James Tucker in Cov

Leiden is like Stratford-Upon-Avon for the Netherlands. It's a scenic town that recalls the country's Golden Age, and it's the birthplace of their best-known artist, Rembrandt. It also has a small University, the oldest in the country, and it's there that the first tulips grown in Holland were planted. The future pilgrims of the Mayflower tested local patience for a spell before being moved on to make the trip to Plymouth. As a result of all of this, Leiden is a pretty well-known and travelled spot, but I found it really quiet and peaceful. That said, the town symbol is a really angry lion. With a sword.
The town is on a few islands in the Rhine/Rijn, with a couple of canals thrown in for good measure. There's a sort of castle (it's a circular wall on top of a really small hill) and a great old church that was one of my favourite buildings I've seen yet(right). The town clearly gave up on building it halfway through, and instead of a great high gothic stone building, they got half of one, and finished the thing off in brick at half the height. The people of Leiden also seem to love their cats, especially their cat-doors. I saw one with a ramp attached so that the cat could get into the second-story apartment.
I only spent an afternoon there, but I think I saw everything that there really is to see- the town has a pre-planned route through it that takes you by everything (except the little fort) in about an hour. One other neat, well-planned thing is that even though it's a smallish place, there is a huge bike parking lot (right) near the train station.