2.88/5
35 reviews
Photo by Jose Zuniga via Unsplash

Leiden

To increase honesty, reviews are anonymous. You can only add one review per city or it replaces/edits your old one. Reviews with URLs or emails are removed. If you're writing about data being wrong, please don't do it here as it'll be removed here.

min

I study in Leiden, and I love it here! The city is beautiful, and quaint enough that you can bike from end to end in 10-15 minutes. Because it's a student town there's also a lot to do here, even for non-students. By West-European standards the prices are reasonable. Pretty much everyone speaks English fairly well, and Dutch is not too hard to pick up on. The location of Leiden in the Netherlands is also neat: 10 min by train to The Hague, 20-ish to Schiphol Airport, 30 min to Rotterdam, 40-ish min to Amsterdam and Utrecht. The biggest drawback I can think of is the fact that the housing market is very oversaturated because of the number of students who live here, so it might be tough to find a place to stay.

5 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Not many Nomads.com members go here

❌ Feels crowded

❌ Very difficult to make friends

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

4°C / 39°F cold

6°C / 43°F cold

9°C / 48°F cold

12°C / 54°F cool

18°C / 64°F cool

13°C / 55°F cool

9°C / 48°F cold

3°C / 37°F cold

Real (median)

6°C / 43°F
very cold

8°C / 46°F
cold

10°C / 50°F
cold

13°C / 55°F
cool

18°C / 64°F
cool

14°C / 57°F
cool

10°C / 50°F
cold

6°C / 42°F
very cold

Humidity

damp
79%

damp
75%

nice
69%

damp
79%

nice
78%

nice
85%

damp
80%

nice
79%

damp
78%

damp
82%

damp
84%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
85mm

rainy
62mm

rainy
57mm

dry
47mm

rainy
64mm

rainy
71mm

rainy
56mm

rainy
65mm

dry
31mm

rainy
111mm

rainy
86mm

rainy
83mm

Cloud

cloudy
55%

pockets
46%

pockets
38%

pockets
37%

pockets
49%

pockets
50%

cloudy
51%

pockets
45%

cloudy
53%

pockets
49%

cloudy
52%

Air quality

clean
21 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
34 US AQI

clean
36 US AQI

clean
32 US AQI

clean
35 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
24 US AQI

clean
9 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

Remote workers

267 people

200 people

533 people

280 people

200 people

250 people

200 people

600 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Leiden's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

Help pick the best photos for Leiden and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

28pts

9pts

8pts

6pts

5pts

4pts

3pts

2pts

1pts

26pts

9pts

8pts

6pts

5pts

4pts

3pts

2pts

1pts

23pts

9pts

7pts

6pts

5pts

3pts

2pts

1pts

Scheveningen

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -3° 27° 1° 34°

🚕32min

$5,749 / mo

62 Mbps

The Hague

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -3° 27° 1° 34° AQI 68 😷

🚕33min

$4,686 / mo

38 Mbps

Zandvoort

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -1° 30° 2° 35°

🚕48min

$5,943 / mo

53 Mbps

Rotterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -4° 25° 0° 33° AQI 55 😷

🚕51min

$4,927 / mo

45 Mbps

Haarlem

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -3° 27° 1° 33°

🚕54min

$5,714 / mo

33 Mbps

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -4° 25° 0° 33° AQI 52 😷

🚕1h

$5,429 / mo

29 Mbps

Utrecht

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -2° 28° 1° 33° AQI 61 😷

🚕1h

$5,217 / mo

42 Mbps

Almere

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -3° 27° 1° 34° AQI 57 😷

🚕2h

$4,170 / mo

80 Mbps

Breda

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -2° 28° 1° 34° AQI 76 😷

🚕2h

$4,761 / mo

45 Mbps

Lelystad

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -3° 27° 1° 34°

🚕3h

$4,920 / mo

48 Mbps

Tilburg

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -2° 28° 1° 34° AQI 76 😷

🚕3h

$4,760 / mo

47 Mbps

Arnhem

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -2° 28° 1° 33°

🚕3h

$4,311 / mo

50 Mbps

Rotterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -4° 25° 0° 33° AQI 55 😷

🚕51min

$4,927 / mo

45 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 3° 37° 5° 40° AQI 54 😷

✈️26min

$5,767 / mo

26 Mbps

Basel

Switzerland

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

✈️45min

$7,065 / mo

32 Mbps

Cluj

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

✈️2h

$2,747 / mo

44 Mbps

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels -2° 28° 0° 32° AQI 109 😷

✈️48min

$4,136 / mo

43 Mbps

Beijing

China

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels -3° 27° -1° 30° AQI 78 😷

✈️10h

$2,500 / mo

10 Mbps

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 1° 34° 3° 38° AQI 114 😷

✈️4h

$2,184 / mo

15 Mbps

Athens

Greece

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57° AQI 127 😷

✈️3h

$3,284 / mo

12 Mbps

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 3° 37° 3° 38° AQI 72 😷

✈️2h

$2,690 / mo

32 Mbps

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -4° 25° 0° 33° AQI 52 😷

🚕1h

$5,429 / mo

🌇 Also went here19 people

Brussels

Belgium

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels -2° 28° 1° 34° AQI 57 😷

✈️12min

$4,250 / mo

🌇 Also went here11 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 3° 37° 5° 40° AQI 54 😷

✈️26min

$5,767 / mo

🌇 Also went here16 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌫 Feels -1° 30° 2° 35° AQI 68 😷

✈️32min

$5,501 / mo

🌇 Also went here15 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels -2° 28° 0° 32° AQI 109 😷

✈️48min

$4,136 / mo

🌇 Also went here14 people

Vienna

Austria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

✈️1h

$3,644 / mo

🌇 Also went here12 people

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 3° 37° 3° 38° AQI 72 😷

✈️2h

$2,690 / mo

🌇 Also went here13 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 8° 46° 9° 49° AQI 46

✈️2h

$4,513 / mo

🌇 Also went here14 people

Rome

Italy

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°

✈️2h

$5,040 / mo

🌇 Also went here13 people

Porto

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50° AQI 52 😷

✈️2h

$2,980 / mo

🌇 Also went here13 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50° AQI 34

✈️2h

$3,838 / mo

🌇 Also went here16 people

Athens

Greece

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57° AQI 127 😷

✈️3h

$3,284 / mo

🌇 Also went here11 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 5° 41° 7° 45° AQI 53 😷

✈️3h

$1,636 / mo

🌇 Also went here12 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 31° 88° 28° 82° AQI 51 😷

✈️12h

$1,329 / mo

🌇 Also went here11 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 33° 91° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 96 😷

✈️12h

$1,645 / mo

🌇 Also went here14 people

200 remote workers in Leiden now, of which 1+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

⭐️ Total score	2.88/5 (Rank #275) 35 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎0 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😳 Extremely expensive: $5,517 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 45 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 2°C35°F (feels -1°C30°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 75%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 20%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 29 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
👩 Safe for women	Great
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Very bad
💰 Income level*	Very high: $3,813 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Great
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 6k ppl/km² (1 per 13x13m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Bad
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Great
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Netherlands
🗓️ Average trip length	21 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	45 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 2°C 35°F + 💦 Damp (75%) = feels -1°C 30°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 29 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	EUR 100 = USD 118
💸 Tipping	Yes, 7.5%
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because Albert Heijn still doesn't accept CC)
💻 Best coworking space	Launchdesk
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Cafefinder
☕️ Best coffee place	Lebkov
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	7% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	120,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$45,753 / year
😤 Population density	🤨 busy: 13x13m (169m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 47% 👱‍♀️ 53%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Cool Blue
🏠 Apartment listings	Pararius
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Transavia
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	KLM
🏥 Best hospital	LUMC

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$5,517 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$3,235 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$6,350 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,814 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$3,746 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,840 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,414 / month
🏠 Median home price	$588,890
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$175 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$126 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$468 / month
🍛 Dinner	$22
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$6
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$16,488 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$14 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$8 / trip
Sales tax (VAT/GST)	21
Individual tax rate (min)	30
Individual tax rate (max)	52
💰 Corporate tax rate	20