Leeuwarden is the main railway station in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. The station opened on 27 October 1863 and is on the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway, the Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway

Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway

The Harlingen–Nieuweschans railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from the port of Harlingen to Nieuweschans, passing through Leeuwarden and Groningen. The line was opened between 1863 and 1868. It is also known as the Staatslijn "B"...

 and the Leeuwarden–Stavoren railway. Leeuwarden was also the terminus of the North Friesland Railway which served Anjum

Anjum

Anjum is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality Dongeradeel.-History:The name of the village is often said to mean "home of the Anos or Aningas". Another explanation is that it comes from the word "Hanjum"...

 and Harlingen via Stiens

Stiens

Stiens is the largest town within the municipality of Leeuwarderadeel, with a population of about 7,800. The town hall of the municipality is located in Stiens....

. The station has 6 platforms and behind the station is a stabling point for many trains. The services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

 and Arriva

Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

. The station has 5 terminating platforms and 1 through platform.

Major destinations

From Leeuwarden you can travel to places such as:

Heerenveen

Heerenveen

Heerenveen is a town in the Heerenveen municipality of the province of Friesland , in the north of the Netherlands.- History :The town was established in 1551 by three lords as a location for the purpose of digging peat which was used for fuel, hence the name...

, Zwolle

Zwolle

Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...

, Amersfoort

Amersfoort

Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...

, Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, Gouda

Gouda

Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....

, Groningen, The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

, Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

, Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol), Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, Franeker

Franeker

Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...

, Harlingen

Harlingen

Harlingen may mean:* Harlingen, Netherlands, a municipality and city in the province of Friesland* Harlingen, Texas, a city in the United States* Harlingen, New Jersey, an unincorporated village in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, United States...

, Sneek

Sneek

Sneek is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland . As for 2011 it is part of the municipality Súdwest Fryslân...

 and Stavoren

Stavoren

Stavoren is a small town on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km south of Hindeloopen. It lies within the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. Stavoren was granted city rights in 1118, making it the oldest city in Friesland...

. At Harlingen Haven there is a connection on to the boats to the islands Vlieland

Vlieland

Vlieland is a municipality in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland has only one major town: Oost-Vlieland . It is the second-least densely populated municipality in the Netherlands ....

 and Terschelling

Terschelling

Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts...

.

Train services

The following services calls at Leeuwarden:

• 1x per hour intercity service The Hague/Rotterdam - Utrecht - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Leeuwarden
• 1x per hour intercity service Schiphol - Hilversum - Amersfoort - Zwolle - Leeuwarden
• 1x per hour express service (sneltrein) Leeuwarden - Groningen
• 1x per hour local service (stoptrein) Wolvega - Leeuwarden (peak hours)
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Leeuwarden - Sneek
• 1x per hour local service (stoptrein) Leeuwarden - Sneek - Stavoren
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Harlingen Haven - Leeuwarden
• 2x per hour local service (stoptrein) Leeuwarden - Groningen