Rotterdam is a young city by Dutch standards, and that is because the old one was destroyed. German bombers flattened the centre in May 1940, and rather than rebuild a historic town the Dutch built a modern one, bold and experimental, with towers, bridges and cubic houses that tilt on their corners. Nothing here is quiet or pretty in the postcard sense, and that is its appeal. The Erasmus Bridge, a white swan-necked span over the Maas, is the city's symbol, and the Markthal, a vast arched market hall with a ceiling painted in giant fruit and flowers, is the best place to eat. Cheap, quick, varied food is sold from stalls there, and Dutch herring, eaten raw with onion, is available at every street corner.
The port is the heart of the matter. For decades Rotterdam was the largest port in the world, and it remains the biggest in Europe, with container cranes and refineries lining the river for kilometres. A harbour tour by boat gives a sense of the scale. Out beyond the city, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg near Hoek van Holland, stands the Maeslantkering, a huge storm barrier whose two arms swing across the channel when a surge approaches.
That barrier is the first of the Delta Works, the great programme of dams, dykes and sea gates built in the south-west after the flood of 1953, which killed more than eighteen hundred people in Zeeland and South Holland. The ride south follows the islands of Zeeland over a chain of bridges and causeways, and the Oosterschelde barrier, finished in 1986, is the showpiece, a long line of concrete piers with steel gates that stay open except in storms. The roads are flat and smooth, the wind is stiff and the skies are huge. Wind can push a bike hard on the exposed sections, so ride with a firm grip.
In the city itself, traffic is calm and cycle lanes are everywhere, so give way to bikes. Speed cameras and police checks are common in the Netherlands, and the fines are steep. Fuel is easy to find in Rotterdam and along the motorway. For the Delta Works, fill up before heading onto the islands, where stations are less common. Spring brings the tulips and clear light, and autumn is moody and golden.