Leiden: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Within a compact historic setting, Leiden showcases waterways, scientific collections, gardens, and numerous traces spanning many centuries. The historic city centre has a total of 28 kilometres of canals and Singel. The cityscape includes almost 2,800 monuments, including hofjes, windmills, churches, and city gates.

Culture

A special form of historic urban space is represented by Leiden’s 35 hofjes. Many of these complexes are still inhabited and can largely be visited. Visitors should be considerate of the residents. The Leidse Loper passes numerous historic monuments and special views. The Route van Ontdekkingen also explores the city as a walking circuit: the city walk comprises 28 stops and can be followed using a smartphone.

De Burcht is one of the city’s prominent historic buildings and one of the oldest surviving examples of a castle in the Netherlands. After climbing the many steps, De Burcht offers views across Leiden. The mound was built at the end of the 9th century. Leiden’s oldest parish church was consecrated in 1121 as a chapel of the count’s court; the church’s present form was created between 1390 and 1565. Other historic milestones characterise individual buildings: the windmill was rebuilt in the 1980s, one building dates from 1599, and Rembrandt van Rijn attended the school.

The Matilo Archaeological Park is located on the site of the approximately 2,000-year-old Roman frontier fort Castellum Matilo.

Science

Leiden has several places where the history of research and accessible science come together. The collection of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave presents five centuries of research and innovation; the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave also conveys the history of science in the Netherlands. For children aged 8 to 12, the museum offers a free family activity called De Dokterstas.

The freely accessible LiveSciencezaal at Naturalis allows visitors to meet scientists and observe the preparation of real animals. Naturalis also offers nine exhibition halls covering topics such as the earliest life on Earth, the Dutch Ice Age, dinosaurs, and the T. rex Trix.

Nature

Hortus botanicus Leiden combines historic plant culture with various garden and greenhouse areas. For more than four centuries, plants from around the world have been collected, cultivated, admired, and studied there. The Hortus includes, among other things, a Japanese and a Mediterranean themed garden, centuries-old trees, and greenhouses with orchids, carnivorous pitcher plants, and ferns.

A stay at the Hortus also includes the Grand Café, which uses vegetables, fruit, and tea from its own garden. In this way, the botanical garden brings together the collection, care, and use of plant diversity without losing the historic and scientific dimension of the site.

Getting Around

The canals can be experienced not only from the quayside. In Leiden, visitors can rent a boat or book a canal cruise. For longer distances by bicycle, the Duin-&-Zeeroute runs for 33 kilometres through Leiden, Wassenaar, and Katwijk.

Bicycle parking is also regulated at several locations. Waagstalling offers 22 free supervised bicycle parking spaces at Aalmarkt 22; the entrances are on Breestraat and Aalmarkt. In Leiden, there are free public bicycle stands and bicycle parking facilities at the railway stations and in the city centre, some of which are supervised. From Leiden Central Station, the city centre can be reached on foot in approximately 15 minutes.

Those who wish to explore the city further as a destination in its own right can find the local page for Leiden here.

For the overarching travel overview: South Holland.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Ridderkerk, Bodegraven, Hellevoetsluis, Krimpen Aan Den Ijssel, Rotterdam, Sliedrecht, Brielle.