Free passport photos at Rotterdam Centraal on 18 August

HAPPENING 18 AUG '26 | Need a new passport photo, or simply fancy an old-school photo strip with friends? Photo.ME is offering free photos at Rotterdam Centraal on Tuesday 18 August, with visitors able to make an official passport photo, photo strip or fun photo in around two minutes.

_{Image: Travellers use Photo.ME photo booths during an activation at Rotterdam Centraal. Photo: ME Group Nederland.}

The temporary promotion takes place at the Photo.ME photo booth inside Rotterdam Centraal. Normally you would pay to use the machine, but during the activation its different photo options can be tried free of charge. Exact hours for the free promotion have not been published.

Get an official passport photo

The more practical option is an official passport photo. Photo.ME says its software checks elements including lighting and facial expression to determine whether the image meets the requirements for official documents.

That can be useful if your passport, ID card or driving licence is due for renewal. Dutch government rules require a passport photo to be no more than six months old when applying for a passport, identity card or driving licence. The photo also has to meet requirements covering factors such as image quality, background, lighting, head position and facial expression.

If you want to renew a Dutch driving licence online, there is an additional requirement: the digital photo needs to be taken by an RDW-approved photographer or approved photo booth and sent digitally to the RDW. Not every ordinary passport photo can be used for the online process.

Photo.ME says selected booths can send photos directly and securely as part of official document applications. If that is your reason for visiting on 18 August, it is worth checking that the Rotterdam Centraal booth supports the particular application you want to make.

Or just make a photo strip

You do not need an expiring passport to take advantage of the free session. Photo.ME is also offering its photo strips and fun photos, with themes and filters available inside the booth.

There is something quite nice about leaving Rotterdam Centraal with an actual strip of photos rather than another image disappearing somewhere between screenshots, WhatsApp and the 14,000 other pictures on your phone.

Photo.ME says photo strips have been gaining popularity again as a physical souvenir of days out and holidays. The company regularly changes the themes and filters available in its booths.

“The booth is always there, 24 hours a day, but many travellers simply do not know that,” says Jan Willem Bredewout, director of ME Group Nederland. “If you are spending a day shopping in Rotterdam, it is just as much fun to step inside with your friends for a photo strip. That is every bit as much a memory of the summer as those thousand phone photos.”

Photo.ME at Rotterdam Centraal

ME Group Nederland operates more than 300 Photo.ME locations around the Netherlands, including machines at railway stations, municipal buildings and shopping centres.

Rotterdam Centraal is an obvious place to introduce more people to the booths, with a constant flow of commuters, students, tourists and day visitors passing through the station. The Rotterdam activation follows other Photo.ME promotions in which travellers have been invited to try different photo functions at busy stations.

On Tuesday 18 August, using the booth during the special activation is free. No registration or ticket requirement is mentioned in the information released so far.

The organiser has not published specific activation hours, so if you are travelling to Rotterdam Centraal especially for the free photo, check Photo.ME or ME Group Nederland’s channels closer to the date for any additional timing information.

How to get there

The Photo.ME activation takes place inside Rotterdam Centraal on Tuesday 18 August. The station is served by national and international trains, Rotterdam Metro lines D and E, trams and buses.

The precise position of the activation within the station has not been specified in the announcement.