Rotterdam/Kralingen-Crooswijk



Kralingen-Crooswijk is a district of Rotterdam on the northern bank of the New Meuse (Nieuwe Maas) river. Also covered is the Noord district.

Understand
Kralingen is the part east of the water Boezem and is a former town to the east of Rotterdam. The town originally grew around the Honingen Castle, which fell victim to the Eighty Years' War. Kralingen spanned along a single road running from east to west, with to its north a peatfield which was reclaimed for fuel. This came to a height in the 17th century, with peat being reclaimed up to far below the water level, resulting in a large number of "veenplassen" (peat field lakes) to the north of Kralingen. These were reclaimed halfway through the 19th century and are now known as the "Prins Alexanderpolder" (named after Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, heir apparent to the Dutch throne from 1879 until his death in 1884, not, as occasionally misunderstood, Prince William Alexander, the modern-day king of the Netherlands).

Kralingen has undergone some damage during the Second World War, being located on the flight path to the 1940 bombardment of Rotterdam. As a result of the damage here and in Rotterdam proper, the railway line serving the town was relocated to the north, as its terminus didn't have the move convenient location and was completely destroyed during the war. Instead, the former town has been served by the Rotterdam Metro since 1982.

Crooswijk is bordered by the river Rotte (after which Rotterdam is named) and the water Boezem and used to be polder. From 1864 houses were build for the working class of Rotterdam.

Noord can be best described as a former working class neighborhood that has transformed into a design Valhalla. You will find galleries, vintage furniture boutiques, lunchrooms and restaurants. The district is just north of Centrum and the railway, bordered by the Delfshavense Schie in the west, the A20 in the north and the Rotte in the east.

By car
The district of Kralingen is bounded in the north and east by the A20 and A16 highways. These provide ample opportunity to reach Kralingen by car, though these highways do form the ringway of Rotterdam, which tend to get crowded during rush hour.
 * Coming from Breda and further south-east, firstly get to Breda and from there take the A16 heading north towards Dordrecht. Simply follow this highway and use exits 25, 26 or 27 for Kralingen.
 * Coming from Roosendaal and further west, take the A17 heading for Dordrecht. This highway merges into the A16, where you want to head for Dordrecht. Then follow this highway (A16) until you reach the exits for Kralingen (25-27).
 * Coming from the east, the A12 and A15 are the most straightforward options. The A15 merges south of the river, so you will again approach the way you would coming from Dordrecht. The A12 on the other hand goes to The Hague. Therefore, switch onto the A20 near Gouda, heading for Rotterdam. After exit 16, head south onto the A16. From here, you can use exits 26 and 25 for Kralingen.
 * From The Hague and the north in general, use the A4 towards The Hague, then switch onto the A13 for Delft. In the not too distant future you will be able to transfer onto the A16 before reaching Rotterdam proper, but until then, use the A20 for northern districts and Gouda, then switch onto the A16 after exit 15. Again, coming from this direction, you can use exits 26 and 25 for Kralingen.

By public transit
Metro lines A, B and C run through the middle of Kralingen. The majority of Kralingen can be reached by either switching onto lines 21 or 24 at. Alternatively, line 7 connects to the area north of the metro line, as well as the Erasmus University. You can either take this line directly from Rotterdam Centraal or from. If you do not want to bother with the switches from metro to tram though, all lines mentioned above connect from Rotterdam Centraal as well, but this method will be less quick than it would be when using the metro.

The part of the city better known as Noord, in the west of this district, is located directly north of the Central Station. Quite centrally within it is the metro stop. Tram serves the eastern part of Noord.

The tramlines (,, , , and ) running through the district all call at Rotterdam Centraal. Rotterdam Centraal sees international trains from Brussels, London and Paris as well as Schiphol Airport on a regular basis.

See

 * Kralingen is perhaps most notable for the park carrying its name, the Kralingse Bos or Kralingse Hout. This park was created during the 1930s financial crisis after plans for the project had already been ongoing for two decades. The Second World War saw many of the purpose-bred oak trees cut during the Hongerwinter, and saw also the addition of the group of islands to the south of the park, which consist of rubble of the war-torn city. The park was eventually opened in 1953, and gained notability in the summer of 1970 after the Holland Pop Festival was held here, which was deemed the "European answer to Woodstock", featuring bands the likes of Pink Floyd, The Byrds, Santana and Focus, which more than 100.000 people came to see. The park nowadays counts roughly 200 hectares of land, and features sporting fields, a recreational beach, a golf course and fitness track.

Buy

 * Most shopping facilities are found around the Oostplein (metro:  ). From here, several streets radiate out along which you'll find anything from supermarkets to camera shops, garden centres, furniture stores, liquor stores and night shops:
 * To the east: Oostzeedijk (and to a lesser extent: Admiraliteitskade).
 * To the north east: Slaak
 * To the north west: Goudsesingel
 * To the south west: Groenendaal / Burgemeester van Walsumweg.
 * Another main shopping street of Kralingen is Oudedijk (tram: ).
 * Along the length of the disused Hofpleinlijn railway, you will find many smaller shops, but in its vicinity there are also many larger stores such as supermarkets. Running parallel to this former railway is the Voorburgstraat / Vijverhofstraat.
 * In Blijdorp, the shops are more concentrated around intersections of roads, but also along the roads leading to them:
 * Walenburgweg × Statenweg
 * Stadhoudersweg × Stadhoudersplein
 * Both are at most a ten minutes' walk from Blijdorp.

Eat
Within Kralingen itself, restaurants and eateries are quite common, with this part of the district directly bordering some of the main sites of the city centre. You'll find most restaurants in the following places:
 * Oostzeedijk/Honingerdijk, along the quayside, located to the east of Oostplein, along the route of tramlines and.
 * Oudedijk, following mostly the route of tramline.
 * Lusthofstraat, best reached by metro via the halts of Gerdesiaweg to its west and Voorschoterlaan to its north.
 * In the east of Kralingen (De Esch), most restaurants and eateries are concentrated within the University building itself (and thus mostly aimed at students), and directly south of Lage Filterweg.

In Crooswijk, restaurants tend to be dotted about more, though there are some concentrations of restaurants around:
 * Zwaanshals/Noordplein, accessibly by tramlines and.
 * Below and around the former Hofpleinlijn railway, roughly following the Katshoek, Vijverhofstraat and Voorburgstraat. Nearby concentrations of restaurants are found
 * Along the Schiekade, slightly south of the Hofpleinlijn,
 * Along the Bergweg, which intersects the Hofpleinlijn,
 * And along the Bergselaan, which also intersects the Hofpleinlijn.

Finally, more restaurants are concentrated around the Blijdorp metro station.





Go next

 * With Kralingen-Crooswijk more or less spanning around it, the city centre of Rotterdam is a no-brainer, regardless of what you're looking for. Rotterdam/Delfzijl somewhat acts like an extension of it.
 * Nearby places with young student populations are first and foremost Delft, and further into South Holland, Leiden.