I was all museum'd on my Eurotrip, so Boijmans Van Beuningen was the only one I visited while I was…read morein Rotterdam. Fortunately for me, the place was under renovation so it was half price to enter (€7.50 instead of €15). Unfortunately for me, there was still a TON to see. I think most other people would consider that second one a pro instead of a con. Anyway, in case you can't tell, I'm not much of a museum person. So I like modern art and crazy displays. BVB had both in spades. At the front, there are a ton of surrealist paintings and sculptures, including some from Salvador Dali and Magritte. There's also some Mondrion's sprinkled throughout. In the middle is The Collection as Time Machine, which is basically just a lot of paintings arranged by century, curated to tell how European art themes/techniques changed and morphed over time. The layout of those rooms is a little weird, as you can cut through multiple ways. Easy to skip if it's not your thing. Then when you go downstairs, there's a ton of modern art including what this place is probably most known for - some creepy dude coming up through the floor. And also a creepy boy sitting in the corner that scared the crap out of me when I walked into the room. Further down, there was a cool exhibit about discontinued electronics and furniture design. That's the kind of random shit I liked to look at in museums. There was also a "Bling" exhibit which was all sorts of shiny things, some artifacts, some random and modern. Wasn't sure what to make of that. All in all, I spent probably two and a half hours there (which was an hour longer than I thought I needed). If the entire place is open, you could definitely spend upwards of three hours. Definitely check it out!

A very unique experience, though a bit pricey at around $24 USD (€20-22). It's important to know…read morethat this isn't a traditional museum; it's a high-tech art storage center that happens to be open to the public. The focus is really on the "behind-the-scenes" of art preservation--how pieces are crated, cleaned, and stored in climate-controlled rooms. The building itself is a masterpiece. It spans several floors, and while the individual sections feel small, the central atrium with its zig-zagging staircases is massive. There's an elevator if you want to skip the stairs! They offer free 10-minute "walk-in" tours of the storage compartments, plus more detailed "behind-the-scenes" tours that are worth the extra look. The top floor has a great cafe/restaurant (Renilde) and an outdoor space with a forest of birch trees. The 360-degree view of Rotterdam is breathtaking. If you love architecture or are curious about how museums actually work, it's worth the price. If you just want to see a standard art gallery, you might find it a bit expensive.

A former shipbuilding dry dock in deep in the Port of Rotterdam, it's now used to host all kinds of…read moreevents. I was here last year for a big New Years dinner for some big company, and I came back now as part of the orchestra for Mirror Mirror, a production of Conny Janssen Danst. The space is super multifunctional and can be used for almost any kind of big event, so there's no telling what you might come here for!

It is THE MUSEUM in Rotterdam. Part of the larger Musea area district in Rotterdam, this is fully…read morededicated to contemporary art and shows. It is a very modern well designed and great looking museum. It is noticeable when you are inside, from the outside is a pretty nice building which completely hide himself between the higher road and the lower park. It can get easily crowded. The bar/restaurant is big and nice... nothing spectacular but always a good stop in between shows or to end up your viewing experience. Part of the Museum Card network (for most of the shows). I was there for the Keith Haring show, a very loved artist in Rotterdam. All very good.

Who's everyone's favorite spy? Could it be James Bond a.k.a 007? Duh!! The Kunsthal has an expo on…read moreher majesty's favorite spy. It looks great! The first thing you see is the famous orange bikini from that equally famous scene. And smack dab in the middle of the auditorium there is the iconic Asthon Martin. The original James Bond, Sean Connory next to it in full life size glory. The expo consist of clips from favorite/ famous scenes, a lot of iconic props and costumes. There is a room soley dedicated to the casino scene's throughout the Bond movies. A life size casino table fills the room with manikins of the actors around it. There's also een fairly big replica of the ice hotel in one of the rooms. And check this out, the revolving round bed with the gold sprayed girl form 'Goldfinger" is also in the expo. Must sound very nice to a lot of male ears!! There is so much to see, enough to fill 1 or 1.5 hours. You can also look at Ian Flemming's original books and a small history about him. My fave is the photo wall of all the different Bond actors and their fake Bond ID's. So if you want something to do in the weekend that lightens up these gloomy winter days, go to the Kunsthal. The expo is there untill february 8, 2015.

Worshipers of the silver ball should make a pilgrimage to the Dutch Pinball Museum. Everyone knows…read morethe saying "When in Rotterdam and wanting to play pinball, go to the Dutch Pinball Museum". If only I had a Euro for every time I heard that..... The Dutch Pinball Museum elevates the arcade to the status of museum with the inclusion of many important artifacts from the production of iconic pinball machines. When visiting, drool over the prototype sculpture of Rudy's annoying face from Funhouse and/or the gun castings from Cactus Canyon. Have no idea what I'm mentioning? It doesn't matter, the museum is still fun and will educate you on the artistic merits of pinball while at the same time functioning as a fully stocked pinball arcade. Pay per hour and the machines are all on free play. Its as much fun to play the machines as it is to check out all of the cool promotional posters and sculptural whatnots. The area is also pretty cool, an interesting open market type of place next door with several places to eat and a brewery.

Thank you for this wonderfully put together "useum" dedicated to pinball, its history and it's…read morepresent. You've done a wonderful job of cleverly organizing your collection. Amazing.

Interesting museum that had 2 exhibits inside the museum that I liked. 1st one goes into the drug…read moretrade and it's history with the major port city of Rotterdam. The other exhibit showed models of various ships that extract oil resources from the ocean and you can hear real life stories from those who were board these ships. Outside they have some small ships, some of which you can board with your ticket. There is someone inside that will tell you a little bit about the history of the ships.

Great museum for both kids and adults, the Metro drops you off right there (exit Bauers) and you…read morejust walk across the street. You can't miss it. They take American credit cards *yay*. I took my two girls ages 6 and 10 and they had a great time exploring and learning. There is a level where you have very cool hands on activities and you get to experience what its like to be on an oil rig. From listening to videos, taking quizzes to trying to land a helicopter or track down leaks on an oil pipeline. They have about 9 stations that you can play to compete for points. The museum is surprisingly big. There is also a museum artwork/paintings exhibit that discusses the history of ships and the Dutch Fleet. There was also a cruiseline exhibit that shows the interiors of a ship, you walk into different rooms so you can see what it looked like to travel in ship back in the old days. And for kids, they have an awesome rooftop playground that has plenty of ships and boats to climb on. Lots of dollies, wheelcarts to push and other port labor inspired activities for the kids to play with. The views from the rooftop over the water are really nice! We spent about 3 hours inside the actual musuem and then headed down to their lovely cafe for a snack and beverages. There is also an area outside to explore but we were getting tired and still needed to hit the shopping strip a block away. Their gift store was cute but alot of little trinket toys that the kids can get anywhere in the states. Overall, I would definitely recommend a visit especially if you have kids.

History of Rotterdam with a heavy concentration on the five days in May1940. Also good primer on…read morethe shipping industry. Single person on the staff was knowledgeable and friendly, and as in most of Netherlands her English skills were excellent. If you want to learn about WW2 history and what happened to Rotterdam, this is a great start.