Leiden is a short train ride from The Hague, and its small, walkable center holds a lot for kids. There are dinosaurs and Ice age beasts, a real Egyptian temple rebuilt indoors, and a short drive away, rebuilt prehistoric, Roman and medieval villages with costumed staff. Here's what we checked, from Trix the T. rex at Naturalis to the Roman village at Archeon.
Naturalis is the Dutch national museum of natural history, and a research institute too. Its galleries run from Life, which climbs from the depths of the ocean to a mountaintop, to Dinosaur age, home to Trix the T. rex, plus Ice age, Earth, Evolution and the forest of Suriname.
On the ground floor, LiveScience lets kids watch researchers and collection managers at work.
The national archaeology museum of the Netherlands. Its central hall holds the Temple of Taffeh, a real Egyptian temple taken apart in Egypt and rebuilt here.
Galleries cover Egypt, the Near East, Greece, the Etruscans, Rome and the Netherlands from prehistory to the Middle Ages, with mummies, sarcophagi, imperial statues and ancient jewelry. Replicas, film clips and interactive displays help kids follow along.
Archeon is an open-air museum park of rebuilt houses and villages from Dutch history: a hunter-gatherer camp and early farms, the Roman border village of Trajectum ad Rhenum with its bathhouse, Viking-era Dorestad, and the 14th-century town of Gravendam. Costumed staff work in the craft houses, and the Roman museum shows original finds, with worktables where kids try archaeology themselves.
A family exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden that puts the creatures of ancient myths center stage, not the heroes who outwit them. Kids meet a giant snake, fish-tailed men, a snake-haired woman and a winged horse, each with its own story and power.
The creatures are grumpy after 100 years hidden in the museum, and kids set out to cheer them up.
Leiden's Christmas market fills the historic center with a winter village of wooden chalets, where local businesses sell their own products and food trucks serve winter treats and hot drinks.
Kids can browse the stalls and see the lit Christmas tree. It is a browsing market more than an activity, so for restless kids, pair it with the ice rink or the nostalgic fair nearby.
A temporary Christmas ice rink floats on the Nieuwe Rijn in the historic center of Leiden, under the city's festive lights. Kids skate on rental skates from the rink, with the old town all around them.
The rink is part of Leiden's Winter Wonder Weeks, so a visit pairs easily with the Christmas market, the old-fashioned fair and the Christmas circus in the same city center.
Museumpark Archeon, the history museum park in Alphen aan den Rijn, fills with twinkling lights, crackling fire baskets and a covered Christmas market selling home decor, clothing and gifts.
Kids can make a candle or their own Christmas souvenir, watch the laser show and winter shows in the Arena, and hear the Dickens choir. It suits families who like browsing; kids who dislike shopping may tire of the stalls.
Leidens Ontzet is Leiden's yearly festival celebrating its freedom and remembering the end of the Spanish siege in 1574. The whole city center joins in, with a kermis, stalls, choral singing and the Taptoe.
Kids get some history with their snacks, since herring, hutspot and white bread are part of the tradition. It suits families who don't mind busy streets and like a come-and-go day.
Leiden is a short train ride from The Hague, and its small, walkable center holds a lot for kids. There are dinosaurs and Ice age beasts, a real Egyptian temple rebuilt indoors, and a short drive away, rebuilt prehistoric, Roman and medieval villages with costumed staff. Here's what we checked, from Trix the T. rex at Naturalis to the Roman village at Archeon.
Naturalis is the Dutch national museum of natural history, and a research institute too. Its galleries run from Life, which climbs from the depths of the ocean to a mountaintop, to Dinosaur age, home to Trix the T. rex, plus Ice age, Earth, Evolution and the forest of Suriname.
On the ground floor, LiveScience lets kids watch researchers and collection managers at work.
The national archaeology museum of the Netherlands. Its central hall holds the Temple of Taffeh, a real Egyptian temple taken apart in Egypt and rebuilt here.
Galleries cover Egypt, the Near East, Greece, the Etruscans, Rome and the Netherlands from prehistory to the Middle Ages, with mummies, sarcophagi, imperial statues and ancient jewelry. Replicas, film clips and interactive displays help kids follow along.
Archeon is an open-air museum park of rebuilt houses and villages from Dutch history: a hunter-gatherer camp and early farms, the Roman border village of Trajectum ad Rhenum with its bathhouse, Viking-era Dorestad, and the 14th-century town of Gravendam. Costumed staff work in the craft houses, and the Roman museum shows original finds, with worktables where kids try archaeology themselves.
A family exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden that puts the creatures of ancient myths center stage, not the heroes who outwit them. Kids meet a giant snake, fish-tailed men, a snake-haired woman and a winged horse, each with its own story and power.
The creatures are grumpy after 100 years hidden in the museum, and kids set out to cheer them up.
Leiden's Christmas market fills the historic center with a winter village of wooden chalets, where local businesses sell their own products and food trucks serve winter treats and hot drinks.
Kids can browse the stalls and see the lit Christmas tree. It is a browsing market more than an activity, so for restless kids, pair it with the ice rink or the nostalgic fair nearby.
A temporary Christmas ice rink floats on the Nieuwe Rijn in the historic center of Leiden, under the city's festive lights. Kids skate on rental skates from the rink, with the old town all around them.
The rink is part of Leiden's Winter Wonder Weeks, so a visit pairs easily with the Christmas market, the old-fashioned fair and the Christmas circus in the same city center.
Museumpark Archeon, the history museum park in Alphen aan den Rijn, fills with twinkling lights, crackling fire baskets and a covered Christmas market selling home decor, clothing and gifts.
Kids can make a candle or their own Christmas souvenir, watch the laser show and winter shows in the Arena, and hear the Dickens choir. It suits families who like browsing; kids who dislike shopping may tire of the stalls.
Leidens Ontzet is Leiden's yearly festival celebrating its freedom and remembering the end of the Spanish siege in 1574. The whole city center joins in, with a kermis, stalls, choral singing and the Taptoe.
Kids get some history with their snacks, since herring, hutspot and white bread are part of the tradition. It suits families who don't mind busy streets and like a come-and-go day.
