Chinatown
Just walk out the front of rotterdam centraal station to the first intersection. you can't miss it!
Euromast
There's also a great restaurant halfway up the tower, with good food at a good price.
International Film Festival Rotterdam
IFFR is an annual film festival held in various cinemas at the end of January. It is one of the larger film festivals in Europe.
Maeslantkering
Storm surge barrier that is one of the largest moving structures in the world.
Blaak
The area around train station Blaak. The area was destroyed by a German bombardment during World War II, forcing the Netherlands to surrender. After the war, it has been reconstructed with all kinds of strange and fascinating buildings. Especially the Cube Houses are worth seeing. The marketplace is also here on each Tuesday, Saturday all year around and every Sunday in the summer, it is definitely worth a visit to get acquainted with local food and customs. And the Old Harbour Oude Haven is around the corner for a drink and a bite to eat.
Football
Rotterdam boasts three professional footballclubs, feyenoord, sparta, and excelsior (http://www.sbvexcelsior.nl/). especially games of feyenoord (http://www.feyenoord.nl/), that draw huge crowds, and sparta (http://www.sparta-rotterdam.nl/ with a more homey atmosphere) are well worth a visit.
Delfshaven
Easily accessible by metro station of the same name, historic delfshaven is a very scenic walk. it consists of an 17th-century area around two canals with a lot of charm. by day visit the dubbelde palmboom museum, the pilgrimfathers' church, or the little shops in this neighbourhood. by night atractive pubs and restaurants make the visit worthwile.
Spido harbour trip
You only see the first 8 km of the harbor starting at the Erasmus bridge the trip doesn't go all the way to the north sea, and skips some of the more interesting harbors But Rotterdam is REALLY big, so even in those first 8 km there's plenty to see.
Shipyard 'De Delft'
Follow the construction of the 18th century ship-of-the-line 'De Delft' from close-by. 'De Delft' will become one of the largest ship replica's in the world.
Snerttram
The Snerttram, a historical tram, runs on weekends and provides a guided tour of Rotterdam along the tram routes for around 90 minutes. Extensive commentary is given in Dutch, but you can get some English too if requested. (http://www.snerttram.nl/0...)
De Rotterdam (ss Rotterdam)
water sports and yachting
Being a major harbour and having lots of waterways and lakes, Rotterdam has a lot to offer for water-enthousiasts.Boating: There are four major lakes in Rotterdam. The Kralingse Plas, The double Bergse Plas, the Rottemeren and the Zevenhuizer Plas. All of them have active yachting communities and sometimes sailing races can be seen. The Zevenhuizer plas is mainly populated by Windsurf enthousiasts. Sailing boats can be rented at the Kralingse Plas at the Van Gent sailing school (http://www.henkvangent.nl/), Plaszoom, a 10 minute walk from Metro Voorschoterlaan walk through the Julianalaan until you reach Plaszoom. Rowing- and sailing boats can be rented at the windmill at the very end of the eastern Rottekade at Van Vliet's (http://www.botenverhuurva...), go by car or bike, a very nice ride.Yachting: When visiting Rotterdam with your own yacht you will find that most yachting harbours are on the inland waterways, were there are a lot of them. On the river Maas you will only find the City Marina (http://www.citymarinarott...), behind a bascule bridge on the southern bank, and the Veerhaven (http://www.veerhavenrotte...), right in the city center on the northern bank. Unless you need the better shelter of the characterless City Marina, go for the admittedly a little choppy Veerhaven marina, very central and scenic.
beach
The closest good beach is a short trainride 32 min away at Hook of Holland. Trains leave Rotterdam Centraal station every half hour. Wait for the last station, Hoek van Holland Strand strand = beach. Here you will find a very fine sand beach with good swimming and enough entertainment. Leave the town of Hoek van Holland proper to itself, there is nothing there.
For a more urban-party beach experience head to Scheveningen where you can find everything beach-party addicts dream about; Endless rows of beachside bars, restaurants and discoteques and a boulevard along a splendid fine-sand beach. It can get very crowded here. Take the train to Den Haag HS station and from there Tram 1, or take the train to Den Haag Centraal Station and Tram 9 subsequently.
unique attractions
When you want to combine a unique experience with a great view over the city of Rotterdam, you can make a tandemskydive at Skydive Rotterdam (http://www.skydiverotterd...). At Skydive Rotterdam also called The Flying Dutchman you can book a tandem skydive or do a complete skydiving course and jump from a hight of 3 or 4 kilometers. It's the only skydiving school in the "Randstad" area and the only place in the Netherlands where you can jump over a a major city like Rotterdam. When the weather's good you will have a spectacuair view over the Rotterdam skyline and other parts of the Randstad area, all the way to the coastline.
An airplane can be rented at reasonable rates at Rotterdam Aiport at Happy Wing (http://vliegen.rotterdams...). Nice tours above the city, its ports or the coastline are on offer.
On summer Sundays, it is possible to lower yourself down from the Euromast. On last Sundays of summermonths you can glide down in 15 seconds on a wire tokkelen. Both: Not for the faint of heart! Check the website of Heightspecialists (http://heightspecialists....)
cinema
There are two huge megacinemas in Rotterdam. The one in the city centre is called Pathé Schouwburgplein located at the Schouwburgplein, the other one is on the southside of the city. It's called Pathé De Kuip located next to the Feyenoord stadium De Kuip. In these cinemas you can see Hollywood movies and occasionally an arthouse movie.
If you're more into alternative cinema go to Lantaren/Venster Cinema Otto Reuchlinweg 996 (Wilhelminapier, (http://www.lantaren-venst...). Here you'll get European, Asian and latin american cinema in a nice atmosphere. It has a nice bar too. The other option is Cinerama Westblaak 18 which shows a combination of art/house films and commercial Hollywood flicks. During the IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam, which usually takes place in February, art-house movies are shown at much more locations throughout the city.
In August, an open air cinema at the Lloyd's Kwartier shows both blockbusters and independent films. Entrance is free, and you can either bring your own chair or rent one onsite. To get there, take the subway to Coolhaven and walk for about 10-15 minutes towards the river in the south.
Events
IFFR
(http://www.filmfestivalro...) the international film festival rotterdam, which mainly features independent films from all over the world in february.
Art Rotterdam
(http://www.artrotterdam.nl/) in february were you can see and buy masterpieces of modern art.
Motel Mozaique
(http://www.motelmozaique....) music, art & performance. plus a sleeping project that enables sleeping in art or on special locations in rotterdam april
Marathon
The Marathon (http://www.fortismarathon...) in April, internationally reputed as a very fast marathon.
North Sea Jazz
The sublime North Sea Jazz (http://www.northseajazz.com/) festival in July with loads of worldfamous artists.
Dunya
The very nice Dunya (http://www.dunya.nl/) festival with lots of world music artists in May, and it's free!
Rotterdam plays host to a lot of events, a lot of them yearly ones. Besides these there are a lot smaller ones that can be very nice, so ask around and check the VVV website. A few of these yearly events to name:
Summer Carnival
(http://www.zomercarnaval.nl/) a huge caribbean-oriented parade and party in the city centre.
Danceparade
The Danceparade (http://www.fitforfreedanc...) in August. The Rotterdam version of the Love Parade.
Heerlijk Rotterdam
(http://www.heerlijkrotter...) three day event where you can sample dishes from michelin-star restaurants for a reduced price dates vary, summer edition usually late august, first winter edition in 2010 in january
World Port Days
The World Port Days (http://www.wereldhavendag...) a weekend full of activities centered around the large harbour of Rotterdam early September
Gergjev
The classical music Gergjev (http://www.gergievfestival.nl/) festival in September, led by master-conductor Valery Gergjev.
For full listings of events check the website of the Rotterdam VVV; (http://www.rotterdam.info/uk/) and Use-it (http://www.use-it.nl/).