{"id":305957,"date":"2026-02-19T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305957\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T10:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:46:09","slug":"europes-artiest-city-break-with-a-new-museum-you-can-sleep-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305957\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s artiest city break \u2014 with a new museum you can sleep above"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the moment it was exhibited, Turner\u2019s painting Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed made waves. It was the star of the Royal Academy\u2019s summer exhibition of 1818 and the reaction from critics and artists was emphatic. The Morning Chronicle called it \u201cone of the most magnificent pictures ever exhibited\u201d. Turner\u2019s great rival, John Constable, was just as fulsome in his praise. \u201cIt was the most complete work of a genius I ever saw,\u201d he later recalled.<\/p>\n

As its name suggests, the enormous canvas \u2014 nearly 8ft wide \u2014 is a study in tranquillity. On a day of flat calm, washed with golden light, it captures the moment when provisions and passengers are loaded from rowing boats onto a ship called the Swan, near the town of Dordrecht in the Netherlands<\/a>. You can see the north face of its minster in the distance, glowing in the sun, and every part of Turner\u2019s treatment of the subject emphasises the peacefulness of the scene \u2014 the quiet sky overhead, the reflective waters of the river below, the ship cast as a halo of light. Looking at it has a restorative power.<\/p>\n

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And now you can enjoy it in real life. This magnificent painting was bought by an American in 1966 and usually lives in Yale\u2019s Centre for British Art in Connecticut. It rarely crosses the Atlantic but this year you can see it hanging ten minutes\u2019 walk from that glowing church in Turner\u2019s background. It\u2019s the star of a new exhibition, Water and Light, which runs in the Dordrechts Museum until June 14 (\u00a314.80; dordrechtsmuseum.nl). And no, it\u2019s not coming to the UK afterwards. This is its only European outing.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWhat you need to know\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Where is it? Rotterdam and Dordrecht<\/p>\n

Who will love it? Turner fans, culture lovers and coffee drinkers<\/p>\n

Insider tip Invest in a \u00a365 Netherlands Museum Pass, which gives you access to more than 400 Dutch museums<\/p>\n

That\u2019s excuse enough for an art-themed trip to the Netherlands this spring and I have plenty more. Dordrecht sits \u2014 low-rise and lovely \u2014 15 minutes by train from the harbour city of Rotterdam (\u00a310.10 return; ns.nl). And Rotterdam is three and a half hours by Eurostar from London (returns from \u00a378; eurostar.com). It\u2019s an easy train journey from Schiphol airport too \u2014 and however you get there, you\u2019ll find the region is blossoming into a cultural hub. A two-day break won\u2019t do it justice. If you\u2019ve got an appetite for world-class art, you\u2019ll need three or four.<\/p>\n

\"AnJMW Turner\u2019s Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed<\/p>\n

Rotterdam is the heart of it, and its new Netherlands Photo Museum is the most exciting place to stay. Opened on February 7 in the up-and-coming waterfront Katendrecht district, it\u2019s home to one of the world\u2019s largest photography collections and it\u2019s crowned not just by a golden lattice of metal but an entire floor of 16 short-stay studios and one-bedroom apartments. Neat, spacious and equipped with all the essentials (barring dishwashers), they\u2019re officially available to rent for a minimum of one week. But they can be had, last minute, for shorter stays. By UK standards the starting price \u2014 from \u00a385 a night for two, self-catering \u2014 is a steal. Find them under the location Brede Hilledijk on the website of Alphabet Apartments, which manages them (alphabetapartments.com).<\/p>\n

Staying above the Netherlands Photo Museum<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just spent a couple of nights in one of the studios and it was a lot more comfortable than my last museum sleepover. That was on a mattress on the floor at one of the Science Museum\u2019s Astronights in London. Admittedly, at the Netherlands Photo Museum you\u2019re not inside the galleries themselves, as you are in South Kensington. But the thought of sleeping on top of one of 6.5 million images is a thrill nevertheless. It helps that entry to the museum\u2019s ground floor is free, effectively making it the buzziest aparthotel lobby you\u2019ll ever lounge in. That\u2019s not just because of the museum\u2019s house blend of strong Brazilian coffee. Next door to its caf\u00e9 is a library of several thousand photography books that is open to all. You can\u2019t take them to your apartment \u2014 you\u2019ll need to browse at one of the library\u2019s tables instead \u2014 but it sure beats the handful of art monographs that usually grace the tables of Europe\u2019s design hotels.<\/p>\n

\"AYou can now stay above the Netherlands Photo MuseumIris van den Broek<\/p>\n

Sadly, upstairs the museum\u2019s galleries play hard to get with their collections. From 6.5 million images, the curators have given us just 100 \u201cicons\u201d of Dutch photography, marshalling them onto a single floor, with two floors above them devoted to storage and conservation and two more beyond that hosting temporary exhibitions (\u00a315; nederlandsfotomuseum.nl). But that\u2019s OK because you can get a powerful photographic hit half a mile along the same disused quay at Fenix, which opened in May last year (\u00a313; fenix.nl\/en). This airy gallery, which examines the eternal, unwavering fact of human migration, is another declaration of Rotterdam\u2019s cultural ambition \u2014 and is at its most memorable in the room of giant black and white images showing our species on the move.<\/p>\n

\"HandsCaf\u00e9 Putaine is one of the best restaurants among the quays and warehouses<\/p>\n

Inventive cuisine\u2026 and more art<\/p>\n

Katendrecht is a great place to refuel too, courtesy of the caf\u00e9s and restaurants that dot its quays or float on its pontoons, amid a mind-scrambling mix of skyscrapers, former warehouses and well-mannered brick houses. Caf\u00e9 Putaine is one of the most delicious, thanks to well-balanced, inventive dishes such as guinea fowl, blackberry, parsleyroot and coffee (mains from \u00a313; restaurantputaine.nl). But don\u2019t take too long over lunch. Just across the Nieuwe Maas river lies the Kunsthal, whose severe modernist exterior gives no hint of the flamboyant exhibitions within. The next big one, from March 27 to August 30, will celebrate the flower in all its forms across 200 exhibits (\u00a316.50; kunsthal.nl).<\/p>\n

Enough art already? Sorry, there\u2019s more. You can\u2019t come to the southern Netherlands and not see Johannes Vermeer\u2019s 17th-century masterpiece The Girl with a Pearl Earring. It hangs in the Mauritshuis in the Hague \u2014 30 minutes by train from Rotterdam Centraal (\u00a318; mauritshuis.nl). In which case you may wish to invest in a \u00a365 Netherlands Museum Pass (museum.nl\/en), which offers free access to all museums and galleries mentioned here, with the exception of Fenix.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Fenix Museum in RotterdamIris van den Boek<\/p>\n

It\u2019s partly because of this sensory overload that the excursion to Dordrecht is such a treat. Like Rotterdam, it too had a traumatic Second World War but was spared the blanket bombing that flattened its neighbour in 1940. Now life burbles through its narrow streets like a country brook and many of its landmarks recall the quick, fluent pencil marks with which Turner filled his sketchbooks in 1817. He was there, probably for a couple of days, in early September, on his way back from a tour that had included the fields of Waterloo, where two years earlier a bloody battle had brought the Napoleonic Wars to an end. Did he realise straight away that this preparatory work could frame a scene that seemed to capture Europe\u2019s collective sigh of relief? We\u2019ll never know. But there was no mistaking its power when it was done.<\/p>\n

Helpfully the curator Quirine van der Meer Mohr has placed a bench a few steps back from the painting. It\u2019s the perfect place to sit down and take a long, deep breath.
Sean Newsom was a guest of Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info\/en) and stayed in the city as a guest of the Netherlands Photo Museum (nederlandsfotomuseum.nl). Fly or take the train to Rotterdam<\/p>\n

Three more art-loving city breaks<\/p>\n

By Sean Newsom<\/p>\n

Berlin<\/p>\n

This spring a whirlwind of activity awaits in the German capital \u2014 with the funky 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin forming a canny base at the eye of your art-loving storm (room-only doubles from \u00a3122; 25hours-hotels.com). Not only is it close to C\/O Berlin\u2019s exhibition of Graciela Iturbide\u2019s eloquent Mexican photography (until June 10, \u00a310.50; co-berlin.org), it\u2019s virtually next door to the Zoological Garden transport hub, so you can make a 20-minute journey to Potsdam by train to feast on the flickering oils of Max Liebermann, Philipp Franck and co. They\u2019ve been gathered in the Barberini Museum for an exhibition of German impressionists that\u2019s sure to complement the permanent collection, which includes 40 works by Monet (February 28 to June 7, \u00a314; museum-barberini.de).<\/p>\n

On your way back be sure to stop off at the Teufelsberg. A former American listening post, built on a mountain of Third Reich rubble, it\u2019s now a towering open-air gallery of street art and crumbling concrete. The surrounding Grunewald forest adds to the spookiness. You\u2019ll feel like Indiana Jones, discovering the remains of some lost and deeply troubled civilisation (\u00a39; teufelsberg-berlin.de).<\/p>\n

Afterwards the 25hours hotel\u2019s rooftop bar is a great place to rest your weary feet. But don\u2019t get too comfortable. Head to the city centre, where Mies van der Rohe\u2019s flat-topped Neue Nationalgalerie is a modernist shrine \u2014 a selection of works from its permanent collection focuses on postwar masterpieces (\u00a312; smb.museum). Meanwhile, the Gem\u00e4ldegalerie nearby is camping things up with its Gallery Looks show, strutting a fine, catwalk-flavoured line between fashion and art with paintings, video and specially commissioned couture (until May 31, \u00a312; smb.museum).<\/p>\n

Paris<\/p>\n

The City of Light\u2019s allure may have been dimmed slightly by the closure of the National Museum of Modern Art for a four-year facelift. But it won\u2019t feel that way when you walk into the galleries of the Grand Palais, just south of the Champs Elys\u00e9es. From March 24 to July 26 it will be hosting Matisse 1941-1954, a celebration of his exuberant final acts when, in the wake of debilitating surgery, a pair of scissors and a team of assistants became his principal tools (\u00a316.50; grandpalais.fr). Here, the resulting cut-outs, several of which are more than 9ft tall, will have room to glow \u2014 their blazing colours and bold shapes a giant, two-fingered salute to his infirmity. More than 230 works will be on show. Just down the road the Louvre will be making a grand gesture too, hoping no doubt that it will shift focus away from the recent leaks, ticketing scams and stolen jewels. From April 15 Michelangelo and Rodin: Living Bodies will bring together two leviathans of western sculpture (until July 20, \u00a319; louvre.fr). Just across the Rue du Rivoli, the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, which opened in October, is unmissable (\u00a313; fondationcartier.com), which means you ought to find somewhere nearby to stay. The snug little H\u00f4tel Moli\u00e8re will do nicely (room-only doubles from \u00a3147; hotel-moliere.fr).<\/p>\n

Rome<\/p>\n

Rome\u2019s temporary exhibitions are rarely a match for its eternal beauties. So build your itinerary around the Sistine Chapel and the Palazzo Massimo. In the former, Michelangelo\u2019s heavenly ceiling is best seen after 5.30pm, when everyone\u2019s tummy is rumbling and the crowds are beginning to thin. Last entry to the Vatican Museums is at 6pm (\u00a317; museivaticani.va). The Palazzo Massimo is, by contrast, almost never busy, despite being one of the most dazzling and intelligently curated collections of ancient Roman sculpture (\u00a313, museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it).<\/p>\n

That said, there are some eye-catching shows in town this spring. Treasures of the Pharaohs, at the Scuderie del Quirinale, has brought a rare and intriguing taste of Egypt to a city that once depended so heavily on its grain (until June 14, \u00a316; scuderiequirinale.it). Meanwhile, Venus at PM23 is a breath of modern fresh air, thanks to the ebullient and subversive work of Joana Vasconcelos. Just outside the building she has created a giant Venetian-style mask of mirrors. Inside, a dreamlike installation of colour and fabric floats above Valentino frocks (until May 31, \u00a310.50; piazzamignanelli23.com). Close to the Palazzo Massimo, the new Ruby Giulia hotel is fresh, white and friendly (room-only doubles from \u00a3132; ruby-hotels.com).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the moment it was exhibited, Turner\u2019s painting Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-305957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}