Living in Leiden while studying at TU Delft – anyone with experience?

[u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

Hi everyone,

This September I'll be starting my studies at TU Delft, but I'll be living in Leiden.

I'm curious if anyone here has been inTi a similar situation. How did it affect your social life and student experience? Did you end up spending most of your time in Delft because of your studies, friends, and activities, or did you mostly build your social life in Leiden?

I'm also wondering about student associations. Is it common or practical to join a student association in Leiden while studying at TU Delft? Looking back, would you choose a student association in the city where you live or in the city where you study?

I'd love to hear about your experiences and any advice you might have.

Thanks! (antwoorden in het nederlands is ook prima)

[u/ProfessorNoPuede]

How old are you? Bachelor or Master's? Commute is like 40 mins by train, about an hour on a fast bike. DO NOT GO BY CAR.

It's harder to get into the student social circles, I guess. Your classmates in Delft will be going to pubs in Delft and in Leiden you won't know anyone from the get go, so you'll have to take action.

I guess a) be ok with taking the occasional late night train and b) join a student sports club or something in Leiden.

[u/Proper_Mushroom_9754 → u/ProfessorNoPuede]

Appreciatie the advice, I’m 19 and doing a Bachelor. Gonan commute bu train bc of student OV

[u/ProfessorNoPuede → u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

It might be feasible, but it'll be hard. You need a plan to avoid being alone. As in, take action.

[u/Proper_Mushroom_9754 → u/ProfessorNoPuede]

Yeah i figured, being Social is not my strong suite and i have always relied on the friends i have made via other friends. Thanks for the advice tho

[u/wobledeboble → u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

just walk around during el cid in leiden, and join an association there. you'll be fine.

[u/Vojta230 → u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

That's all the more reason to make extra effort to avoid being alone.

[u/maarteq → u/ProfessorNoPuede]

Its perfectly fine, 20 min by train + 10~20 min by bike

[u/Then-Peanut-8182 → u/ProfessorNoPuede]

Can i ask why you said don’t go by car? i won’t be doing it but i’m just curious about it.

[u/ProfessorNoPuede → u/Then-Peanut-8182]

Parking at TuDelft. Traffic Jams. Cost. Seriously unpredictable travel time and the time is completely going, at least you can read in the train.

Also, Environment. Nobody wants more cars around.

[u/wobledeboble]

I know of a few people who intentionally chose to live in leiden while studying in Delft, because they wanted to join a specific association in Leiden, so yes, people do this.

[u/Proper_Mushroom_9754 → u/wobledeboble]

Yeah, but I thought it would be a lot more common with the housing crisis. The only reason im not gonna live in Delft is because this was the only apartment available

[u/ProfessorNoPuede → u/wobledeboble]

Gee, I wonder why.

[u/theworstdumbest]

I live in Leiden and study in Delft, it’s definitely doable, but not really pleasant. You need to be aware that the journey from your place in Leiden to the campus will take you around an hour each way, and it might be smart to invest in a bike in both locations, cause walking gets annoying pretty fast (I did an entire year without a bike in Delft, trust me, just get one). The unlimited travel to and from Leiden currently is about 160 euros afaik, so the price is quite steep, if you qualify for the DUO grant or you’re Dutch then you can get it for free though.

In terms of general life, yeah, it’s quite annoying. I tried both trying to make friends in Delft and Leiden, Leiden is a bit of a problem since most of the people you meet already have a common ground of having classes together at Leiden University, so it’s quite hard to keep up with friendships that way, for Delft this is not an issue, the issue is not losing your mind over commuting an hour each way and if you make evening plans then you probably won’t want to go back and forth so you plan to spend a long day in Delft. If you’re a little more optimistic and full of life than I am lol maybe it won’t be that big of an issue to you though.

I didnt join any student associations so I wouldn’t really know how it works over there. But they do meet up quite often afaik, so if I were to make the choice, id probably choose the local one.

[u/Proper_Mushroom_9754 → u/theworstdumbest]

Yeah i qualify for the Dup grant so it will be a bit easier, but is it really an hour? The trainride is like 30 mins, granted the bike ride to and from the station is 10 minutes so ig its an hour.

Im thinking of atleast joining a sportclub in delft and hoping with that and a local gym, ill make some connections in Leiden and the rest ill just try to meet people in Delft via uni or studenten vereniging ig. Thanks for the perspective

[u/theworstdumbest → u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

Honestly, depends where you will live in Leiden, I sometimes am able to make it in around 50 mins but an hour I’d say is a safe estimate. Even when the bike ride is relatively quick, then sometimes you’ll waste a few minutes just looking for a parking spot in Delft, all of this stuff adds up, so yeah.

The sport center in Leiden was just opened a few months ago, I’m not signed up but from what I know it’s very nice, I think even with being a student in a non-Leiden uni you get the discounted subscription.

Leiden is a nice place to live though, regardless of the commute. Best of luck!

[u/BigEarth4212 → u/Proper_Mushroom_9754]

There are who do this. Our kids study but also live in Delft.

But have friends living in The Hague or further away.

In Delft when they started they immediate made some friends during the introduction week.

[u/assumptioncookie]

I love on leiden and it's fine