The tour begins at this historic bridge, named after the Blue Gate constructed in 1602 from blue bluestone. The gate replaced the earlier Lopsen Gate and served as one of the ceremonial entry points into the city of Leiden.

Walk past the site associated with Rembrandt van Rijn, who was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606, and spent his formative years here. His family had been residents of Leiden for two generations, placing this location at the heart of his artistic origins.

The Hortus Botanicus has functioned as the study garden of Leiden University since 1590, featuring the Clusius Garden — a reconstruction of its original layout — alongside a Japanese garden and Victoria greenhouse. Adjacent to the garden stands the Academy Building, a former monastery chapel converted into the home of the Netherlands' first university in 1575.

This quiet courtyard housed Pilgrim preacher John Robinson and around twenty English families between 1611 and 1625, before his congregation departed for America in 1620. In 1683, it was refounded as an almshouse for members of the Walloon Reformed Church by Marie de Lannoy.

Construction of this late Gothic church began in 1390 and was completed in 1565, on a site where a chapel had stood since 1121. The interior holds approximately thirty gravestones and memorial plaques dedicated to artists, prominent citizens, and scholars.

This working flour mill is a replica of the original 1619 structure, rebuilt after the old foundations were uncovered during construction work in 1987. Local tradition holds that Rembrandt's parents operated a mill on this very site.