Leiden Travel Guide

Leiden is an old charming university town, halfway between Amsterdam and The Hague. It's a very lively place. The old centre part of the city is mostly dominated by the many Dutch and international students. Especially on weekdays, the nightlife in the city centre is nice.

Many small pubs are open till late. If you are in before 1 h00 in the night (on Friday and Saturday: 2h00 in the night), you can stay as long as the place keeps open. Prices are in general low. Evening meal is not so expensive too. Around the Nieuwe Rijn a lot of restaurants offer fine food. If you like Thai food, on mon. and sun. Einstein is a great place. on other days, Bhudda's offers the same cooking. In the weekend, Leiden is a bit starved out. Many students go back to their parents. On saturday there is a big open market with fresh food and good fishes along the Nieuwe Rijn.

Nice places to spend the evening on weekdays are:
mondag: Odessa , Hogewoerd (happy hour 2230-2330), mostly very crowded with the international students on this day
tuesday: Hifi , Vouwensteeg (in the building of the fraternity Minerva)
wednesday: Einstein (from about 2200 very busy with international students)
thursday: LVC, Breestraat
friday: City Hall


The town is home to the oldest and most famous Dutch university, founded in 1575. It has a good railway link with Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Hague and other major Dutch towns. Trains run almost every 15 minutes. The connection to Amsterdam takes 40 minutes, to Rotterdam 30 minutes and to The Hague takes 10 minutes.

Main attractions are the Museum of Antiquities with an excellent collection of artifacts from Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Hortus Botanicus one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, planted in 1578 and the Pieterskerk with the tomb of John Robinson, leader of the Pilgrim Fathers. Most of the sights are very close to each other, on or near the Rapenburg, a major canal in the centre.