Rotterdam Marathon course guide: Erasmus Bridge to the Coolsingel

Rotterdam Marathon 2027: date, start, entry

The 46th NN Marathon Rotterdam is on Sunday 11 April 2027, and the marathon also serves as the Dutch Marathon Championships. It starts at the foot of the Erasmus Bridge and finishes on the Coolsingel. Saturday 10 April 2027 has shorter events, and across the weekend there are the NN Kids Runs, the City Run Rotterdam, a Quarter Marathon, the Marathon Rotterdam Walk and Your Marathon Challenge.

The marathon entry fee is €155. Registration opened on 4 November 2026 after a pre-registration period, and all marathon places sold out the same day. An official waiting list and entry transfers are due to open later, and the organisers expect to say in December whether extra places can be added. Free charity places through the KWF Dutch Cancer Society have also gone. Registration for the other weekend events opened on the same day.

Official website: www.nnmarathonrotterdam.nl/en

Checked on 8 November 2026 against the official race website; confirm details there before you enter.

The course

From the foot of the Erasmus Bridge the route heads towards the Kop van Zuid and on past many of the city's landmarks before returning to the Coolsingel. In 2026 the finish was moved earlier along the Coolsingel, near the WTC, because of construction work at Hofplein.

It is a flat course. On our map the line covers about 42.0 km with only about 36 m of climbing.

What Rotterdam is known for

The race was first run in 1981 and has been held in April every year since 1984. The flat course and usually favourable spring weather give fast times, and the organisers call it the fastest marathon in the Netherlands.

Running it

• The Erasmus Bridge comes right at the start: let the field settle before you find your pace.
• On a flat course the effort never lets up, so practise long runs at goal pace on flat roads.
• Save something for the finish on the Coolsingel, where the crowds are biggest.

Frame your Rotterdam finish

The Rotterdam Marathon is available as a framed 3D map: the real terrain of the city printed in relief, with the course raised in colour. Add your name, date and finish time and we work out your pace. If you ran with a GPS watch, upload your GPX and we print your exact line.