Rick Steves

When traveling in the Netherlands – with its canals, windmills, and tulip fields – it all seems so cute and sweet; you may find yourself exclaiming, "Everything's just so…Dutch!" But for another side of the Netherlands, visit the no-nonsense "second city" of Rotterdam.

Mighty Rotterdam has a gleaming skyline and Europe’s largest port. Locals say that while the money is spent in Amsterdam, it’s made in Rotterdam. They boast that shirts in Rotterdam are sold with the sleeves already rolled up.

Once, Rotterdam was quaint and cozy like Amsterdam – but then it was leveled by the Nazis in World War II. Hitler ordered a systematic bombing of the city, and its center was, quite literally, flattened. Following the bombing, a fire raged for three days, consuming what was left. When Hi

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