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'ad it with Amsterdam? OutUK's Adrian Gillan reaches Nether-parts other guides don't reach
in Holland's creative and buzzing electro capital Rotterdam.
Holland's second biggest city, in its south west - birthplace of the great Dutch humanist Erasmus, and home to around two thirds of a million - punches well above its gay weight! Somewhat blitzed in the last war, Rotterdam has risen - ex nihilo, from the ashes - as a creative, cutting edge and contemporary hot-house in the fields of electro-music, art, architecture and design. | |
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Yet it still retains its links to the waterfront and harbour that put it on the map and
reaped riches centuries ago via sea trade links with the Dutch East Indies; all intermingled
with dramatic space-age bridges and towers.
A great way to see the city is by foot or guided bicycle tour (see The Little Black Book below), taking in the modern Cube Buildings overlooking the massive marketplace; the lovely walkway through the Old Harbour and floating section of the Maritime Museum; the Walk of Fame, full of hand and footprints of the great and good; the futuristic Erasmus Bridge; the Het Park and Euromast; and Museum Park and Kunsthal - not to mention all the amazing pedestrianised shopping areas just back from the sparkling water. |
Cycling in Rotterdam©Erik De Graaf/Dreamstime |
| As we all know, Netherlands dearly loves its queers. Though few overtly gay-targeting restaurants, you'll feel particularly at home at middle-eastern themed Bazar, with its sociable communal dishes and exotic, lamp-lit ambience; swish, pink-coloured Stockholm down by the Old Harbour, with its contemporary Euro fare; or informal, Bohemian Open with its wholesome, tasty options. | |
| Rotterdam also boasts a friendly, lively and sizable queer scene, mainly clustered around Van Oldenbarneveltstraat. Meet the queer locals up close - all ages, genders and sizes - at cheery, booze-fuelled De Regenboog, undoubted lively stalwart of the gay community, with its long bar and raised bopping stage. |
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BARSThe cooler, and arguably more demure, set hang out along the road at hip Dè Kameleon. And, late at night, everyone squeezes into nearby Keerweer: so packed you'll be lucky to get a drink, but sure of continual groping and "vertical frottage" - of necessity, very cruisy.A five minute walk south and you find a second queer cluster. Cosmo is the very antithesis of cool; extremely laid-back and markedly multicultural - dark room at the rear. Next door is Rotterdam's main gay club, four-floored Gay Palace, open Saturdays 11pm-6am; crammed with shiny, happy cuties into pop and trance. Very busy and friendly. STEAMED UPThere are also a handful of saunas, the most popular of which are the Cosmo Sauna above its eponymous bar - open daily from 1pm; and the Spartacus Sauna south west of centre, open daily 1pm-6am, with a fun nude terrace come summer. Alternatively, many punters get straight down to business at sex-club GayPlay just along the road from Spartacus - full of slings, dark and not so dark areas - especially renowned for its Sunday afternoon fetish parties. Check website for opening times and fuller details. And Gay Toys in the main shopping area trolls all the usual knickers and vids.TRAVEL INFOWe can recommend the four-star Hilton Rotterdam - located in the vibrant heart of the city, in the middle of the nightlife and shopping districts, or check out our hotel partners Booking.com for a wide variety of hotels at special discount rates.For general info about Rotterdam, including the great value Welcome Card, offering free or discounted travel and entries go to rotterdam.info. KLM's discount airline Transavia fly direct to Rotterdam from London Stansted from as little as £38 each way, including taxes. You can also find great deals from other UK airports on KLM. | 
Rotterdam's club scene is renowned in Holland and is fast-gaining a reputation throughout
Europe. Not surprisingly, many of Holland's top DJs hail from the city, or are based here -
like Michel de Hey, Jay Samuel and Speedy J. Ever since the early nineties the dance music
produced and played in the city has had its own unique feel: hard, fast, rough and gritty -
just like its gorgeous men. These early techno records led to a subgenre that later became
known as "gabber".
Choice mainstream clubs, worth checking out for their music alone, include:
Now & Wow - located in a former grain silo near the River Maas. Huge in every way.
House and urban tunes in three colossal spaces. The city is also awash with hot electro-based record stores like Velvet, Mid-Town and Demonfuzz to name just a few. Keep an eye out for the now annual Rotterdam Electronic Music Festival REMF.nl a new fest celebrating the unique electro music scene of this young, vibrant city. For more on Rotterdam's pulsating clubbing scene check out HollandClubbing.com |
THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK |