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.

12 AUGUST 2026 | Rotterdam experienced its deepest partial solar eclipse since 1999 on Wednesday 12 August. At maximum at around 20:11, the Moon covered almost 89% of the Sun’s visible surface, leaving a narrow crescent low above the west-northwestern horizon. This page is now an archive of the event, including the local timings, viewing advice and solar-safety guidance.

Rotterdam remained outside the path of totality, so the city did not become completely dark. The eclipse was nevertheless clearly visible locally. Photographs captured the solar crescent above the Rotterdam skyline, while local reporting described crowds watching from the Euromast and Wilhelminakade.

Eclipse times in Rotterdam

The partial eclipse began in Rotterdam at approximately 19:16, reached maximum at about 20:11 and ended at around 21:03. The complete local event lasted roughly one hour and 47 minutes.

At maximum, the Sun was about eight degrees above the west-northwestern horizon. The local eclipse magnitude was approximately 0.904, while about 88.7% of the visible solar surface was obscured.

What the eclipse looked like

From Rotterdam, the Moon covered most of the Sun while leaving a thin curved strip of sunlight visible around maximum eclipse. Daylight dimmed noticeably, but the city did not experience the darkness associated with totality.

The total phase followed a narrow path across parts of northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and a small part of Portugal. Rotterdam remained outside that path, so the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, did not become visible and there was no safe naked-eye phase.

Where people could watch in Rotterdam

Because the Sun was only about eight degrees above the horizon at maximum, an unobstructed view towards the west and northwest was especially important. Hoek van Holland beach, open waterfront locations, Dakpark and places around the eastern side of Kralingse Plas were among the locations with potentially useful sightlines.

On the evening itself, local reporting documented spectators at the Euromast and several hundred people around Wilhelminakade. The eclipse was reported to have been clearly visible from the city.

How to watch a partial solar eclipse safely

The same safety rules apply whenever you view a partial solar eclipse. Never look directly at the Sun without suitable solar-viewing protection. Eclipse glasses or handheld viewers should comply with ISO 12312-2 and should be checked for scratches, tears or other damage before use. Ordinary sunglasses are not safe for direct solar viewing.

Do not look through binoculars, telescopes or camera lenses while wearing eclipse glasses. Optical equipment concentrates sunlight and requires a purpose-made solar filter mounted securely over the front of the optics.

Safe indirect alternatives include pinhole projection. A colander or gaps between leaves can also project crescent-shaped images of a partially eclipsed Sun onto a nearby surface.

Rotterdam’s biggest eclipse in decades

The 12 August 2026 eclipse was the largest partial solar eclipse visible from the Netherlands since 11 August 1999. Smaller partial eclipses occurred in between, including in March 2025, but none obscured as much of the Sun.

According to the Royal Netherlands Association for Meteorology and Astronomy, KNVWS, the Netherlands will not see another partial solar eclipse of comparable depth until 2081.

The eclipse also coincided with an unusually strong night for skywatching. The Perseid meteor shower peaked later on 12 August into the early hours of 13 August, while a new Moon kept natural skyglow to a minimum.

Read our complete Perseid viewing guide.

When is the next solar eclipse in Rotterdam?

The next solar eclipse visible from Rotterdam will occur on 2 August 2027. It will be a considerably smaller partial eclipse locally, with about 40% of the Sun’s surface obscured at maximum.

HAPPENING 26–27 SEP '26 | DoelenEnsemble will present three intimate musical experiences in Rotterdam on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September. HortusConcerts 2026 moves beyond the conventional concert hall with a meditative sound bath, an encounter between early jazz and new chamber music, and a performance exploring Piet Mondrian’s ideas about sound.

The programmes take place at Buitenplaats Rozenlust, a historic green estate near Het Park. One concert unfolds inside its salt crystal bunker on Westzeedijk, while the two longer performances take place in the main building on Parklaan. Together, they connect contemporary music with architecture, visual art, storytelling and moments of stillness. 

A sound bath in salt

Resonance in Salt opens the weekend on Saturday 26 September with several 30-minute sessions between 12:00 and 17:00. Two percussionists perform with singing bowls inside a chamber lined with salt crystals, where visitors can listen while seated or reclining. 

The bunker’s thick walls and enclosed interior create a particularly quiet acoustic setting, allowing the overtones of the bowls to linger in the room. Regular tickets cost €20, while students pay €5. The sessions take place at De Bunker Zoutkliniek, Westzeedijk 110C. 

Jazz meets a world premiere

That evening, From Creation of the World to World Premiere begins at 20:00 at Buitenplaats Rozenlust. The programme opens with Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde, a chamber work in which classical composition meets the rhythms and energy of early jazz.

The second half introduces a new work by Rotterdam composer Hans Koolmees, written for double bass, string quartet, saxophone and piano. The concert lasts until approximately 21:30. Tickets cost €34, with a reduced student price of €10. 

Mondrian heard the future

HortusConcerts concludes on Sunday 27 September with Mondrian’s Prophetic Sound. Although Piet Mondrian is best known for his abstract paintings, he also developed forward-looking ideas about music and anticipated that electronic sound would transform musical expression.

Storyteller Vincent Bijlo guides the audience through Mondrian’s life, artistic philosophy and musical thinking as visual art, narration and contemporary chamber music come together. The performance runs from 15:00 to 16:30 at Buitenplaats Rozenlust. Regular admission is €34 and student tickets cost €10. 

The gardens and historic grounds of Buitenplaats Rozenlust in Rotterdam

Tickets and practical details

HortusConcerts takes place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026. Capacity for the salt chamber is naturally limited, and the other two concerts also take place in an intimate setting, so advance booking is recommended. More information, available time slots and tickets can be found at: https://www.doelenensemble.nl/hortusconcerten2026. 

How to get there

Buitenplaats Rozenlust is located at Parklaan 11, close to Het Park, the Euromast and the Scheepvaartkwartier. The salt chamber has a separate entrance at Westzeedijk 110C, although it forms part of the same historic estate. Leuvehaven is the nearest metro station, and both entrances can also be reached easily by bicycle from Rotterdam Centraal.

NEXT PEAK: 12-13 AUG '27 | The Perseid meteor shower returns in summer 2027. Current astronomical calendars place the next peak on the night of 12 to 13 August, with the most useful viewing hours in the Netherlands likely to come after midnight and before dawn. Moonlight is expected to interfere with the fainter meteors, so choosing the darkest practical location will matter.

The Perseids are one of the best-known annual meteor showers. They appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus, but the particles themselves come from debris left behind by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. When Earth passes through this stream of material, tiny particles enter the atmosphere at high speed and produce the streaks of light commonly called shooting stars.

When to watch the Perseid meteor shower in Rotterdam in 2027

The American Meteor Society currently lists the 2027 Perseids as active from 17 July to 24 August, with the next peak expected on the night of 12 to 13 August 2027.

For viewers in Rotterdam and elsewhere in the Netherlands, the hours after midnight and before dawn are generally the most useful because the Perseid radiant rises higher in the sky as the night progresses. Current Dutch calculations point to around 03:45 CEST on 13 August as a favourable observing time, although you should check updated astronomical guidance and the weather forecast shortly before heading out.

Moonlight will be an important factor in 2027. The American Meteor Society currently lists the Moon as about 84 percent illuminated on the peak night. That means the faintest meteors may be washed out, particularly from within Rotterdam. The brighter Perseids can still be visible, especially if you can get away from street lighting and give your eyes enough time to adapt.

Do not read quoted meteor rates as a guarantee of what you will see. Published maximum rates normally assume very dark skies and ideal conditions. Cloud, haze, moonlight, your viewing direction and Rotterdam's light pollution can all reduce the real number considerably.

Where to see the Perseid meteor shower in Rotterdam

The single biggest improvement you can make is to find as dark and open a location as practical. You do not need a telescope, and you do not need to stare directly at Perseus. Meteors can streak across a large part of the sky.

• Hoge Bergse Bos near Bergschenhoek: The elevated landscape around the Skiberg and surrounding viewpoints gives you broad views and puts you farther from Rotterdam's brightest centre. The area is still part of the wider metropolitan region, so some light pollution remains.
• Kralingse Bos: If you want to stay within Rotterdam, the larger open areas around the Kralingse Plas can give you considerably more sky than a built-up street. Expect substantial city glow, however, and therefore fewer visible meteors than at a genuinely dark site.
• Het Park: This is a convenient central option rather than a dark-sky location. Open parts of the park may give you a wider view of the sky, but surrounding urban lighting will hide many of the fainter Perseids.

If seeing as many meteors as possible matters more than staying close to Rotterdam, consider travelling farther into a darker part of the Netherlands. The difference between a city sky and a rural one can be considerable. Wherever you go, check local access rules before arriving late at night and avoid entering closed or restricted areas.

How to get the best view

Find the darkest safe place available and give your eyes around 20 to 30 minutes to adjust. Keep phone use to a minimum, or turn the brightness down as far as practical. A reclining chair or blanket makes it much easier to look at a broad section of sky without straining your neck.

You do not need binoculars or a telescope. In fact, the wide field of view of the naked eye is better suited to meteor watching. Look towards a broad, relatively dark area of sky rather than fixing your attention on the Perseus constellation itself.

Even in August, the temperature can fall during the night, so bring an extra layer. A drink, a snack and something waterproof to sit or lie on can make a long observing session much more comfortable.

Check the weather before you leave

A meteor forecast is no help if Rotterdam is under cloud. Reliable cloud forecasts for August 2027 are not available this far in advance, so check the latest short-range forecast shortly before deciding where to watch. If the peak night is cloudy, it can still be worth looking on nearby nights because the Perseids remain active around the maximum.

What happened in 2026?

The previous edition peaked on the night of 12 to 13 August 2026 under unusually favourable lunar conditions because the peak coincided with a New Moon. That made 2026 considerably darker than the currently expected conditions for 2027. The 12 August 2026 partial solar eclipse was a separate, one-off event and is therefore no longer part of this rolling Perseid viewing guide.

If you can't quite picture the experience, this earlier news report shows a previous meteor shower as seen from the Skiberg.