Netherlands · Provincie Zuid-Holland · Rotterdam
Bloemhof, Rotterdam — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Bloemhof is a pre-war workers' neighbourhood in Rotterdam-Zuid, part of Feijenoord and site of J.J.P. Oud's Kiefhoek housing estate.
About Bloemhof
Where to stay in Bloemhof
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Bloemhof suits a lived-in Rotterdam-Zuid base rather than a polished centre. Rooms are plain here. The Lange Hilleweg canal splits the neighbourhood, with taller flats to its north and lower workers' housing to its south, so pick your street to match the pace that you want.
Trams and the Maashaven metro station on the northern edge carry you across the Nieuwe Maas to the city core within minutes.
About Bloemhof
What are the main landmarks in Bloemhof?
The Kiefhoek is why architects come to Bloemhof. Oud laid out this compact estate of workers' dwellings between 1928 and 1930, in the pared-back Nieuwe Bouwen manner, with white walls, yellow doors and a small church set among the terraces beside the Hendrik Idoplein. Older still are the Kossel blocks, an early experiment in poured-concrete housing raised during the first half of the 1920s.
Streets tell the story.
What is the history of Bloemhof?
Bloemhof grew up with the port. Early in the twentieth century, families from Zeeland and North Brabant crossed south of the Nieuwe Maas to work the docks, and rows of cheap workers' housing rose to hold them across Feijenoord. The Kossel concrete blocks and the Kiefhoek by Oud both belong to that building push.
It stayed a working neighbourhood, and later drew newcomers of far more than a hundred nationalities. Plain brick streets remain.
Where is Bloemhof?
Bloemhof lies south of the Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam-Zuid, boxed in by the Groene Hilledijk, the Strevelsweg and the Dordtselaan, with the Lange Hilleweg canal running through its middle.
More areas in Rotterdam
Updated July 2026