rotterdam nightlife odyssey.

12. Worm

WORM (Witte de Withstraat 63 ) If you love experimental music, definitely checkout the very avant garde art gallery/ venue WORM. By day Worm is an exhibition space for artists inspired by punk, dada and futurism and at night its serves as a venue for inspiring events. I met some very quirky personalities there. Was good fun. Drinks are very reasonably priced with spirit w/ mixer around €7 euros and draft beers for 4 euros. They even stock Brewdog beer so any place that serves Brewdog gets the thumbs up from me! I had a chance meeting with Dutch party guru Ted Langebach at Worm.He is the founder and creative director of the Rotterdam dance club Now & Wow which I’ve been told is one of the biggest club nights in the area and not to be missed.

13. Club Vibes 

If you like clubs that are small, intimate and easygoing then you’ll love the next place I visited: Club Vibes ( Westersingel 50a ) Popular with locals for almost 10 years, Vibes is where the party continues all night well into the early hours ( 5 am to be precise ) It’s the kind of club attracts a mixed crowd where everyone just gets on really well and knows how to have a good time. On Thursdays alternative music is played like dub step or electro. For mainstream pop and good old classics, visit Vibes on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s free admission before 1 am on Friday or Saturday with the Rotterdam Welcome Card
Tip: Worthwhile investing in the Rotterdam Welcome Card  for your weekend in Rotterdam. Costing just 12 euros, give you unlimited travel on public transport and 54 discounts within local visitor and nightlife attractions.

14.  Toffler  

Address: Weena-Zuid 33  

Toffler did not exist when I first wrote this guide and it is now one of the most important clubs in the city. Set in a former underground pedestrian tunnel near Rotterdam Central Station, this underground techno club has one of the most extraordinary features I have seen in any club: a moveable DJ booth with a fully integrated sound and lighting system that physically moves back and forth during the night on a hydraulic system designed specifically for the venue. The result is a space that adapts to the crowd as the night unfolds. Hard techno, low ceilings, LED strip lighting and a dancefloor full of people who mean it. Open Fridays and Saturdays from midnight.

15.  Maassilo and Now & Wow  

Address: Maashaven Zuidzijde 1-2  |  Metro: Maashaven (lines D and E)

I mentioned earlier Dutch party guru Ted Langebach at WORM and his club night Now and Wow. Well, Now and Wow has found its permanent home and it is spectacular. Maassilo is a former grain silo on the southern banks of the Maas River, over 100 years old, transformed into a cultural centre with multiple club venues. The raw industrial halls are enormous and perfect for the techno and house music events that fill it every weekend. The top floor is Now and Wow’s home. Multiple rooms, serious sound systems and a crowd that travels from across the country to be here. If you are coming to Rotterdam for one big night, this is where you want to be.

I covered a fair bit in this places but there are so many more places -hope this article does give you an idea of the variety and depth of the nightlife scene in Rotterdam. To all tommorrow’s parties in Rotterdam…. I can’t wait to go back.

Practical Rotterdam tips

Rotterdam Welcome Card  Well worth investing in for a weekend in Rotterdam. Gives you unlimited travel on public transport plus discounts at local attractions and nightlife venues. Check the current price on the Rotterdam tourism website as it has changed since this guide was first written.

Getting to Rotterdam  The high-speed train from Schiphol takes around 26 minutes. The regular intercity train takes around 49 minutes. Check NS (Dutch Railways) at ns.nl for current fares. From London, Eurostar to Brussels or Amsterdam with an onward connection is now the most straightforward option. Flixbus also runs affordable coach services from various European cities.

Rotterdam Welcome Card 

Well worth investing in for a weekend in Rotterdam. Gives you unlimited travel on public transport plus discounts at local attractions and nightlife venues.

Getting to Rotterdam

The high-speed train from Schiphol takes around 26 minutes. The regular intercity train takes around 49 minutes. Check NS (Dutch Railways) at ns.nl for current fares. From London, Eurostar to Brussels or Amsterdam with an onward connection is now the most straightforward option. Flixbus also runs affordable coach services from various European cities.

Getting around Rotterdam

Witte de Withstraat and Nieuwe Binnenweg are walkable from the city centre. For Maassilo, take the metro to Maashaven on lines D or E. Toffler is a five-minute walk from Rotterdam Centraal. For late nights, taxis and Uber are reliable options when the night trams wind down.