What?
Family Expo Sea Monsters
Where?
Maritime Museum Rotterdam
Leuvehaven 1
3011 EA Rotterdam
When?
from now until March 6, 2023
Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 5pm
Sundays and public holidays: 11 am - 5 pm
Tickets & prices
The weather is beautiful today and we are going on our May holiday outing. We are not going far because in the Martitiem Museum Rotterdam there is a very nice exhibition that we have not yet visited: Sea monsters. That is really something the snazzie mini-monsters like and it is from 4 years and up.
When we arrive we see already something funny outside, on the roof a giant Kraken is looking out over Rotterdam! When we drive around to the parking garage and the car is parked, we walk to the footbridge, which goes straight through the Leuvehaven over the water to the museum. This trip is off to a great start!
With the booklet of the exhibition in hand, we first go to the sea monsters. The exhibition looks exciting, it's a bit dark... But let's watch the movie first, because with this booklet you have become a member of the research team.
The team investigates whether the monsters in the booklet are real or whether they are just fantasy. The giant squat exists, we already know that from another book. But mermaids, the Loch Ness monster, the giant crab or turtle? We will find out!
Don't be alarmed when you walk over the jetty and something pops up from the water! Puk is the first to see that the house is on the turtle's back, just like in the book Island, by Mark Janssen. The maxi monsters hadn't figured this out yet.
There is an original radio report you can listen to, from 1934, about the Loch Ness Monster. There are all kinds of interesting pieces of evidence to see and do you know what the answer is? Then you can put coins in Professor Lorie Lij's answer machine and make little yes/no tears in your booklet.
We can't be in the Maritime Museum and skip Professor Plons of course, no way, way too much fun! There is a large Zuipschuit, which you can climb into and explore. The Titanic is already half sunk so we hope you can swim!
Because you can still save yourself by sliding into the waves and swim across to shore! Then we go outside because on the roof of the museum it is a busy workplace, you are in the middle of the Port! There is a magnetic tube system that has to be puzzled together, which has a great attraction. Have you done it right? You can check it with a ball.
There are a lot of hand trucks, because the ship has to be loaded. The crane has to lift, the conveyor belt has to be filled because the load has to get in the hold. There are many suitcases and bags that has to go aboard, so roll up your sleeves! When the ship is loaded, you can safely sail it out of the harbor.
If you look above the busy playground, the view is stunning, especially on a beautiful day like today! Before we go down we walk through the exhibition Maritime Masterpieces with the most beautiful photographs, paintings and ship models, but the mini monsters only really like the miniature boats and ships. ;)
We skip the permanent collection this time, we go down now, because there is still a lot to see outside! But first we have to nose around the souvenir shop and of course we don't come away empty-handed. There is no interest in the books today, we already have some at home. But there is still plenty of other fun stuff!
We skip the restaurant, no interest from the mini-monster because there is so much to see outside! There is a lighthouse and real cranes and there are all kinds of things (?) that you can play in and on.
But then it really is time to go home. We go back over the footbridge, past the Kids Marina - we'll save that for another time - to the parking garage. We had a super fun afternoon!
For Rotterdammers this is a fairly cheap outing, with your Rotterdampas you can enter for free and you can stay as long as you want. If you have a Museum Annual Card, you are also in the right place. If you have to buy tickets, you pay 16.00 euros per person for an adult and 12.00 euros for children from 4 to 12 years. Under four years iadmission is free and students and CJP holders can enter for 11.00 euros per person.
If you also want coffee or lemonade with something delicious and a souvenir for your kids, then you will quickly spend a total of 100.00 euros, which does include the parking garage. In all honesty, it must be said that you can spend a whole day here. It is a really fun museum for young and older!
Martitiem Museum Rotterdam? A 3 star outing!