Leiden

Leiden is a province in South Holland, at only 40 kilometers from Amsterdam and 20 from the Hague. It is one of the oldest university cities of the Netherlands, the birthplace of Rembrandt, the second largest after Amsterdam and home to many students who come here to study at the university! Perhaps due to the students Leiden is most of the time vibrant and full of energy, you will find it quiet only if you visit during the summer break.
Be prepared to have you camera at hand because you will surely need it! Leiden has wonderful views, bridges, churches, cafés not to mention the windmill. You will surely make some great photos, because it is not as crowded as Amsterdam.
Among the important sights we can name the national museum of antiquities, which has a quite impressive collection of Egyptian artifacts and the Hortus Botanicus, where the first tulip bulbs of the Netherlands were planted. I also visited the Boerhaave Museum, which features centuries old pickled organs, skeletons as well as surgical tools, as the Leiden University was a center of medical research. This museum is really interesting, but only if you like medical stuff, otherwise it will be perhaps a little overwhelming.

If you simply want to take a tour of the city there is the Leidse Loper, a self guided walk around Leiden's historic city center. I found this a really practical way visiting the best part of the city. You can take this tour by following the signposts around the city or by purchasing a guidebook from any tourism office (you will find one near any train station)

Another thing I really enjoyed was the street market, which is on every Wednesday and Saturday on the streets Botermarkt, Vismarkt, Aalmarkt and Nieuwe Rijn. Whether you want to buy something or not, this street market is worth visiting.

An important event, if not the most important in Leiden is the 3th of October, an annual festival which takes around 2-3 days with many parades, feasts and funfairs. An absolute must!
An advice for those who are with a car, don't go to the city center hoping that you will find a parking place, you'll end up only with a headache and no parking place because it is really crowded. The best choice is to park you car somewhere further from the city center, where you will definitely find a parking place and go on foot, by bus or rent a bicycle!Less