We celebrated our 10 years anniversary this year. It was my turn to organise it, so I prepared a surprise trip for Michal. He only knew to take the days off and received packing instructions a few days before. We arrived at the airport and, armed with headphones and magazine, he had no clue where we are off to. Once we boarded the KLM aircraft he was sure he got it. But after disembarking in Amsterdam, we set directly to the train station. Final stop of our train, Rotterdam. That must be it, right? No, after 15 minutes I told him to leave the train to discover the small and beautiful medieval town of Leiden.
We started off by taking the boat tour of the town’s canals. Rondvaart Leiden organises those cruises daily and the guide gives you just the right amount of information to discover and enjoy the town. Leiden is pretty small, so after this cruise, you will know all the major waypoints around. Just take a stroll and see where it gets you.
The famous painter Rembrandt was born here and spent his early carrier in the town. So no wonder Museum De Lakenhal has his pieces on display. Not only his, but also other Dutch masters. The building was used previously as a kind of “checking point” of all fabrics manufactured in Leiden. The cloth from here was renowned for its high quality all around the world, and so every single piece needed to be brought here and receive a hallmark before it could be sold. The museum has an interesting exhibition about this as well.
We grew quite fond of walking tours lately, so in Leiden we purchased a self guided tour from StoryHunt. They have a very user-friendly app to walk you around and show you the most important as well as hidden gems of the place. We got to see and hear about narrow alleyways, hidden inner courtyards, St. Peter’s church and Burcht van Leiden.
Where to eat and drink?
- Het Stadsbrouwhuis – beergarden
- ROOS -Taste & Smile – brunch
- Tabù – cocktails, latino food, beautiful garden
- Just meet – steak restaurant, nice dinner
- Mamie Gourmande – very famous bakery
