An enterprising University of Applied Sciences
Living in Leiden
The Netherlands is a country with a long tradition of foreign trade. It offers hospitality in an open society, which is accustomed to cooperating with people from various cultural backgrounds. The vast majority of the Dutch speak English. With 117,000 inhabitants, Leiden is a medium-sized city by Dutch standards. Leiden is close to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the four biggest cities in The Netherlands. Amsterdam airport, the world famous Keukenhof with its millions of blooming flower bulbs each spring and the beach are within easy reach.
Linda, Swedish student
"Finding proper, affordable accommodation is not easy in the Netherlands. Almost all university towns suffer from shortages. I arranged accommodation via Accommodate. I lived in a beautiful building. It was great that I had internet access in my room."
City of Leiden
Leiden is an old city with a rich history and a beautiful historic centre, offering a wide range of cultural and leisure facilities. The city of Leiden hosts very interesting and inspiring museums like the National Museum of Natural History, the Botanical Garden, the National Museum of Ethnology and the National Museum of Antiquities.
As a traditional university town, home to both Leiden University and UAS Leiden, it is well known for its vivid student life. In Leiden, several activities like movie nights, game nights and workshops, are being organized for international students.
Accommodation
Leiden is a very popular student city. The result is that the atmosphere in the city is vibrant. It also means that the demand for student accommodation in general is bigger than the offer. It is not so easy to find good, affordable student accommodation in Leiden.
UAS Leiden does not have its own student accommodation.
Accommodate, a local student housing corporation, offers temporary, furnished rooms and apartments to international students. The offered rooms and apartments are not cheap, but the quality and service is good. UAS Leiden does have good experiences with Accommodate.
Please note that in most cases the minimum duration of a rental contract is 6 months, the maximum duration is 12 months.
The number of rooms and apartments is limited, so make sure to apply in time. The policy is based on the principle of first-come, first-served.
These websites could also be helpful if you are looking for accommodation:
- housinganywhere.com
- remax.nl
- stichtingroofs.nl
- temporaryroom.com
- studentenkamers.nl
- kamerhulp.nl
- kamerraad.nl
- kamernet.nl
- duwo.nl
- pararius.com
- wimdu.nl
Social life
Leiden has an International Student Network (ISN) www.isnleiden.com. This network does organize all sorts of activities for international students.
Café Einstein is located in the city centre (address is Nieuwe Rijn 19). Each Wednesday night this café organizes a night for international students.
It starts at 22.00 o'clock and entrance is for free.
Registration at town hall
If you are staying for more than four months in the Netherlands you will need to have yourself registered as new inhabitant of the town where you are living. For this registration you have to go to the local town hall.
If you stay in Leiden please call the local town hall (071 5165500) to make a registration appointment. Do not forget to ask what documents you have to bring to your appointment.
After you have done your registration at the local town hall you automatically receive a Citizen Service Number. In Dutch, this is called Burger Service Number (BSN). You need to have this number if you work alongside your studies or if you do an internship in the Netherlands.
