Netherlands 25: Riding from Duinrell to Leiden

Being the closest city, Leiden is a popular choice for a day trip away from to Duinrell. Indeed, it’s somewhere we have been to every time we’ve at Duinrell and I’ve written about it numerous times in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2024.

Watch full-length video at normal speed Riding from Duinrell to Leiden

With us staying at Duinrell for two weeks in 2025, we’d end up riding to Leiden three times during our trip. While we’ve been there plenty of times before, it feels like each time we go, we see something new, which was true with these three visits.

As I have written about Leiden before, I won’t repeat myself here. So if you want to find out more, have a look at my previous Leiden posts. I thought it was worth covering the ride there anyway, partly to share some new photos and a video, but also because we ended up on a slightly different route.

Riding to Leiden

Setting off from Duinrell, we started off following what I usually describe as the scenic route, which goes along the Zijwatering Canal and through Valkenburg. We did start off along this way, but at about a third of the way along, we reached a closure on the route.

This was at the point where the path crosses Hogeboomseweg, where the closure was signposted. We followed the diversion and turned right onto Hogeboomseweg, which is a quiet rural road.

We continued onto Maaldrift and passed an interesting looking dairy farm, selling cheese, which we meant to return to, but never did. We then arrived on the path at Oude Trambaan that we’re ridden along before to Leiden.

From there, we followed the usual route to Leiden, passing the Valkenburgse Meer lake and Stoomtrein Katwijk Leiden. We then passed under the A44 motorway, crossed over the Rijn and made our way to the N206 at Plesmanlaan.

Tricycle approaching Haagsche Schouwbrug bridge of the Rijn

Riding along parallel to Plesmanlaan, we arrived at further closures and a diversion. We were pleased to see the diversion was really well signposted, with large yellow signs showing the diversion route. I’ve never once seen anything as good as this in the UK.

The diversion took us down some residential streets, before bringing us back onto the route to Leiden. From there, we passed Leiden Centraal and the Lammermarkt windmill, before arriving at Beestenmarkt, where we usually park.

Couple cycling on Oostdorperweg — Hoge Klei selfie

Wandering round Leiden

We didn’t have many plans for our day in Leiden, mainly just grabbing some lunch and having a wander. So we set off along Haarlemmerstraat, the main pedestrianised shopping street, before crossing the Rijn at Catharinabrug.

We then stopped for a very pleasant Dutch-style lunch at Waag, somewhere we’ve been to previously in 2024. With it being a pleasant day, we sat outside on the terrace overlooking the Rijn. This is such a nice spot to sit and watch the world go by, either on foot, bike or boat.

After lunch, we continued along the Nieuwe Rijn, passing some of the market stalls on Vismarkt. Along the way, we stopped and picked up some herring, with me having a go at eating them the Dutch way.

We wandered further along, meandering round town and stopping at a few shops. I stopped at Huisman Tweewieler bike shop and picked up some nice Willex Dutch-style double panniers. There so good, that I’d like some more, but it looks like they’re not available in the UK.

We eventually arrived back at Hoogstraat, where we stopped for ice cream from IJscafé Danice Leiden, who do excellent ice cream. After that, we continued our wandering, making our way back to Beestenmarkt.

Riding back to Duinrell

Setting off from Beestenmarkt, we made our way back to Duinrell, aiming to go the more direct route, along Trambaan and Deijlerweg. Though initially, we hit some issues getting out of Liden, due to more construction work and diversions, where we ended up getting a bit lost.

This did give us chance to ride through the university district and admire the cycling facilities in this area. Some of this appears to be pretty new, with nice wide, straight cycle paths, with some interesting planting and paved paths.

We eventually made our way out of the university district and onto Plesmanlaan, where we followed the route over the Rijn, then under the A44 motorway and along Oude Trambaan. As we continued along there, it turned into Deijlerweg, as we reached the outskirts of Wassenaar.

From there, we made our way onto Van Zuylen van Nijeveltstraat, passing a badly parked Amazon van (just like being in the UK), then through the centre of Wassenaar and onto Duinrell.