Before you read on
- When you race
- 1–4 April 2027
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- A metro stop five minutes away, in the most modern-looking city in the Netherlands.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- Rotterdam The Hague (RTM), Bus 33 or 533 to Meijersplein, then metro E to Zuidplein
- Cost for the weekend
- EUR 156 (USD 179) per person, Flights, rooms and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
A metro stop five minutes from the doors, in a city rebuilt from nothing and not shy about it.
Reasons to
- Zuidplein metro is five minutes' walk, on two lines into the centre.
- Almost thirteen hours of daylight, running to quarter past eight in the evening.
- Schiphol is half an hour away by direct train, so the long-haul arrival is simple.
- An ordinary meal is about EUR 20, lower than the northern European average here.
Reasons not to
- A concert series runs in the same complex on all four race days.
- No hotel rate near the venue was reachable, so the weekend is harder to cost.
- Zuidplein is plain, and the city you came to see is across the river.
- It drops to 5°C (41°F) at dawn, which is when you will be travelling.
Conditions on the day
Decathlon HYROX Rotterdam runs April 1st, 2027 to April 4th, 2027 at Rotterdam Ahoy. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Mild afternoons, cold mornings
16°C (61°F) by day, 5°C (41°F) at night
Rotterdam at the start of April
- The April average reaches 16°C (61°F) by day and falls to 5°C (41°F) at night.
- Humidity sits at 76%, and 42mm of rain falls across the month.
- Daylight runs 07:17 to 20:15, almost thirteen hours.
- The eleven-degree spread between day and night is the widest on this part of the calendar.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Rotterdam Ahoy
April 1st, 2027
Decathlon HYROX Rotterdam
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- Ahoyweg 10, 3084 BA Rotterdam
- Nearest station
- Zuidplein metro, five minutes on foot (5 min walk)
- Parking
- Yes, at EUR 21 on an event day or EUR 20 booked in advance.
- From the nearest hotel
- 5 to 15 min from Hotels around Zuidplein
- Altitude
- 2m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Rotterdam.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Rotterdam.
Rotterdam has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Rotterdam Ahoy, your race is in this building
A complex of exhibition halls, a sports arena and a concert venue south of the Maas, with a metro station five minutes away.
Known for. Concerts, the Rotterdam tennis and the ABN AMRO indoor events, and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021.
The building. Built in 1971 to replace the first Ahoy hall, which went up in 1950 for a reconstruction exhibition after the bombing of the city.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page a few days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At Rotterdam Ahoy, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Rotterdam one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Metro D or E to Zuidplein, five minutes from the doors. The Rotterdam metro starts before six, covering the early waves.
What you need to book
Before you book
The listing runs 1 to 4 April, so confirm your division's day before booking the last night.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
Schiphol is about half an hour by direct train and takes nearly all the long-haul traffic.
Search flights to RotterdamBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in RotterdamSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in RotterdamYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Eating, three days | EUR 120 | $138 |
| Travel, a day ticket each day | EUR 36 | $41 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | EUR 156 | $179 |
Getting to Rotterdam
Rotterdam The Hague airport connects by bus and metro, and Schiphol is half an hour away by train.
The metro to Zuidplein
Lines D and E both stop at Zuidplein, five minutes from the doors. A day ticket is EUR 12 and covers the trams and buses too.
From Schiphol
Direct trains to Rotterdam Centraal in about half an hour, then two metro stops south. Easier than the local airport for most arrivals.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
Schiphol is the better arrival for most international routes, with direct trains to Rotterdam Centraal and then two metro stops south.
Getting to the venue
Zuidplein is the venue's own area, south of the river and plain. Centrum and Kop van Zuid are the ones most people want, a few metro stops north.
Zuidplein is five minutes from the doors on metro lines D and E, which cross the river into the centre. An RET day ticket is EUR 12 against EUR 3.75 a journey, so it pays for itself on the fourth trip.
Where to stay
The venue is at Zuidplein, south of the Maas. The centre and the waterfront districts are a few metro stops north.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels around Zuidplein
The venue's own area, plain and functional, built around the metro interchange and the shopping centre. Closest to the hall.
2. Hotels in Kop van Zuid
The redeveloped docks under the Erasmus bridge, with the towers and the river terraces. Between the venue and the centre.
3. Hotels in Centrum
The rebuilt city centre, with the Markthal, the cube houses and most of the restaurants. Fifteen minutes back on the metro.
A concert series runs at Ahoy on all four race days, which puts pressure on rooms near the venue that an ordinary race weekend would not.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Rotterdam is split by the Maas, with the venue on the south side and the centre across the water.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zuidplein | 5 to 15 min on foot | The area around Ahoy and its metro interchange, with a shopping centre and little else. Convenient and plain. | |
| Katendrecht | about 10 min by metro | A former dockland peninsula turned into food halls and waterfront terraces. The best eating on the south side. | |
| Kop van Zuid | about 10 min by metro | The towers at the foot of the Erasmus bridge, with the river and the hotels. Modern and photogenic. | |
| Centrum | about 15 min by metro | The rebuilt centre, with the Markthal, the cube houses and the shopping streets. Where most people stay. | |
| Delfshaven | about 20 min by metro | The old harbour that survived the bombing, with canals and seventeenth-century houses. The one piece of old Rotterdam left. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Giacobbe, near the venue
An Italian on Jacob Kleiboerweg doing pasta at about twenty euros a head, which is the plain carbohydrate the night before wants. No walking time is published.
Katendrecht
Ten minutes north on the metro, with the food halls and ordinary kitchens along the quay. More choice than Zuidplein and still close.
Dutch food is plain and the port has brought in better, so the thing to do here is eat what the dockland food halls are serving.
Bitterballen
Crumbed balls of slow-cooked beef ragout, served with mustard and eaten standing up with a beer. The Dutch bar snack and a poor dinner, which is the point.
Kibbeling
Battered chunks of white fish with a garlic sauce, sold from stalls and fish shops across the city. A port dish, and lighter than it sounds.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- Layers. There are eleven degrees between the 5°C (41°F) dawn and the 16°C (61°F) afternoon.
- A waterproof for 42mm across the month, and wind off the water.
- A card. The Netherlands is close to cashless and some places take nothing else.
Quick tips
- Buy an RET day ticket at EUR 12 instead of singles at EUR 3.75.
- Book parking ahead at EUR 20. The concerts will be using the same car parks.
Zuidplein has a large shopping centre beside the metro with supermarkets. Dutch shops open on Sundays in the city, which is not true everywhere on this calendar.
The last race in Rotterdam
Hyrox raced at Ahoy in April 2026. No source confirms which halls were used or how the course ran, so there is little local form to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- Zuidplein metro station is five minutes' walk, on lines D and E.
- A concert series runs in the same complex across all four race days.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- Parking is EUR 21 on an event day, or EUR 20 booked ahead.
- The complex is shared that weekend, so allow more time to get in than the walk suggests.
What else is on that weekend
A concert series in your own complex, on every day of the race.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guus Meeuwis concerts | 1 to 4 April | Rotterdam Ahoy | The same complex, on all four race days. Ahoy is large enough to hold both. The site, the car parks and the metro will all be busier in the evenings. |
| Nothing else at Ahoy | Race week | Rotterdam Ahoy | The next events in the building are later in April, so the concerts are the only overlap. |
| The city itself | All weekend | North of the river | No festival or convention of size was confirmed in the centre across these dates. |
| Markthal and the cube houses | All weekend | Centrum | The two things everybody photographs are open through the weekend, fifteen minutes north on the metro. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
The Markthal
A horseshoe of flats arched over a food market, with a painted ceiling of fruit and fish across the inside. Free to walk through, and lunch is downstairs.
The cube houses
Thirty-eight yellow cubes tipped onto their corners above a street, built in 1984. One is open as a museum so you can see what living in a tilted room is like.
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen
A mirrored bowl holding the entire museum store, where you walk among the racks rather than a curated selection. The only one of its kind.
Delfshaven
The harbour the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from, and one of the few corners the 1940 bombing missed. Canals, gables and a working windmill.
What to do
The Erasmus bridge
A 800-metre cable-stayed bridge the city calls the Swan, crossing the Maas into the centre. Walk it once for the view back at the skyline.
Zuiderpark, next door
A large park immediately west of Ahoy with paths and open grass. The closest ground to the venue for a shake-out.
Fenix Food Factory
A warehouse on Katendrecht full of small producers, with beer, bread and cheese under one roof. Ten minutes from the hall on the metro.
The water taxi
Fast boats across and along the Maas, which is the only sensible way to see a port city. Runs between the centre, Katendrecht and Kop van Zuid.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Hyrox. HYROX is a trademark of its owner, used only to describe the races discussed.
This page links to booking and travel sites. Where we have an affiliate arrangement with one we may earn a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we list, or the order it appears in.
Last updated November 7th, 2026.