Leiden
University City (1575) And Rembrandt'S Birthplace, With Some Of The Country'S Best Kept Canals, The Hortus Botanicus And The Pilgrim Fathers' Story · Leiden, South Holland
Leiden is a compact university city of canals, bridges and brick almshouses between Amsterdam and The Hague, and for many visitors it is the Dutch old town they hoped Amsterdam would be: beautiful, lived in, and far calmer. The university was founded in 1575, a reward from William of Orange for the city's survival of the Spanish siege that ended on 3 October 1574, and it still fills the streets with students on bikes. Rembrandt was born here in 1606. People come to walk the Rapenburg, often called one of the finest canals in the country; to visit the Hortus botanicus of 1590, where the first tulips in the Netherlands are said to have flowered; to see a real Egyptian temple inside the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden; to climb the mound of the Burcht; and to follow the story of the Pilgrim Fathers, who lived here from 1609 to 1620 before sailing on the Mayflower. It is also a cheaper, easy base for Keukenhof and the beaches. The honest caveat: it is small and quiet in the evenings, the big-name sights are modest in scale, and July and August bring rain as often as sun.
Leiden old town along the Rapenburg canal, from the university and Hortus botanicus to the Burcht, Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
A city open all year; the canals, the Burcht mound and the wall poems are free at any hour. Most museums open Tuesday to Sunday roughly 10:00-17:00 and close on Mondays; the Hortus botanicus is usually open daily from spring to autumn and closed on Mondays in winter - confirm each one. Leiden Centraal has frequent trains from Schiphol (about 15-20 minutes), Amsterdam (about 35 minutes) and The Hague (about 10-15 minutes); tap in and out with OVpay. Nothing needs booking far ahead except Keukenhof slots in spring and hotels on 3 October.