Leiden is easily accessible from Schiphol International Airport by train. Between two and four trains depart every hour, and the journey to Leiden takes approximately 20–25 minutes. From Leiden Central Station, it is about a 20-minute walk to Leiden Observatory in the Gorlaeus Building; alternatively, several bus lines provide quick connections to the Science Campus. The Science buildings (labelled as #5) are indicated on the map below—simply cross over the Ehrenfest parking garage to reach them.
Please note that you do NOT walk to the Old Observatory downtown. This is a great building at a beautiful location, but not the place where you will find us!
Leiden has a large number of excellent hotels, close to Leiden Observatory (Hotel Bastion Oegstgeest, Hotel Holiday Inn, Hilton Garden Inn) or in the downtown area (Golden Tulip Leiden Centre, Ibis Hotel, Hotel Mayflower, Hotel Nieuw Minerva, Hotel de Doelen). Typical prices range from 80-120 Euro/night. Please let us know when you want us to make a reservation for one of these hotels.
In the case of a longer visit, i.e., beyond a period that can be covered by a hotel, it may be hard to find a decent place to stay. Please start searching early. Airbnb is a reasonable but rather expensive solution for a period of 1-2 months. New students are helped through our housing office. There are also companies that offer their help in finding places to stay. These are typically expensive and ask as much as one month of rent as fee. Not all of these companies are trustworthy, so please be careful before making any payments.
Our secretaries try to help, but given the very large number of visitors to Leiden Observatory, it is not possible to offer individual solutions for everybody.
Leiden is easily accessible by Bike. Bikes can be rented at Leiden Trainway Station for a decent weekly/monthly rate. Short stay visitors can borrow our ‘Lab Bike’. for prices around 10 Euro/day.