This paper examines the effects of socioeconomic characteristics, trip characteristics and life events on outdoor leisure activities and leisure duration in the Netherlands, based on 14 554 observations from three waves of data from The Netherlands Mobility Panel (in Dutch: MobiliteitsPanel Nederland). A standard mixed logit as well as a 'zero-leisure' scaled model was estimated to cover interpersonal and intrapersonal heterogeneity, The model was estimated for weekends, weekdays, transport mode choice of the activity, and specific leisure activity. The results show that travel time and transport mode choice for leisure trips have significant links with activity duration. Walking and cycling are dominant modes for short-duration activities and public transport for long-duration activities, and activity duration increases with travel time. The probability of short-duration leisure activities is higher on workdays. Certain life events positively affect the duration of leisure activities, whereas accessibility and bicycle ownership have no effect on leisure activity duration. The scaled model shows that the utility of any duration is about 10% larger for respondents who reported at least one day without leisure activities ('zero leisure'). Leisure activities undertaken during the same week are significantly correlated, representing significant intrapersonal variation. The paper highlights the importance of analysing duration of activities for different activity types and days of the week and underlines the strong link of temporal (week, year) and spatial (activity type location) dimensions with transport mode choice. Image 1 • Relevance and complexity of leisure activities are underrepresented in travel behaviour models. • Travel time and transport mode choice have significant links with activity duration. • Certain life events positively affect the duration of specific leisure activities. • Analysing duration of activities for different activity types and days of the week is important. • There is a strong link of temporal and spatial dimensions with transport mode choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]