On the Waterbus to Dordrecht

Just before the New Year my brother-in-law took us for a trip on one of the water bus routes in the Rotterdam area. These are fast travelling catamarans that complement other modes of public transport - the closest analogy in the UK would be the Thames Clipper.

We boarded the waterbus near Krimpen aan den Ijssel although the river here is the Lek rather than the Ijssel. In the background the large Brienenoordbrug can be seen which links Rotterdam with motorways leading south and east. Close to the waterbusstop there was a shipbuilding yard with a large ocean-going tug under construction.

The waterbus route went to Dordrecht which is the oldest city in the Netherlands. After a few minutes travelling upstream the waterbus took the Noord rather than the Lek then stopped at Ridderkerk.

Again there was another shipbuilder across the Noord on the East bank. As is usually the case on the big rivers there was plenty of barge traffic.

Most barges were quite substantial such as the one above on the right carrying containers.

However, there is a "pusher" boat pushing no less than six barges here; it is being overtaken by the container barge.

At the end of the Noord there is the point where the Merwede river splits into the Oude Maas and Noord. Dordrecht is on the south bank. Papendrecht is on the north side and Zwijndrecht on the west side.

We took Voorstraat (means 'Forestreet') towards the city centre. Many of the buildings looked quite old.

Many gables were stepped such as the one above. However, what was very obvious was that older buildings suffered subsidence and as a result had walls at an angle.

The walls bordering this alley off Voorstraat look like they want to kiss each other! After taking a look around the centre, we did a loop walking around some of the old harbours. Some fronts had an art deco look to them.

One harbour was bounded by historic buildings. I do not know the name of this harbour however the street on the east side was called Kuipershaven (literally "Cooper's haven").

This is shown in the photo above.

The west side was called Wolwevershaven (literally "wool weaver's haven"). Many historic barges were moored on this side of the harbour.

We then went to the Grote Kerk (Great Kirk) which was shut. A sign outside said that it leaned 2.5 metres out of true at the top which was comparable to the leaning tower of Pisa! By this time we were freezing so we went into a cafe for a toastie and coffee.

We returned to the waterbus stop on the east side of the old town. This view in Noordendijk shows how many buildings lean out of true.

On the return journey I was impressed by the number of bikes being taken on the waterbus. In fact behind the photographer's position there was a large bike rack in the stern of the boat.

When we took the waterbus back towards Krimpen the light was fading completely. We decided to take the waterbus all the way to Rotterdam to see the skyline by night. It was quite spectacular but none of my photos are any good due to the motion of the waterbus and the slowish exposures.

The waterbus station sign for Rotterdam is the only evidence I can show that we got that far!

In conclusion, I can recommend the waterbus as a means of transport for any visitor. It is fast and offers great views by night and day. Also Dordrecht is probably not the most famous town to visit in the Netherlands but is well worth a visit.