Friesland · Netherlands
Where to stay in Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden is a city in Friesland, Netherlands, home to about 94,000 people. This guide covers 3 hotels in Leeuwarden, with about 110 rooms between them. 1 of them carries a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 3
- Best months
- June and July
- Nearest airport
- GRQ54 km · Groningen Airport Eelde
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Amsterdam
- Language
- Dutch
About
About Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provincial Council of Friesland.
Leeuwarden was a "European Capital of Culture" for 2018, an honour it shared with Valletta.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Leeuwarden
See
Just north of the railway station lies Leeuwarden's compact medieval centre, surrounded by defensive canals. With 617 buildings listed as national monuments, the city has no lack of heritage to see. The old town is small enough to easily explore on foot, with plenty of time to take in the many historic buildings.
- Grote of Jacobijnerkerk
- Waag
- Oldehove
- Kanselarij
- City hall
- Fries Museum
- Princessehof National Ceramics Museum
- Natural History Museum Friesland
- Mata Hari birth place & statue
Do
- Boat trip
- Poetry route
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Leeuwarden
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonardo Oranje Hotel Leeuwarden hotel | 78 | 88/100 3,046 reviews |
2 more places to stay, without a published guest score
| Place to stay | Rooms |
|---|---|
| Hotel Hardegarijp-Leeuwarden hotel | 32 |
| Hotel-Paleis Stadhouderlijk Hof hotel |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
More hotels in Leeuwarden
3 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Kruisweg | 17.5 km | |
| Grand Hotel De Klanderij | 1891 | 0.9 km |
| Stadsbrouwerij | 0.6 km |
All 6 hotels in Leeuwarden, with their history and operators
When to go
The best time to visit Leeuwarden
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Leeuwarden are June and July. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 22 °C; October is the wettest, with about 86 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Leeuwarden: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), about 54 km from the city centre in a straight line; Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS, 121 km) is also within reach.
Getting in
From Amsterdam, Leeuwarden can be reached by two different routes: the western route via the A7 and the A31 and the eastern one via the A1, A6 and A32. From Groningen and northern Germany, Leeuwarden can be reached via the A7 and N31. An intercity train service connects Leeuwarden to Amsterdam and to Schiphol Airport. There are direct connections once per hour, and additional ones with a transfer in either Zwolle or Almere. For Amsterdam Central Station you must transfer at Lelystad or Almere Centrum. The journey will take about two and a half hours and costs about €25 for a single ticket.
Getting around
As is the case with all old city centres in The Netherlands, the old centre of Leeuwarden is compact and can easily be explored on foot. The tourist information centre (VVV) has a number of walking and biking routes, if you want to make sure to catch all major sights. * Fietspoint Leeuwarden is at the train station and rents out bikes for around €7.50 per day. Cycling is an excellent way to discover the city as well as the surrounding natural areas. All city bus lines depart from the bus station, which is next to the train station.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
GRQ · Groningen Airport Eelde
AMS · Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Leeuwarden
Drink
A good beerenburg is produced by local brewery Boomsma, it is available in almost every liquor store. Cafés are common enough and in summer, outdoor terraces pop up all around. Many double as restaurants, serving small menus.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Leeuwarden
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 3 places
of 3 places
of 3 places
of 3 places
of 3 places
Questions
Leeuwarden: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Leeuwarden?
By published guest score: Leonardo Oranje Hotel Leeuwarden (88 / 100 · 3,046 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Leeuwarden?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Leeuwarden are June and July. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 22 °C; October is the wettest, with about 86 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Leeuwarden?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), about 54 km from the city centre in a straight line; Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS, 121 km) is also within reach.
Are there accessible hotels in Leeuwarden?
1 place in this guide list accessible rooms.
What currency is used in Leeuwarden?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Leeuwarden
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.