Leiden Preserves the World of the Golden Age

Such devotion to the ideals of freedom of conscience, religious tolerance and the separation of church and state that the Pilgrims took to Plymouth Rock in 1620 almost surely owe more to their 11-year stay in this lovely Dutch town than to the repressive England they had fled.

Indeed, the tolerant burghers and thriving textile business of Leiden also provided a haven to Belgian, French and other Europeans fleeing the Catholic-Reformist conflicts of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648).

To the Pilgrims’ 1609 request for refuge, the town responded that it “refuses no honest people free entry . . . and the applicants’ arrival here would be pleasing and welcome.” Leiden further refused the British ambassador’s request that the Pilgrims be extradited.

A half-hour train ride from Amsterdam (you may also skate the connecting canals in winter), Leiden has the Netherlands’ oldest and most prestigious university, the University of Leiden, founded in 1575 by William of Orange; the university’s 1590 botanical gardens that imported the first tulips from Turkey five years later, and a marvelous setting at the confluence of the old and new Rhine rivers.

All of the 17th-Century canals and streets of Leiden are still in place, and a restored windmill, such as Rembrandt’s father ran (the painter was born a few steps away), still spins at town center.

Getting here: Fly KLM nonstop to Amsterdam, or British Airways, SAS, Air France or Northwest with changes. Take a train (every 15 minutes) from the airport (Schiphol) to Leiden in 20 minutes.

How long/how much? Two days for the town’s considerable sights. It’s a great and restful base for visiting Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Delft and the flower and cheese markets of Keukenhof and Alkmaar, all a short train ride away. Good accommodations are moderate, dining the same.

A few fast facts: The Dutch guilder, or florin, recently traded at 51 cents. Best times for a visit are from the end of April until late fall, with winter an invigorating experience.

Getting settled in: The Hotel Mayflower (Beestenmarkt 2; $76 B&B; double) is a small, fresh and modern place tucked into an old canal house on a busy mid-town square a short walk from the train station. The lobby and breakfast room are as bright as can be, with contemporary furniture and lots of plants. Antique furniture sits tastefully in otherwise modern rooms with color TV; it’s a charming mix.

Hotel Restaurant De Doelen (Rapenburg 2; $41 to $77 B&B; double) began as a patrician town house in 1435, and retains beamed bedrooms, an old stairwell, regal entryway and other historic touches. Room No. 9 has a gorgeous tiled fireplace with sailing ship on the mantel and four comfortable chairs around a table. There’s a real feeling of the Netherlands’ Golden Age.

The dining room has high ceiling and chandeliers opening to a vine-strewn patio at the rear. A four-course French menu is about $30.

Nieuw Minerva (Boommarkt 23; $61-$74 B&B; double during high season) was once eight canal houses dating from 1600; now it’s a very gezellig hotel, which means it’s cozy, warm, comfortable and decidedly homey, including a communal carpet-covered table in the lobby--a Dutch tradition. Bedrooms are adequate but lack charm. Breakfasts and all other meals are served in the hotel restaurant.

Regional food and drink: Dutch food is like the people: hearty, straightforward and easy to know. Perhaps the best example is hutspot met klapstuk , a robust stew of meat, potatoes, onions, carrots and whatever other vegetables are lying around the kitchen. It’s very near the national dish, and our word “hodgepodge” derives from the mixture.

Erwtensoep , a green pea soup loaded with other fresh green vegetables, spicy sausage and perhaps small chunks of pig’s feet, takes second place on the Dutch table hierarchy. Herring runs a close third; it’s best eaten raw after dipping in chopped raw onions, and followed with brown bread, butter and a frosty beer.

Hutspot is particularly good in Leiden, with some locals claiming they invented it, and also friese pof , a small loaf of raisin bread topped with sugar and cinnamon. It’s served between meals with rich Dutch coffee.

Little need be said about the Netherlands’ great beers, but you might try the jenever , a Dutch gin often served with cold seafood hors d’oeuvres such as herring or smoked eel.

Good dining: Malle Jan (Nieuwsteeg 11) is a romantic bistro-type place with old posters, klunky furniture, an open kitchen and solid French menu served at tables on two levels. We were thoroughly pleased with the escargot, a fine house pate, braised grouse with cranberries, and entrecote de veau lyonnaise , a heavenly piece of veal with onions.

Grand Cafe in den Leidschen Salon (Steenstraat 2) appears to be an old home with large windows facing a busy square and canal with windmill. The menu is solid Dutch, drawing business types at lunch for the fish soup, salads, omelets, casseroles and uitsmijters , the last a hardy sandwich topped with a fried egg. Dine on the terrace during summer.

Annie’s Verjaardag (Hoogstraat 1) means the lady’s birthday; it’s a 14th-Century vaulted cellar turned into a brasserie at water level, where the old and new Rhine meet. Tables inside always have candles burning, the menu running a gamut from French to Greek to Dutch.

Going first-class: Restaurant De Beukenhof (Terweeweg 2, Oegstgeest) hangs its Michelin star in a centuries-old inn a few minutes’ drive from Leiden. Five dining rooms, each more beautiful than the last as you walk through, form a beautiful setting. Summer sees tables moved into the flowery garden, one set beneath a 300-year-old beech tree.

We started with toasts of chilled jenever , followed by carpaccio of duck and a salad of sliced goose liver, then moved on to a sea brill fillet and turbot with lobster sauce, ending with a melange of Dutch and French cheeses.

All this was helped along by a white Burgundian Rully of surprising stature, and a 1978 Chateauneuf du Pape, both from a magnificent cellar.

On your own: Start with a visit to the Stedelijk Museum with its collection of Old Masters displayed comfortably with artifacts and prints of the town’s early days, including 17th-Century looms, in a handsome building that first served as a textile exchange.

Now take a turn through the university, paying particular attention to the “sweating room,” where students awaited results of oral exams, the door emblazoned with Dante’s lines: “Abandon all hope/ all who enter here.” And don’t miss Leiden’s many hofjes , former almshouses usually gathered around a charming garden or courtyard.

One of the most colorful pastimes we’ve enjoyed recently is a visit to the Monday and Tuesday morning Groenoordhallen market, where buyers from all of the Netherlands and Belgium come to buy beef. Their bargaining process, wherein buyer and seller slap hands vigorously in spirited bidding, is sealed with cold cash, the only exchange acceptable. Arrive early, wear sturdy shoes for the muck and plan on having a farm breakfast later in the hall’s La Vache restaurant or Bistro Le Cochon de Lait.

For more information: Call the Netherlands Board of Tourism at (415) 543-6772, or write to 90 New Montgomery St., Suite 305, San Francisco 94105, for a brochure on Leiden with city plan and sights, another on touring the Netherlands by rail and a map of the country.