Leiden in December: short days, dark canals, warm museums

Leiden in December is dark by half past four. That sounds like a warning. It is actually the itinerary.

In late December the sun is gone before five. Street lights come on, the water goes black glass, and the tourists are mostly gone too. This is a different city from the terrace season, and a better one for a certain kind of traveller — the kind who liked winter before winter was optional.

The dark-water version of the walk

The loop works in the dark. The streets and bridges and courtyards are free in any hour, and winter adds something the summer cannot: fewer people, lamplight on the water, and little brass stones and plaques you can stand still in front of instead of being walked around by a crowd. Cold hands, so bring gloves worth the name. Wrap up and an evening hour on the canals — an ordinary one, not a special one — usually beats any December attraction in Europe whose queue runs the length of the square.

For the after-dark hours, the same route also runs as a GPS audio tour on VoiceMap: it talks while you walk, in the dark, and doesn't need daylight to hear a good story. Prefer reading? The book works by lamplight too.

Then go inside

Museums are the December evening answer — the shortlist is the same as any rain day: science in the old plague house, Japan behind a canal house, the windmill from the inside. All of them charge entry if you go inside; the walk itself stays free. What's open and when shifts every year, so check each museum's site for the day rather than trusting this page for opening hours. December programmes and light events differ from year to year — the city's own calendar at leiden.nl is the source for what is on while you are there.

Practical notes for the cold variant, with a map, are in Leiden when it rains. And if you are deciding how to split a short winter day, one day in Leiden still holds — dressed warmer.