From 8 to 10 April, the conference "We Want More: Music / Sociology" takes place at Erasmus University Rotterdam. It is organised by research group Rotterdam Popular Music Studies (RPMS). Here you can find travel information and other practicalities.
If you have any questions, contact us at rpms@eur.nl. We are happy to help
Rotterdam The Hague Airport
The easiest point of arrival is Rotterdam The Hague Airport. However, it caters mostly to holiday flights but also some city-to-city air travel within Europe. Once you land take the shuttle bus to the metro station which will bring you into the city in 5 minutes.
Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam
Most participants will likely fly into the Netherlands through Schiphol Airport. There is a direct train line from Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam Central train station that brings you to Rotterdam in just 25 minutes! After arrival, you can follow the signs that lead you to the train station within the airport. There are escalators that bring you down to the train platforms, but before entering, you should buy your train ticket. This journey costs €15,40. Keep into account that if you take the Intercity Direct line (which is the fast one that takes 25 minutes), you have to pay for a supplement of €3,00 at peak hours or €1,80 off-peak. The train from Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam Central station always leaves at track 5-6. However, always check the most recent departure information at the big screens or at ns.nl.
There are a few options in regards of purchasing your tickets:
- You can purchase your tickets online at ns.nl. Select your journey and make sure the supplement is included. You can easily pay with your Visa, Mastercard, and American Express credit card! You will then receive a QR code.
- There are many machines you can buy tickets from as well. You can recognize these yellow and blue machines easily as they’re placed around the train platform entrances (as shown on the right). You can set the language to Dutch, English, and German to help you navigate better. Select your journey and make sure you also select the supplement. You can pay by cash (coins only) or card (debit and credit cards). The machine will then print out your ticket.
- You can also opt for buying a ticket at a desk. Tell them which trip you want to make and pay by cash or card. You will then receive a ticket.
Accessing public transport in the Netherlands always goes by card (or QR code). At Schiphol Airport there are no gates but check-in poles (as displayed below). You have to scan your ticket before you go down the escalator to the platform. If you ordered your ticket online and have a QR code, you can just go down without scanning anything. Once you’re at Rotterdam Central train station, you need to scan your ticket/QR code at the gate to exit the train station. So please keep your ticket until you have exited the railway station.
Technically, you can also take a taxi to Rotterdam from Schiphol. However, taxis in the Netherlands are insanely expensive. Expect to pay about 100-120 euros.
Getting around in Rotterdam
There are different ways of getting around in Rotterdam. The easiest option is to make use of the public transport. Within Rotterdam, there are three kinds of public transport you can take: tram, bus, and metro. To use them, you can buy a 2-hour ticket of €5 or a day ticket for €11 or just pay for the distanced you have travelled by bank card. These tickets can be used in all trams, busses, and metro lines. Tickets can be bought in different ways:
- Pay directly by tapping in with your bank or credit card – check here for more information.
- Online mobile tickets can be purchased here.
- At metro and train stations, there are machines you can buy tickets at (as pictured on the right). Make sure you use the machines that say ‘Verkoop & opladen’ and not just ‘Opladen’, as those machines are for people with public transport cards that can be charged. After transaction, you will receive your ticket.
In the Netherlands you always have to scan your ticket when entering and leaving trams, busses, and metros. You can scan your physical ticket at the gate or check-in pole when entering a tram, bus, or metro station. You need to scan this ticket again when checking out. The same applies to mobile tickets, but make sure you scan your QR code at a gate/pole that can read those.
Rotterdam has five metro lines, as pictured on the right. Lines D and E generally transport you in a vertical line through Rotterdam and lines A, B, and C horizontally. Transferring between those is possible at the metro station Beurs, which is also where the city centre is.
Rotterdam has also an extensive tram network where trams 1/11 and 7 stop at the Woudestein campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Biking is the most popular form of daily transport in the Netherlands. Dutch infrastructure allows you to bike everywhere faster than any other means of transportation. You can easily rent bicycles from NS, the national train company of the Netherlands, for €4,55 per bicycle per 24 hours. These bikes can be rented and returned at the train and metro stations: Central Station, Blaak, Wilhelminaplein, Lombardijen, Kralingse Zoom, and Alexander. There are also other rental companies, such as Lime (Uber), Check and Felix. Renting these bikes are more flexible as you can rent them wherever you see them in the streets, and park them within the zones. Renting can be done through their apps.
As traveling through Rotterdam is very efficient, it does not necessarily matter where you stay, although staying in the very south of Rotterdam is not recommended, except for Kop van Zuid, as this requires quite some travelling. While geographically close, staying east of the university’s Woudestein campus, is also not recommended as you will basically stay at an industrial park. If you enjoy late-night action, hotels at Witte de With straat or Nieuwe Binnenweg are your go-to options. In short: we recommend staying north of the river, south of the highway, east of Schiedam, and west of the university campus.
Conference locations
The conference will be held at various venues. Below you will find an overview and the locations on Google Maps.
The conference will kick off at Katoenhuis on Wednesday evening 8 April from 19 hours onwards. Katoenhuis is located in Rotterdam West (Port 294, Keilestraat 9C). Katoenhuis Rotterdam is a hub for Immersive Experiences (IX) and technology in the heart of Rotterdam Makers District (M4H). Built in 1950 and once known as the “Van Bennekum’s Havenbedrijf Katoenloods”, Katoenhuis is a multifunctional space hosting artist and makers’ studios and working facilities, exhibition, and event spaces.
Katoenhuis can be reached by metro and tram. Exit at Marconiplein and take a short walk to the venue. Visit the website of Katoenhuis here.
The conference will be held at the Woudestein campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam on 9 and 10 April, located in the east of the city. During the first day will be having sessions at the Langeveld (LAN) building; the second day we relocated to the Van der Goot building (M – odd choice of letter, indeed).
The Woudestein campus can best be reached by tram. Either take tram 11 or 1 direction De Esch and stop 'Woudestein' or take tram 7 in the direction Woudestein and stop 'Erasmus Universiteit'. You can also take the subway and exit at Kralingse Zoom but you will have to do a 10 minute walk to the campus.
Read more about the campus on the EUR website.
The dinner and concert will be held at our friends at Roodkapje on the evening of 9 April. Beware: they are moving to a new address. The dinner party will take place at the ‘old’ address: Delftseplein 39. Basically, next to Central Station. If you are not participating in the dinner, you are still very welcome to attend the concert party.
Visit the website here.
The Young Scholars Workshop will be held during the day of 8 April at Codarts Rotterdam. Beware: Codarts has several locations across the city and you may end up at their circus school. The Young Scholars Workshop is at their pop department at WMDC, Pieter de Hoochweg 125. Pop venue Grounds is located in the same building.
From Central Station, take tram 8 in the direction of Spangen, get off at the stop ‘Pieter de Hoochweg’ and walk to the roundabout where WMDC is on the corner.From Central Station, take the metro in the direction of Spijkenisse, change at Beurs station and take the metro to Schiedam. Get off at Coolhaven metro station, cross the bridge and walk to the roundabout where GROUNDS is on the corner.
Phone numbers
| Urgent emergencies | 112 |
| Police Rotterdam | 0900 8844 |
Rotterdam has a quite good selection of record stores, ranging from more generalist stores to specialized ones. Most record stores are located at the Nieuwe Binnenweg at the city center and at the Zwaanshals area.
Nieuwe Binnenweg area
- Plaatboef: good all around store with new as well as second hand vinyl selection
- Demonfuzz: smaller but good selection with a focus on soul, hiphop and jazz music – they also have a huge discogs collection where you can have your order sent to the store
- Plato: large store with mostly new vinyl
- Best Kept: the gabber vinyl expert in Rotterdam
Zwaanshals area
- Off beat: cool store with a focus on second hand vinyl (electronic, african, jazz), also hosting in-house DJ set
- JensDo: focus on second hand vinyl with lots of rock, metal, and again jazz Behind the station
- De Oorzaak: great place for those who love digging, ranging from electronic, house and gabber to global music and jazz
- Clone records: mostly new dance and electronic vinyl
And then there is Hans Tweedehands… well you see for yourself about this one In case there is interest, we may do a crate digging tour. Close to Rotterdam Central Station.
For indie/rock, you want to go to Rotown, Vessel 11, or Roodkapje (where we host the conference dinner). For those into more avant garde music, try WORM. Global music is programmed at Grounds – where we host our Young Scholars Workshop. Soul, jazz and hiphop enthousiasts go to Bird or Dizzy.
- Café Voorheen Vink: tiny bruin café with a sound system that punches above its weight. DJs regularly spinning house and dance music.
- Café Vorheen Voight: also a tiny bruin café with regular DJs spinning punk, industrial, new wave, jungle among others.
- Café Hensepeter: also also a tiny bruin café with much of the above and old school hip hop as well.
- Café De Bel: cosy music-oriented bar in Noord with a bit of an alternative crowd
- Bar3: popular punk/metal/alternative (whatever that word means now) bar with a regular, highly eclectic DJ Michael Van den Bos who can go (tastefully) go from death metal to Salt'N-Peppa in just a few moves.
Check here from more tips on Bruin Café concept.