I'm pretty confused and not sure how to rank it. This place isn't bad – it’s just not good enough to be priced at almost EUR 20 per ticket. I’m reviewing it from a foreigner, a non-speaking Dutch tourist perspective. The offshore interactive exhibition set the bar high; the safety briefing in the first room and the overall experience and getting to the rig platform were excellent. Then, the interactive games were engaging and interesting – but some were out of service, some were not working correctly, and all were in Dutch! So we couldn’t understand a word. Leaving the platform through 3000 m depth was also super, with all these details giving you a wow effect, like a crab in the toolbox or the welding scene. Unfortunately, the rest of the exhibition was rather mediocre (between mediocre and poor). The outside part is rather dull and publicly accessed. The lighthouse is really disappointing – well, see the video – it’s like entering a barrel with a projector, as there’s nothing else inside, and you can’t even get upstairs. The staff was helpful and friendly; the place was neat and clean, and the souvenirs were reasonably priced. But it’s not enough for a museum to get a 5-star review.

One of the most interesting museums I have visited so far, the museum explains some historical information about Rotterdam as well. lots of art and interesting structures are built inside, it would take around 2-3 hours to fully experience the museum, I think. We've got museum cards here where you can visit museums for a year long without another ticket, it pays off after a few museum trips so if you're a museum freak like me, I suggest you try it, a lot more economic in the long term ✔️♥️

I've never experienced things just like this!! Fascinated by the wonderful histories and scale model ships they exhibit. We also enjoyed the activities of the off-shores experience. I just couldn't stop wowing. On the highest deck, children got the chance to play around, trying out to put on and off container toys (experiencing Rotterdam back then). Outside the indoor museum, we were awed by the actual ships and stuff that have been retired from operation. We can hop on and off the ships in the harbor and observe the interior decoration. Free for museum card holders. So worth every penny.

While staying in The Hague, we decided to do a side trip to Rotterdam and get to know the city and one of our stop is the Maritime Museum. Very informative place, the staffs are courteous and helpful one particularly is at the Port Pavillon, he welcomed us and explained to us how the Port of Rotterdam developed. The main museum is very interactive. This is a great place for young and old. We ordered our tickets on-line as we normally do when we travel. Depending how interested you are in the subject of Maritime, but this place is full of information and you might or not need half day to spend. My most interested part of the visit is the various ships and its use. Sections of visits is well placed and spacious. Lockers are available at no cost. Make sure that when you visit the main building of the museum, to also visit the Port Pavillon where you can have the story telling about the modern port and see some outside exibits, like old boats and cranes. Worth a visit

Very child friendly, but also have many interactive exhibition for the parents and adults. Have indoor and outdoor part, while outdoor also have real life ship size. Very recommended! Ps you can also buy museumcart here, and for offshore exhibit there were limited capacity so prepare to wander whereelse while waiting (for me it was about 20 min)

My daughter loves this place. We go about once or twice a month with our Museumkaart. There’s an area for younger kids where they can play inside or outside with a nice view of the harbor. Very interactive for kids and adults. You can also go next to the water to look at the boats or go inside the boats which is pretty cool to see some that are fully equipped with a kitchen and beds. For older kids and adults, there’s a simulation of being on a ship with a lot of different games to play. There’s something for everyone, and if you need to take a break there’s a resto cafe on the main floor.

Really have a good time here. The drug tour is very interesting to adult, the art collection from classical to modern worth a visit, it really can tell the history. The offshore tour is a family must go, can learn a lot from it. Large space for kids and if you go outside the building, there are also lots of boat you can aboard . The famous is Hudson, it’s my first time to hear about it’s story.

A perfect place to spend a few hours and learn about ports, ships and offshore activities. Also is a perfect spot for a walking.

I give it 5 stars because it’s a pretty good museum especially if you have kids. As for myself - I didn’t really enjoy it that much, but if I were a kid - I would absolutely love it!

Very educative and informative. Enjoyed our visit to the museum and also the outdoor activities and sight. Enjoyed watching the iron monger making iron at the other building. Will recommend.

Great for kids. Lots of hands on role play activities as well as exploring large boats. I think unless you are a maritime nerd, not one for adults. You get a 25% discount with the rotterdam welcome card and kids under 4 are free. Not a bargain but decent value

Really cool museum, even better than i thought! This could also be named the "city museum of rotterdam" since it also covers the whole history of rotterdam, which is of course deeply connected with the sea and harbour. Good combination of different presentation styles in the museum. From movies, original paintings, stories, graphs, maps, and exciting setup! Also kids area on 2nd floor, which looked solid. Interesting mini exhibition about future ideas for "rotterdam 2200". Also don't forget to check out the outdoor area at the waterfront, where you can walk on the ships!!

Good museum, great for kids! A really kids friendly museum, with lot of activities and learning experiences! Moreover, a quite big section fully dedicated as “playground”, with a maritime theme. Awesome!

I went this museum with 9 and 5 years old kids. The first floor offshore experience was a bit difficult for my 5 years old daughter. We mostly spent our time at the 2nd floor. It’s sort of inside kids play ground. Mostly 5-8 years old but my older still enjoyed a lot!

I agree with several other previous comments here about the fact that the museum is interesting mainly thanks to the Off-Shore Experience. I enjoyed the Off-Shore Experience so much, I had never seen anything like it in any other Maritime museum before, and spent a lot of time in that part. The experience is also pretty fun for kids because there are interactive activities. I learned so much about the oil rigs and took pleasure in watching the staff testimonies. However, apart from this the other exhibits are not as interesting (and not suitable for kids at all), so basically you’re paying for the Off-Shore Experience only. If you’re coming with kids, there’s a section on the 1rst level where the kids can play ( a maritime-themed indoor playground). I thought it was a nice idea for families. All the ships displayed outside the museum along the canal can be accessed for free anytime, even if they are part of the Maritime Museum.

If you live in the Netherlands or are planning a trip here, I recommend that you include this museum on your list of places to see. This museum features paintings depicting the history of Dutch marine life, as well as fun interactive exhibits for both children and adults. There is a unique place on the roof for a kids' playground with a marine life theme. Oh, and don't worry, there are plenty of places for adults to wait and observe the children out exploring.

A an interesting potted history of Rotterdam. Plenty of seascape paintings. Outdoor section too. A hefty 16 EurosEuros entrance fee. Good cafe, but again expensive.

Arguably the best and the most important Maritime museum in the world. The Dutch have been masters of the sea for centuries and this rich history is showcased in this museum. On display in various sections are masterpieces of the Golden Age of Dutch Paintings. For the young and old there is so much to learn....

Nice "simulation" of an oil rig with lots of information, videos and games. Apart from that the museum has not much more to offer. There was an exhibition of sea related art which in my opinion belongs to an art museum plus few bits of information on navigation instruments and sea monsters. Outside of the museum there is a small original lighthouse where a short movie is shown about the development of the Rotterdam Harbour. That's it.

By far my FAVORITE museum so far in the Netherlands. Honestly thought it would be boring because its about ships and I don't find that particularly interesting, but I was proven wrong! My favorite part was the interactive off-shore experience. Full of minigames that covers various aspects of the job. It was pretty immersive with the setting and turned me into a giddy kid. Forget Van Gogh or Anne Frank Museum! If you can only go to 1 museum in the Netherlands than I would recommend this:)

History is condensed in Museums, and museums stand as witness for the next generations. Numerous years worth of knowledge can be seen in few hours. I loved the experience especially when in company with your kids. Worth the visit and good value addition to the Rotterdam’s trip itinerary. Thanks to the supportive working teams of the museum.

A FENOMENAL Museum! €11,50 for student, I was there for 2:40 but it was rushed, would have loved to spend another 2hours, but had an appointment to catch. Suggested visiting time ~5h. The first part I did was the Oil Rig simulation which was very fun. You put on a helmet and a yellow jacket (boots if you want). Your ticket has a code that you scan in every game (9 in total), to get points depending on your score. I don't know how it happened, I set the ticket correctly, but in every game station, once I inserted my ticket the rules were in Dutch and not English, so I couldn't understand them unless I had someone before me showing me the way. Aside from the different games (keeping a ship in place in a storm, digging an oil pipe, directing a helicopter to your ship, a quiz, finding the best place to put ocean wind turbines ...), You had many different displays showing you different oil rigs, their function, a testimony and videos. You can easily spend there 2:30h without realising the time. Very very interesting and well done. Finished the Oil Rig, you have a section of different ideas to make oil rigs / sea more sustainable, and after you listen to them, you choose which you preferred (and then the winner will receive funding to procede). Then you have on the wall different Port Panoramas which are quite impressive and then a Big multi path presentation on the water and importance the Rotterdam Port represents. The paintings and object display is also very impressive. Once you finish inside, then you have an enormous outdoor Marina with many different vessels you can see, read about and a few even get on board :-) On in all I LOVED this Museum! And both Children and Adults will definitely love it!

This was one of the first museums I visited in Rotterdam. I also got my Museum pass here too, nice employees who helped me with everything. Overall a nice museum, you start with an oil rig simulation and then just get to see history of the boats in the Netherlands as well as the history of the ports here. Pretty near stuff but this museum was not my cup of tea, nice to see though especially using the museum pass on it.

The best family/kids friendly museum in Rotterdam🙌🏻 💯 educative, fun, interactive! So much to see and do, inside as well as outside. Perfect for a rainy day, as well as for a one with a good weather. On the 2D floor is a real kinder paradijs! 😁😁👌🏻👌🏻with a thought of parents too: a coffee pitstop Highly recommend.

Nice pastime place to learn and see interesting artefacts or monuments of maritime heritage. Lifelike boats and exhibits of many type of exploration history on the sea. A good stop to get to know more about Rotterdam

We visited this museum as part of or one day visit to Rotterdam and it was worth it. The museum describes the history of Rotterdam, from the middle ages to modern time. There is also a separate building called the port pavilion which describes the modern port. There is also outside exhibits showing cranes and old boats. Plan a good 2h to see everything.

Nice place to learn and see interesting artefacts or monuments of maritime heritage. Lifelike boats and exhibits of many type of exploration history on the sea. A good stop to get to know more about Rotterdam.

Spending a whole day and still not enough. If you have a kid, also very interesting for them. The museum provide space for children and kids to enjoy and get some knowledge about maritime. There are interactive tasks for adults in the beginning. Also, you can have an insights of trafficking (drugs) to Rotterdam. It is a library of course for people to read more about maritime, also a gallery, where many paitings from old to the newest can be seen. However, Only two issues were that only card-payments are accepted, which as a cash-in-hand tourist did not like it. And, the closing time is at 5pm, which is too ealry as you enter, you will not want to come out. for extra: There is a boat cruise in the channel for about 15-30 minutes and €6 extra costs, but the sailor was kind and give me so much information and show me the most important places which we could see from the boat. (Also, I was lucky enough that noone came to the boat, so I was only with the sailor, so I could have ask more question and was only talked to me).

Great outdoor and indoor museum. Cool stuff for kids and an amazing interactive part for adults as well.. check "drugs" part if you are over 14

A very good modern museum about maritim culture. A lot to see and to experience. Special for children. They can explorer a lot and have playgrounds and stories about seamyths to discover. And furthermore outside are steam boats, cranes and engines running and smelling oilly. The atmosphere in the small museum harbour is really worth a visit.

It has a seperate open air harbour which has a collection of several historical vessel, ferries and cranes all of which are in working condition.

We spent a few hours exploring this museum, the best bit was by far the oil platform experience. Lots of interactive games and displays and it was really impressive to learn about the technology used. Recommend it!

A friend recommended us to take the kids to play there. So we did, paying thirty odd euro for 2 adults… took them to the play area floor. The play area not too big but kids have a lot to do there. It’s like a mini logistic transportation but ofcoz kids being kids (boys) trying to break stuff 😅

Nice place to visit with children because of multiple interactive experiences and special children exhibits. The art selection is quite small, which makes the admission price quite expensive if you only want to see paintings but worth it if you are interested in interactive stuff like offshore experience. Included in Netherlands museum pass.

Highly recommend the boat tour, especially in a nice day. It's a small boat and a good chance to chit chat with the skipper. Super museum and well worth a visit!

Great for kids! Interesting, intriguing and well put together.

Wasn't for me. I am sure others find these things interesting, but I found it meh. They did have a workshop nearby that looked kinda cool, but we didn't go.

Great museum to learn more about shipping,if you come with kids,there are great areas to entertain them and a small harbor to attend to!

Such a great museum for both kids and adults. Can’t believe that I missed it for decades. Especially for children from 6 and above. A lot of things to do, play and learn. It’s definitely worthy for a second visit.

So much of visiting Europe deals with the fabulous architecture and eateries. There are so many museums, including many children's museums. Not just a few, but many. This museum keeps the children entertained, motivated, and constantly learning. It is an educational fun place. My granddaughter walked with me sightseeing so many places and was running out of energy. I saved this for last. When she went inside, there were so many stimulating things to see and touch that she regained so much energy. she was so happy there was a place specifically for her. Excellent museum.

Very nicely setup, if your looking to do something interesting for a day this would be a great option. They really have kids in mind and made very interactive.

I guess this could be a really cool museum if you love boats. I found it quite boring myself.

An excellent museum fit for all ages and extremely interactive with lots of interesting exhibits along with fun stuff to do. This museum must be on your Rotterdam itinerary!