Day trip from Amsterdam Leiden
A university town of canals and almshouse courtyards, Rembrandt's birthplace and home of the national antiquities museum, 35 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal.
Is Leiden worth a day trip from Amsterdam?
A quiet half day. Worth it.
Go for a morning or an afternoon. Leiden gives you canals and old streets with far fewer visitors than Amsterdam, and the train takes 35 minutes with about 138 departures a day. A single starts at € 12. The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, the national museum of antiquities, costs € 14 with the audio tour and has an Egyptian temple standing in its entrance hall. It opens daily from 10:00 to 17:00, plus Thursday evenings from 19:00 to 22:00. It shuts on 3 October, when the town holds its annual siege-relief festival. Four hours covers the museum and a walk. It does not fill a day.
The decision sheet
- Travel time
- 35 min37 min on average · one way · Trainline (NS timetable and fares)
- Transport
- Direct train
- Self-guided cost
- € 38Train return (2 x € 12) + Rijksmuseum van Oudheden ticket with audio tour (€ 14) · Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
- Tour price
- –
- Time needed
- 3–5 hDaytripo editorial
- Closed days
- None (museum shut 1 Jan, 27 Apr, 3 Oct and 25 Dec)
- Best time
- All year; Thursday for late openingDaytripo editorial
- Verdict
- Worth half a dayDaytripo editorial
What to see and do in Leiden
- 01
Burcht van Leiden
An 11th-century circular fort on a man-made mound where two arms of the Rhine meet. Entry is free, and the wall walk gives a rooftop view of the whole centre. Fifteen minutes.
- 02
Hortus botanicus
The oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands, founded by the university in 1590, where the first Dutch tulips were grown. Glasshouses keep it worthwhile in winter. Allow an hour.
- 03
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
The national museum of antiquities. A complete Egyptian temple from Taffeh, about 2,000 years old, stands in the entrance hall, and the Egyptian rooms upstairs are the largest in the country. Allow 90 minutes.
- 04
Museum De Lakenhal
The city's art museum in the former cloth hall, with early work by Rembrandt, who was born in Leiden in 1606, and Lucas van Leyden's Last Judgement. Allow an hour. Closed on Mondays.
- 05
Naturalis
The national natural history museum, ten minutes on foot from the back exit of the station. Its star is Trix, a near-complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Plan two hours with children.
How to spend the day
Take a train from Amsterdam Centraal around 9:20 and reach Leiden Centraal just before 10:00. Walk into the old town along the Rapenburg canal and be at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden soon after it opens at 10:00. Give it 90 minutes to two hours. Have lunch near the Pieterskerk, then climb the Burcht, the old mound fort, for a view over the roofs. A train around 15:00 puts you in Amsterdam by 15:40.
Leiden in summer and in winter
Summer
June to AugustCanal boats and rental sloops are out, the Hortus is in full leaf and the terraces float on pontoons along the Nieuwe Rijn. Students leave in July and August, so the city is quieter than in term. The Wednesday and Saturday market along the canal runs all year and is at its liveliest on summer Saturdays.
Winter
December to FebruaryA solid winter trip, since the museums and the Hortus glasshouses are indoors and within 15 minutes of each other. The train from Amsterdam Centraal takes about 35 minutes, so the 16:30 dusk costs little. Canal cruises are reduced or stopped. Skip Mondays, when the Lakenhal and several smaller museums are shut.
How crowded it gets
Quiet- Busiest
- Saturday market hours, 10:00-16:00, and the 3 October festival
- Quietest
- Tuesday to Friday all year
Leiden gets few tour groups. The squeeze is the Saturday market on the canal bridges and Naturalis in school holidays. For Naturalis, go at opening time on a weekday. On 2 and 3 October the centre becomes one large funfair.
How do you get to Leiden from Amsterdam?
- Travel time
- 35-37 min
- Frequency
- About 138 trains a day
- Cost
- From € 12 each way
- Departs from
- Amsterdam Centraal
Take any direct train that calls at Leiden Centraal; the departure board lists the stops. Tap in and out with a contactless bank card. The old town starts a few minutes on foot from the station, so you will not need a bus once you arrive.
Practical: clothes, food and money
What to wear
Comfortable shoes for brick quays and humpback bridges. Carry a waterproof jacket from autumn to spring. Nothing here needs special clothing, and the museums have cloakrooms or lockers for wet coats.
What to eat
The market along the Nieuwe Rijn on Wednesdays and Saturdays sells fried kibbeling, raw herring, stroopwafels and Leiden cumin cheese. Hutspot, a mash of carrot, onion and potato, is the city's own dish, tied to the siege of 1574. Terraces line the Nieuwe Rijn and the Beestenmarkt.
What you will spend
A train single starts at € 12 and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden is € 14 with the audio tour. The Burcht, the canals, the almshouse courtyards and the wall poems are free. Choose one or two museums, since entering all four in a day adds up quickly.
How to get the most out of the day
- Naturalis is on the opposite side of the station from the old centre. Do it first or last, not in the middle.
- More than 100 poems are painted on house walls across the centre in their original languages. A free map is available at the tourist office.
- In tulip season, bus 854 runs from Leiden Centraal to Keukenhof, so a morning in the park and an afternoon here fit together.
- The festival on 2 and 3 October brings a funfair, a parade and free herring with white bread. Trains are full and most museums are shut.
How long do you need in Leiden?
Plan 3–5 h on site, plus 35 min of travel each way from Amsterdam.
When is Leiden closed?
None (museum shut 1 Jan, 27 Apr, 3 Oct and 25 Dec). Best time: All year; Thursday for late opening.