Upon arrival
Upon arriving in The Netherlands, there are a few things you need to arrange or take into consideration:
Register at City Hall
Are you staying in The Netherlands for more than 4 months? Then you have to register at the city hall near your residence area. This page will tell you everything you need to know.
Transportation
The public transportation in Rotterdam is easy and serves all the city areas. The ret.nl provides information regarding the tram, bus and metro. For the trips it is necessary to own an OV-chipcard that can be either anonymous bought from a RET ticket machine, RET offices or online. Moreover, it is possible to get 40% discount on all train trips except the rush hours and the weekends with the “off-peak discount pass” that costs €50 a year. For the paper tickets it is possible to buy them online at ns.nl or from the ticket machines at the stations.
A website (and mobile application) that plans journeys and combines all the transport modes is the website www.9292.nl.
Bicycles
One of the best way to meet the Dutch culture is to cycle. Bikes is the best solution to move around the city fast, cheap and easy. The second-hand bicycle is a good option for reasonable prices. Bikes shop, marktplaats.nl and Facebook groups such as the commodity market Rotterdam are usually the best way to search for a second-hand bike. Moreover, at Erasmus MC, there is a bicycle repair shop at the parking deck of the Gk building, open from Monday – Thursday between 07.30h and 16.30h.