Leiden has 13 fantastic museums
From Rembrandt's masterpieces to a journey through the human body
Museums
Leiden University acted as a magnet, attracting to the city many great scientists who often taught at the university. These included Einstein, Kamerling Onnes, de Sitter and Ehrenfest, but other prominent figures like the physician Von Siebold and Boerhaave made Leiden their home too. The scientists’ passion for collecting contributed to the many museums in Leiden. No other city in the Netherlands has so many fantastic museums within walking distance of each other. A rich and surprising range of nature, art, culture and science.
European Museum of the Year
Naturalis Biodiversity Center has been named European Museum of the Year 2021! The European Museum of the Year Award is the oldest and most prestigious museum award in Europe. With this win, another Leiden museum has won this prize. In 2019, Rijksmuseum Boerhaave was also allowed to call itself European Museum of the Year.
“It is a very resourceful museum with beautiful exhibitions and a multitude of public services and events,” said the jury about Naturalis.
Exhibitions - Now on show in Leiden museums
Experience the museum from home
Did you know that you can also admire many Leiden museums from home? An online tour of Museum de Lakenhal, a virtual visit to Naturalis or fun home activities from the Museum of Ethnology.
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Japanmuseum Sieboldhuis
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Naturalis
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Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
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View more museums online
More highlights
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Tourist Information Office
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Walking Tours
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Discover Rembrandt
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Spend the night