Going Dutch

Forget the traditional images of Holland - windmills, tulips and little Dutch girls in milk-maid hats and clogs.

Holland's second largest city, Rotterdam offers a stark contrast to the tourist magnet of Amsterdam.

Towering skyscrapers and futuristic architecture dominate the city alongside the world's largest port, where millions of tonnes of cargo are transported every year.

Bombed almost to oblivion during the Second World War, the city centre and port had to be completely rebuilt. This has given the city a modern, functional and multicultural feel.

The city even has its own World Trade Centre, the Beurs WTC, helping establish Rotterdam as Holland's answer to New York.

With museums covering every subject from photography and schools to the police force and the city's resistance against the Nazis, visitors will never be short of things to do.

No visit to the city is complete without a trip up the Euromast, the tallest building in the Netherlands, which offers an impressive bird's-eye view of the city. Although the weather was a little foggy when I visited the 185-metre high attraction, it was still a great way of familiarising myself with the area and getting a good look at the cosy harbours nestled throughout the city.

Getting to the top of the Euromast is an adventure in itself. Sitting inside the building's "space-cabin", visitors with a head for heights are propelled to the top of the tower by rockets with the cabin slowly rotating until it is brought back to the 112-metre platform by retro rockets.

The Walk of Fame, near the city's famous Maritime Museum, which includes a 19th century turret ship complete with prison cells, is just one of the examples of how Rotterdammers have tried to bring a touch of star quality to their city. The Hollywood-style promenade displays the handprints and footprints of stars from Jon Bon Jovi and Cliff Richard to Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner.

Those who prefer hitting the shops to browsing museums and art galleries will not be disappointed. Rotterdam is a shopper's paradise packed with both Dutch and international shops including a large underground shopping centre.

The only downside was that so many of the shops in Rotterdam have branches in the UK and so in some parts of the city you could almost be walking down a bustling street in London, Manchester or Leeds.

One attraction completely unique to Rotterdam is the famous cube houses. The unusual homes, which balance crazily on their corners, more resemble a pile of sugar cubes than traditional Dutch houses.

Visitors can satisfy their curiosity at how people can live in such an angular abode (without the aid of a pointed head) by visiting the show cube, the Kijk-Kubus. For a small fee we wandered around the bizarre three storey house, which like Doctor Who's Tardis, seemed much more spacious and habitable from the inside.

Transport around the city is quick and easy. Rotterdam's metro station is clean, cheap and very simple, and with only two lines, it makes the London Underground seem like a labyrinth.

And if the metro doesn't serve your needs, the city also has an extensive network of trams and buses.

One of the only off-putting things about Rotterdam is that it has a problem with graffiti and vandalism. The city has clearly tried to come up with ways of placating its bored teenagers, including a giant skatepark in the centre, but, as might be expected from a city with almost 600,000 inhabitants, there are parts, which have been somewhat marred by spray-paint murals and litter.

But those who prefer clean, unspoilt countryside to a large bustling metropolis should not be put off visiting Rotterdam. The city is just a stone's throw from beautiful landscapes, complete with Holland's trademark windmills.

I visited Dordrecht, Holland's oldest town, just a 15-minute train ride from Rotterdam. With its picturesque harbour and charming street-cafs, Dordrecht is a picture-postcard example of a traditional Dutch town.

Also worth a visit is the old fortified town of Brielle. With an impressive 400 historic monuments, narrow atmospheric streets crammed with individual gift shops and boutiques and a scenic walk along the canal, the town has plenty to offer the passing tourist.

I also spent some time in Hellevoetsluis, another historic town in the Rotterdam region. A short drive from the gigantic Europort, Hellevoetsluis includes an attractive harbour, a variety of traditional pubs, cafs and restaurants and a pretty windmill thrown in for good measure. The historic bunkers, which are scattered along the coast, reveal the town's once important role in Holland's coastal defence.

When flying back to England I was left with the feeling that there were still many things I wanted to see and do in the Rotterdam area. I am already considering a return visit.

Updated: 16:00 Friday, October 31, 2003