Leiden walking tour & city guide

Canals and the university

Leiden has more canals than almost any Dutch city except Amsterdam. The Rapenburg, lined with grand houses, is often called the most beautiful canal in the Netherlands. The university's Hortus Botanicus, founded in 1590, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, and the place where tulips were first grown in the Netherlands.

On the hill in the center, the Burcht, a round 12th-century fortress on an artificial mound, offers views over the rooftops. Look out for the 'wall poems', more than a hundred poems in different languages painted on buildings around the city.

Museums and history

Leiden has excellent museums, including Naturalis, the national natural history museum, the National Museum of Antiquities, with a real Egyptian temple, and the Museum De Lakenhal, with works by Rembrandt and his contemporaries.

The city also has a link with America: the Pilgrims lived here for more than a decade before sailing to the New World in 1620. The De Valk windmill, now a museum, stands on the old city walls.

Visiting tips

Leiden is about 35 minutes from Amsterdam by train and close to the Keukenhof gardens, which makes it a good base in tulip season. On October 3, the city celebrates the end of the Spanish siege of 1574 with a big festival.