The Nieuwe Maas River has flowed through Rotterdam for 700 years, dividing the city in two, and acting as the city's lifeline. A continual procession of some 30,000 oceangoing ships and some 130,000 river barges passes annually through Rotterdam to and from the North Sea. A top option for visitors to the city is boat tours around the harbor, ranging from a hydrofoil called the Flying Dutchman to the very popular Spido boat tours; a variety of water taxis and water buses also operate in the Waterstad (the docks and harbors along the banks of the river). There is also a water-bus link between Rotterdam and Dordrecht, which stops at several places along the way, including Alblasserdam, home of the famous Kinderdijk windmills.
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