Day trip from Amsterdam: Leiden or Utrecht?
 

My partner and I are debating whether to visit Leiden or Utrecht as a day trip from Amsterdam and would appreciate recommendations. We enjoy cycling – we rent bicycles to get around Amsterdam when we visit, and I wondered whether we could take the train to either Leiden or Utrecht and rent bicycles locally for a day trip. We once visited Rotterdam as a day trip, rented bicycles from a municipal garage and had a great time simply cycling through all the neighborhoods, stopping for lunch and a beer. Does that sound like an option for either Leiden or Utrecht?

More an option for Utrecht I think - much larger city with more neighborhoods like Rotterdam or Amsterdam but really you can't go wrong with either.

Leiden IME is quainter with more Amsterdamesque canals but Utrecht also having some of these but in generally if you like larger urban areas go for Utecht - if the latter check out the superb Nederlands' Railwy Museum in suburban Utrecht -http://www.spoorwegmuseum.nl/home.html and also the unique ecltic Museum of Mechanical Clocks and Toys: http://www.museumspeelklok.nl/.

Do you enjoy cycling out of cities too?

If so I have some great recommendations for getting to Utrecht by bike and bike/train combo - like taking the train to Breukelen - which gave its name to Brooklyn! locals say and then riding along a main canal into the Utrecht metropolis.

I think it's actually a shame to cycle through the best part of Utrecht, because it is a strollers paradise. The center is extensive, but storefront to storefront, and each different angle and perspective on the Oude Gracht (the one main canal that defines the center) make cycling a liability.

Leiden might be better for cycling because there is broader territoty to cover and get a lay for the land there, though you would want to walk the bike in the densest areas. Leiden might have nicer countryside tangents for cycling too.

I actually really prefer Utrecht, as a city to visit, because the center has such atmosphere and warmth, but I would just park the bike and stroll there.