Traveling from abroad to the Netherlands, you will usually fly into Schiphol airport. This European hub is fairly close to Amsterdam, but you’ll have to count in some extra time for checking in, getting to your gate and the planes usually need a lot of time to taxi to and from the gate. If you want travel a bit faster and explore other cities than Amsterdam as well, flying to RotterdamThe Hague Airport is the smarter option.
Not everyone knows this secret, as the Amsterdam tourism board is spending a lot of money on marketing. But since I am travelling a lot around Europe, I have good reasons to choose RTM instead of AMS. Even when I find cheaper flights to or from other airports in The Netherlands, I prefer Rotterdam The Hague. Here’s why:
- No more midnight adventures – arriving or departing in the middle of the night is horrible. Flights to and from Rotterdam respect the sleep of the people living close to the airport. So you will never have to wake up in the middle of the night and public transport services all departure times.
- Closeby – the centre of Rotterdam is only 20 minutes away by public transport. And that for less than 2 euros oneway! From Rotterdam Central other popular destinations are easy to travel to. Utrecht and Amsterdam are only 45 minutes away by train. Delft, The Hague and the beach even in less than half an hour!
- Fast, really fast – I never took me more than 10 minutes to get through security after check-in. And all gates are within 1 minute walk, eventhough 30 seconds is more likely the time it will take you. When arriving at Rotterdam The Hague, you’ll hardly wait more than 15 minutes for your luggage. And that includes the time for getting off the plane.
- Cosy livingroom – I never saw an airport that so much felt like a home. Usually you get this feeling in airline lounges, but it is the standard here. Ok, you’ll have to pay for your coffee, but at least you can enjoy it on a comfy couch or on a nice loungechair.
- Taxiing? – getting on a plane or landing at a large airport usually means that you’ll have to add 30 minutes to your travel time for taxiing. Not at Rotterdam The Hague Airport. As soon as your plane leaves the gate, you’re ready to fly.
Once you have decided to fly to Rotterdam, you might as well take a day or two to explore this vibrant city. Rough Guides, New York Times and CNN named it recently as one of the most exciting destinations in The Netherlands. I’ve listed some nice hotels for you in this blogpost and also wrote some posts on restaurants, burgerbars and gay nightlife.
And in case you were wondering: this post was not sponsored in any way. Nor are most of the posts on That Guy From Rotterdam; I am just very enthusiastic about this city. And hope you’ll come and find out why yourself! Feel free to send me your experiences on traveling to Rotterdam as I would love to write an article about other peoples experiences in Rotterdam.
