Hana's Dutch Town Adventures: Leiden

11:36 AM

Hoi!

I'm dedicated to make a post for each town I visited in the Netherlands. Since I go to this university town every week, it's only fitting to start from Leiden!

Leiden (I think it's pronounced lie - de and slightly missing the n) is a short thirty minute train ride from Amsterdam. Get the 'Intercity' train instead of 'Sprinter' if you want to be fast. The former stops only in big stations while the latter stops at every station, making it a bit slow. This city is a university city, housing the Netherland's oldest university, Universiteit Leiden (my uni!). Is it possible to explore Leiden in one day? You can try but you'll miss the moments. But, if you don't have a lot of time, here's my guide to this student town.

Leiden Centraal is your beginning
Usually the main train station is named 'Centraal' so when in Leiden you'll probably arrive at Leiden Centraal. Turn to the direction of Centrum. You'll see the Leiden Visitor Centre shortly after you exit. Here you can get a free map and guide book of all the exciting activities you can do in Leiden. Your best pathway to sightseeing to follow the Stationweg - the road right in front of the station. You'll pass some restaurants until you came upon a bridge. Look left. You'll see one of Leiden's windmill, De Valk. It is now a museum about milling (obviously).

De Valk. Isn't it pretty? My camera doesn't do it justice, though.

My Home in Leiden: Museum Volkenkunde

On my first workgroup with my professor, he asked the class where in Leiden do we feel at home. I answered this place - Museum Volkenkunde. Volkenkunde translates to ethnology. It houses different artefacts from different cultures, including Indonesia. There is a special exhibition on Indonesia. Their pride and joy? Several statues found at Candi Singosari in East Java. They made quite a journey, didn't they? There are also the Japan - Korea room, African - American room, the Pacific Islands, and China room. One day isn't enough to see them all. One thing I like about this museum is that it's very modern and informative. It's friendly to tourist and everything has an English information. It's located off that bridge I talked about. You'll see the sign on your right hand side.

Tip

If you're staying for at least a year, a good investment is to get the Museumkaart - it gives you free access to all the good museums. It costs EUR 59,90 if you're older than 18 years of age. Expensive? Let's do the math; if one museum entry is EUR 15, going into four museums already covered your payment. Four - out of hundreds of museums (and second visits). It is totally worth your money. What's more valuable than knowledge, am I right?

Leiden is surrounded by moat

As with most old towns, Leiden used to be encircled by a moat. Now it is more like a canal and it serves as transports rather than fortification. There were eight gates into Leiden but now there were only two. I've been to the western gate, Morspoort. To find this gate, just follow the road next to the Museum entrance.

Dicht op de Muur
One thing that is typically Leiden is the poems on the walls. You'll see this a random wall of a house. You'll see Shakespeare, E.E. Cummings and even Multatuli and Chairil Anwar! If you really have a lot of time, maybe it can be a quest to find all 101 poems on the wall.

Canals, Canals
The heart of the town is the canals. You'll never get bored looking at canals. You can get a boat or even a canoe to explore the city. My favourite place near the canals is the Van Der Werf Park. On a good sunny day, you'll see people having a picnic, read a book or have a date. A park alternative? Try Hortus Botanicus or the Botanical Garden which is a part of Leiden University. I hear it's free for LU students, EUR 2 for other students, and EUR 7,5 for public visitors.

Practical matters
The main shopping street of Leiden is Haarlemmerstraat. You'll find the big names like H&M, Hema, C&A, Mango, Douglas. Cafes and Restaurants? Go one block south of Haarlemmerstraat and towards Nieuw Rijn. Have a beer on a boat!

Bonus
There is a remain of a castle in the middle of Leiden called de Burcht . It's perched up on a hill and from up top you can see some of Leiden's monumental buildings, like the Hooglandse Kerk and the Stadhuis.