The Dakendagen event in Rotterdam is a yearly event in June where you get to explore and experience skyline views from up to 40 rooftops that the public usually do not have access to. Every year there are new rooftops being added to the list, expanding the event to include live music and yoga classes. The city of Rotterdam has space on rooftops, ready for use and initiatives to use them more on a daily basis too.  Since we had a busy weekend planned with other events we only took part in one tour from the Dakendagen event in Rotterdam for 2018. Unfortunately for us was on Saturday when it was misty, cloudy and the occasional rain drops.
Dakendagen World Trade Center
We started at my all-time favourite view of the city, which can be found at the top of the World Trade Centre (WTC) located on the busy main street Coolsingel. With this rooftop you can get a full 360 views of the city easily spotting Delft and The Hague in the distance on a good day. Once on the roof you are on the 25th floor.
I visited the WTC rooftop last year for the first time when we were more lucky with the weather, but a second time was a must to see the new developments in the city and enjoy the views once more. Some of the highlights of the city I enjoy viewing is the Erasmus bridge, the Markthal, Cubic Houses, the Laurenskerk and towards Rotterdam Central station.
Dakendagen World Port Center
From this viewpoint we headed to our next roof at the World Port Center, a new building for Dakendagen 2018. We picked this tour as we had never been to a rooftop on the south side of the river before, so this was our chance! By the time we had arrived on our bikes, it was raining a little harder but were still allowed up to view as it would of only been cancelled with strong winds.
Checking in with our identification and waiting for the rest of our group, it wasn’t long until we were in the lift heading to the top floor. Not a rooftop for those scared of heights, as the flooring was made up of metal bars where you could look right through! The view we had was pretty amazing, even with the misty and rain clouds we could see quite a lot. The cruise terminal was busy with boarding the last passengers of the MS Rotterdam below us, docked next to the amazing Erasmusbrug. It would have been awesome to watch the cruise ship leave from above but our tour time slot was an hour too early!
Walking further around the roof, we could also see clearly the water taxis and Hotel New York at the end of the area Kop van Zuid. You could really see clearly the text written on the ground too, where many ships docked and departed to New York during WW2.
And lastly a fantastic view of the rest of Kop van Zuid, looking directly over the Cruise Terminal and KPN headquarters to the Deloitte building. We easily spent our 30 minutes on this rooftop spying on tourists and locals below us as well as pointing out things we could see in the distance.
Throwback to Dakendagen 2017
Showing only these beautiful but cloudy photos made us look back to 2017 where we wanted to share some sunshine photos with you too. Take a look below at some other rooftops we visited last year with a different tour choice.
Spot us waving in the reflection from the World Port Center rooftop
Read more of our Rotterdam posts!Â
Rotterdam Museum ’40-’45 NU
Discover the prettiest neighborhood Kralingen
I love this event as I really love living in this city seeing the skylines from different angle. Furthermore my love of photography has been growing since I took a photography class in Jan 2018 and learnt so much at my first travel blogging conference at Traverse 18, so this event was more exciting than ever to put my skills to practice!
Tips:
- Don’t take a large bag as you will be walking and climbing stairs (when there’s no lift) all day
- Take water with you – always good no matter what the weather!
- You must book your tickets in advance (some tours sell out fast so keep a look out for the advertisements)
- Cycling between each rooftop is easiest, but also doable with public transport or walking
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Did you visit the Rooftop Days weekend event in Rotterdam this year? What did you think? Did you love it as much as us? Let us know in the comments!
15 Comments
Julie Boyd
11th July 2018 at 7:57 pmThis looks like a fun was to see Rotterdam from varying perspectives! Thanks for the tips, especially about preparing to take stairs all day.
Kimberly Erin
11th July 2018 at 8:09 pmOh my gosh that is a super interesting concept for the city! I haven’t herd of anything like that but I think its a great idea, what cool perspectives
Suzy
12th July 2018 at 12:45 amWow that is so cool! What a unique idea. I always find the most interesting views are from above in a city, you get such a different experience than on ground level! Some really great tips here too, great read!
This Wanderlust Heart
12th July 2018 at 4:22 amThis is such an interesting way to see Rotterdam! I really love rooftop views but I bet it can be quite exhausting to be climbing stairs all day!
Togetherintransit
16th July 2018 at 10:44 amYes it was a bit tiring! But luckily there were a few lifts to use too 🙂
NieNie
12th July 2018 at 7:15 amGreat tips! This looks like a fun city to visit. I swear I’ve seen that bridge before, maybe it was in a movie. Anyways, looks like they have some amazing architecture.
Meghan Ramsey
12th July 2018 at 2:31 pmI love love love a good view! This is such a cool concept and sounds like a great event. The tips are super helpful too!
Togetherintransit
16th July 2018 at 10:46 amThank you for replying Meghan! It’s a cool concept for sure, I hope other cities start doing this as it’s so fun for tourists as well as the locals to see more of their own city!
Kareemah Ashiru
12th July 2018 at 6:11 pmThis is a really cool idea! And I particularly loved the view where you guys could see your reflection from the glass building!
Togetherintransit
16th July 2018 at 10:46 amThank you Kareemah! That photo turned out better than we expected hehe 🙂
Chirasree Banerjee
12th July 2018 at 6:45 pmThe Dakendagen event in Rotterdam is such a beautiful concept! If I return to Europe, I would love to do this at least once. Through your photographs, I enjoyed those stunning views. Thank you for this lovely share. I am glad I came across your blog.
Namra
13th July 2018 at 12:29 amWhat a cool concept! It’s a great way to get to know your own city as well, I can imagine. I would argue you were in a way lucky with the weather, the pictures with the fog look so mysterious and have a nice atmosphere. I’m a fan of fog and mist 😂
Togetherintransit
16th July 2018 at 10:48 amThank you Namra! True true, the fog does give the city such a different mysterious look – a positive way to look at it 😀
Kristin
13th July 2018 at 1:26 amWhat a cool event! I do love a good rooftop view (particularly when there’s a bar haha). And I would of course be people watching like you!
Moriah
2nd April 2019 at 8:49 pmThis is soo cool! I had no idea it even existed.
I love those views of the cars. It’s crazy how toylike everything looks from above.