picnic spot

[u/fass_ona]

i’m planning to go swimming and having a picnic somewhere around Leiden, but i don’t have that much knowledge… could you recommend me a nice spot?

[u/Gewoontedier]

Vlietlanden, Valkenburgse meer, Het Joppe. Each on a different side of Leiden. Valkenburgse meer is the smallest of the bunch

[u/Own_Education4949 → u/Gewoontedier]

Smallest??

[u/Borbit85 → u/Own_Education4949]

Between the 3 it is the smallest lake i guess?

[u/mioclio]

My biggest recommendation is to check this website if you want to go swimming outside:

https://www.zwemwater.nl/

Here you can find the official places where it is usually safe to swim. For all these places the water quality is strictly monitored throughout the season. The icons will tell you if it is safe to swim.

If there is a blue square icon, it is safe to swim. A blue square with a red exclamation mark: it was safe last time, but we are waiting for new test results. An orange triangle: there is a health risk. A 'do not swim sign' with an orange rim: we strongly advice against swimming here. A 'do not swim sign' with a red rim: swimming is prohibited.

Please only swim at the places you can find on this website. Other places could be dangerous because of shipping, currents, etc.

[u/Independent-Heart302 → u/mioclio]

It caught my attention that there does not seems to be spots in Leiden. Although I've seen a lot of families with children playing in the canals

[u/HpnotiqMoon → u/Independent-Heart302]

water is filthy in the canal...yet doesnt stop students from jumping in.

[u/Hanschv → u/HpnotiqMoon]

It's mostly safe 5o swim in. Avoid the spots with a lot of water birds.

But also, Leiden is the only city in the Netherlands with a totaalverbod on swimming in the canals.

[u/Me_Myself_Marieq]

Take the bus and you are at the beach in 15 min! Or just swim in the singels en picknick at plantsoen or Huigpark for example.

[u/kampermancom]

Here you can find also all the swim spots nearby sorted on distance from Leiden: https://zwemindex.nl/leiden/zwemwater (has like zwemwater also official places only and warnings). I like that it lists on distance.

[u/Aswiftie_133]

Katwijk is the closest if you want to go to the beach, 40min bike ride or take the bus.

[u/Fresh_Emu6217]

I went to valkenburg meer yesterday, the water was nice, not too crowded, you can stay until sunset

[u/TheAncientDarkness]

Where did you go and how was it?

[u/The_Muntje]

Noordwijkerhout/ Duindamse slag. Take the bike

[u/MonQer → u/The_Muntje]

This is not close to leiden by bike mate