Looking for an original transport possibility to discover Rotterdam? Take a water taxi. You can see them everywhere in the city: those black-and-yellow coloured speed boats, which navigate on the River Maas.
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A modest water taxi service started in 1993 soon after the Hotel New York opened on the Rotterdam waterfront. The stunning new hotel had a problem. It occupied an isolated old industrial neighbourhood known as Kop van Zuid. It was difficult in the beginning to persuade people to stay in this remote location. The solution was to run a water taxi service across the river.
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The Kop van Zuid has evolved into a hip neighbourhood with gleaming skyscrapers and restored warehouses. No need now to take a water taxi.
And yet the taxi service has grown into a thriving business with dozens of fast yellow and black speedboats nipping between fifty landing stages along the Rotterdam waterfront.
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Most of them are at tourist attractions. You can take a taxi across the river to the Euromast, or down the River Maas to the old port of Delfshaven. Ticket prices start at €4,50 for a short hop.
Some 700,000 people use the taxis every year. Many are tourists, but the taxis are also used by commuters as a quick way to get to the office.
The skippers cut through the water at top speed as if they are extras in an action movie. It’s a stunning way to travel through this fascinating port city.
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