Everyone knows Rotterdam for its modern architecture, but the city also has a lively street art scene. We lived here for years (Sebastiaan for around fifteen), and on our walks through the centre we kept stumbling on new murals. So on your city break, don’t just stop at the Markthal and the Euromast: go hunting for the best street art in Rotterdam too. In this blog we take you past our favourites.
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The best graffiti and murals in Rotterdam
Street art on and around Witte de Withstraat
Nowhere in Rotterdam will you see as many murals in one place as around Witte de Withstraat. By day you wander past galleries and little shops; in the evening it’s one of the liveliest streets for drinks and dinner. Café De Witte Aap even made it onto a Lonely Planet list of the best bars in the world.
Want to stay nearby? CityHub Rotterdam has clever sleeping pods right in the nightlife area, and The James Rotterdam on Aert van Nesstraat is about a ten-minute walk away. Chances are you’ll end up in this part of town anyway, so take your time for the street art while you’re here.
You can’t miss the work at the end of the street, on the corner with Schiedamse Vest and opposite the nice little pub Reijngoud: Mankind is the measure of all things by Daan Botlek. Botlek is known for his small white figures in the strangest poses, and here they clamber up a green façade. At the bottom you can join in yourself, as metal steps let you climb into the artwork.
Our favourite is just around the corner: Love Spreads by Ramon Martins, a colourful mural with an art nouveau feel in Kromme Elleboog, a side street off Witte de With. It dates from 2009, when several Brazilian graffiti artists came to Rotterdam for an exhibition on Brazilian art and left the city a new work.
Around the corner in Zwarte Paardenstraat you’ll also find El Trotamundos by Chilean artist Jorge Kata Nuñez. The name means ‘globetrotter’, and you can see why in this colourful 2007 mural with a huge horse in the starring role. Look closely and you’ll spot a world map painted in red on the horse. The artwork even has its own Wikipedia page (in Dutch).
On Schiekade, another side street off Witte de With, there’s the Scots International Church mosaic. The garden wall around the church is decorated with a huge mosaic of almost thirty square metres. It was made in 2014 by around a hundred local residents and churchgoers, who spent a whole year on it.
Keep wandering and you’ll find plenty more. Lastplak painted a wall full of Rotterdam icons, from the Euromast and the Cube Houses to the Markthal and the Erasmus Bridge. Mr Serious and The London Police teamed up on a black and white piece, and artist Tymon proposed to his girlfriend with his mural Love Birds. A little further on you’ll find his Mister Merida too.
Rotterdam street art around the Schieblock
A second street art hotspot is the Schieblock, close to Rotterdam Central Station. On summer afternoons you can have a drink in the open-air Biergarten, and for breakfast or lunch you head up to the rooftop at Op het Dak.
For years, the yellow Luchtsingel was the most photogenic artwork in the area. The almost 400-metre wooden footbridge linked the city centre to Rotterdam-Noord via the Schieblock, and it was largely paid for by crowdfunding: the yellow planks carried the names of everyone who had bought a piece. After years of heavy use the wood was worn out and the bridge was taken down. Rotterdam isn’t letting its icon disappear, though: a new, permanent Luchtsingel is on its way, and the city is now having it designed.
At the Hofbogen, where the Luchtsingel ended, there used to be the famous Pink Wall. It made way for a less pink but just as colourful mural by Opperclaes XL.
Art route past the best street art in Rotterdam
Walk through the centre, especially around Witte de Withstraat and the Schieblock, and you can hardly miss the street art. If you want to see the best pieces in one go, plan your own art route using the map below.
Prefer some background? There are also guided street art tours that tell you the stories behind the works. Bear in mind that street art comes and goes: there’s a good chance something new will have appeared on a wall by the time you walk past.
Rotterdam street art map
On this street art map you’ll find all the artworks we mention in this blog:
