Leiden is a city with many museums. We have listed the best below.
Museum De Lakenhal is the municipal museum of Leiden. It houses masterpieces of Rembrandt, Jan Steen and Lucas van Leyden and shows the rich history of the Leiden cloth industry of which the building used to be the main facility.
Opening hours
Tuesday – Friday from 10:00 to 17:00
Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 – 17:00.
Entrance fee
Youth (< 18): Free
Adults: € 7,50
Discover five centuries of natural science and medicine in the Boerhaave Museum. Key exhibits include the early microscopes of Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek, the oldest pendulum clock and the ultra-low temperature equipment used by Kamerlingh Onnes. There are several experiments you can do yourself, using models of historic instruments.
Opening hours
Tuesday – Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee
Youth (4 – 17): € 4,50
Adults: € 9,50
The Hortus is the University’s botanical garden and contains many special plants and trees. For those less interested in biology, the pleasent atmosphere will enable you to have tea in beautiful surroundings.
Opening hours (November 1 – March 31)
Tuesday – Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00
Entrance fee
Youth: € 3,-
Adults: € 7,-
Secondary school students and their teachers (when visiting together): € 2,-
This world-class museum has a huge natural history collection that exists of exhibits of animals, plants, minerals and fossils.
Opening hours
Every day from 10:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee
Youth (4 – 17): € 9,-
Adults: € 12,-
When visiting with a group of more than 10 people, a € 1,- discount per person is applied.
Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796 – 1866) collected all sorts of Japanese items when he lived on Dejima, the Dutch trading post near Nagasaki. In 1837, Siebold started to exhibit his collection in the SieboldHouse. Many years after these exhibitions closed their doors, the Dutch and Japanese government funded the reopening of the ‘Japan museum SieboldHouse’ in the very same house where Siebold had started.
Opening hours
Tuesday – Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee: € 8,-
National Museum of Antiquities
The Dutch National Museum of Antiquities is specialised in Greek, Roman and Egyptian history. The collection contains mummies, sarcophagi and even a real Egyptian temple. Film clips and interactive multimedia make this a lively visit that can be enjoyed by everybody.
Opening hours
Closed untill December 2015 due to renovation works.
Entrance fee
Youth (5 – 17): € 3,-
Adults: € 9,50
Make a world trip in Leiden, travelling through Indonesia, Africa, North America and China. The museum collection includes art treasures thousands of years old, Inca and Aztec statues, Chinese paintings and African bronzes. Everyday tools used by ordinary people make this a very special collection.
Opening hours
Tuesday – Sundag from 10:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee
Youth (4 – 18): € 6,-
Adults: € 12,-
Groups (more than 10 persons) get a 10 % discount.
Before the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated to the United States, they lived in the Netherlands, in Leiden to be more precise. The Pilgrim Archives tell the story of the Pilgrims and 17th century Leiden. A small exhibition is located in the Pieterskerk.
Opening hours
Monday – Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00
Entrance fee: € 2,-
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
This Pilgrim Museum is located in a beautifully preserved fourteenth century house and tells the story of the protestant Pilgrims who fled the United Kingdom after the catholic king James I seized power. The museum shows how the Pilgrims lived in Leiden in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Opening hours
Wednesday – Saturday from 13:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee: € 5,-
Windmill museum De Valk
De Valk is an eightteenth century grain mill which is now open to the public and shows you how a windmill works and was used in ancient days.
Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00
Sunday from 13:00 to 17:00
Entrance fee
Youth (6 – 15): € 2,-
Adults (16+): € 4,-
Group (> 10 persons): € 1,50 for youth; € 2,50 for adults