Sport & Culture

Leiden has so much to offer in the areas of sport and culture. Irrespective of whether you fancy burning off some calories after a day’s studying or perhaps spending your evenings rehearsing with an amateur drama group, you’re covered.

Sport

For all kinds of sports, you can head for the University Sports Centre (USC), where you can participate in individual recreational activities, or competitive sports with your fellow students. This completely renovated sports complex caters for more than 60 sports and offers a range of group lessons too. Whatever your sport is, you’ll find it here. Take out a subscription and you’ll get a great deal too!

There is a sports club in Leiden for almost every sport: from Thor for hockey to Njord or Asopos de Vliet for rowing and SKC for volleyball. What’s more, associations like these also organise parties, drinks evenings and many other social activities.

If you play sport at an international level and you’d like to combine it with your master’s, at Leiden University we can give you personal guidance to develop your sporting talents. We have a dedicated sports counsellor for our top-level sportsmen and sportswomen and we also offer additional studying facilities.

Culture

With no fewer than 13 fantastic museums, there is plenty of culture to enjoy in Leiden outside its student associations. From marvelling at Rembrandt's masterpieces in De Lakenhal to making an exploration of the human body in CORPUS, you’ll find a surprising offering of nature, art and culture. And if you’d prefer to take in a film, or an evening of drama or cabaret, Leiden offers several cinemas and theatres, along with a very lively cultural calendar.

As you’d expect, Leiden also boasts several student associations in the area of culture. Many students and student associations run their own drama groups, for example. But you can also join an independent student drama group called Cuculum. If you’d prefer to sing in a student choir or play in a student orchestra, there are student music associations such as Collegium Musicum and Sempre Crescendo. Finally, if invigorating discussions about culture are more your thing, try the cultural student association A.S.V. Prometheus.

In addition to all the cultural opportunities open to you and covered by various associations, the Leiden Academic Art Centre (LAK) offers several creative courses. LAK, which is part of Leiden University, offers courses in the following categories:

Drama and presentation
Dancing
Fine arts
Music
Photography
Writing

Leiden has more than its fair share of cultural events. Like thousands of others, you can enjoy its Night of Art and Knowledge, an art and science festival with over 100 acts that include artists, actors, dancers, musicians and scientists. Or you could take a boat ride through the city’s beautiful canals and experience some amazing performances during a festival known as Schemerstad (the twilight city). But however much the city has to offer culturally, as a student you should try to catch the great performances given in student rooms as part of the ‘Stukafest’.