Rotterdam Centraal

Rotterdam Centraal is the main railway station in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The station receives an average of 110,000 passengers a year. The existing station building at the station square was officially opened in 2014.

Since it is one of the four main stations in the Netherlands, it is connected to cities across the country. The main destinations include: Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Zwolle. There are also international train services in other countries, including Antwerp, Brussels and Paris. The Eurostar service from London to Amsterdam Central Station also stops here.

Rotterdam Central Station is currently the terminus of the Metro Line D, while the E-line train continues south to the Slinger Railway Station. The train is operated by RET. The Rotterdam tramway network can reach this station on almost all lines.

The new station includes two supermarkets, some restaurants and cafes. There is also a "station living room". On the south side there is an underground bicycle parking space for more than 5,000 bicycles. There are taxi stands on the north and south sides.

Basel

Rotterdam (, UK also ; Dutch: [ˌrɔtərˈdɑm] ) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the second-largest Dutch city after Amsterdam, and is located in the province of South Holland, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte, after which people settled around it for safety. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland.A major logistic and economic centre, Rotterdam is Europe's largest port, and had previously been the largest port of the world for a long time. It has a population of 634,660 and is home to 174 nationalities. Rotterdam is known for its Erasmus University, its riverside setting, lively cultural life, maritime heritage and modern architecture. The near-complete destruction of the city centre in the World War II Rotterdam Blitz has resulted in a varied architectural landscape, including sky-scrapers (an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities) designed by renowned architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom and Ben van Berkel.The Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World". Rotterdam will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

Basel ( BAH-zəl, German: [ˈbaːzl̩] ) or Basle ( BAHL; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈleːa] ) is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zürich and Geneva) with about 180,000 inhabitants.Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. As of 2016, the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland (municipal count as of 2018). The initiative Trinational Eurodistrict Basel (TEB) of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007.The official language of Basel is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local Basel German dialect. The city is known for its many internationally renowned museums, ranging from the Kunstmuseum, the first collection of art accessible to the public in Europe (1661) and the largest museum of art in the whole of Switzerland, to the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen). The University of Basel, Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche and in the 20th century also Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers. The city of Basel is Switzerland's second-largest economic centre after the city of Zürich and has the highest GDP per capita in the country, ahead of the cantons of Zug and Geneva. In terms of value, over 94% of Basel City's goods exports are in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. With production facilities located in the neighboring Schweizerhalle, Basel accounts for 20% of Swiss exports and generates one third of the national product.Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, and joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501. The city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl as the location for the first World Zionist Congress, and altogether the congress has been held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location. The city is also home to the world headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements. In 2019 Basel, was ranked among the ten most liveable cities in the world by Mercer together with Zürich and Geneva.