The Hague Attractions

Looking for information on The Hague's attractions? Plan your unique visit using the extensive information on this page.

Introduction

The Hague is without a doubt a very versatile city. The city has many older monumental neighborhoods, but also features many modern architecture. In this article, you can find many hints and tips for interesting places to visit. But don’t let that distract you from seeing some of the other beautiful places you can find in "Den Haag" (as the city is known in Holland) just by wandering around and taking a side street!

The Downtown Area

The largely historic downtown area of The Hague is well worth your time. It contains some of the most famous buildings in the city, including the Binnenhof – seat of the Dutch government – and the adjoining Hofvijver, which formed the basis of this city well over 650 years ago. In addition, you can visit a covered shopping street dating back to 1885, and the Gevangenpoort, a 14th century prison that now serves as a museum which shows you what prison life (and death) was like back in Medieval times.

The Binnenhof in The Hague

While you’re walking around the city center, make sure you also visit the Denneweg, Noordeinde, and Lange Voorhout and Korte Voorhout. These historic streets and avenues feature many of the city’s centuries-old trees and monumental buildings. During the summer months, you have the opportunity to take a stroll around a small but unique antique market twice a week (on Thursdays and Sundays). This open-air fleamarket features all sorts of old and new art objects. (During the winter months, you can find this market a little further away, on the Plein.)

If you’re more into shopping, the downtown area is also where you want to be. If you’re looking for smaller local shops, take one of the small side streets or alleys; if you’d like to do some luxury shopping, make sure you check out the Hoogstraat and Noordeinde – the stores in these streets are geared more toward the rich inhabitants of The Hague. From there, you can also make your way to the ‘regular’ shopping streets by walking through the Passage. These streets offer the standard chain stores that can be found in many other cities in Holland as well.

Although all these stores are within walking distance of one another, it might be prudent to take a load off after your shopping spree and relax a little. For example, you could enjoy a hot cup of coffee in the élitist Maison de Bonneterie (a department store at Gravenstraat 2), het Gouden Hooft (a historic city tavern at Dagelijkse Groenmarkt 13), or the trendy Dudok (a café at Hofweg 1a). Or you could taste a typically Dutch sandwich with hot sausage at the HEMA (a department store at Grote Marktstraat 57), or perhaps you’re more interested in enjoying some ice cream with the local folk at Ijssalon Florencia (Torenstraat 55).

When you’re visiting The Hague, do take into account that the weekend is a very busy time when thousands of (young) people come to shop in the city. Many stores are also open on Sundays, usually from 12pm. On Monday, most stores don’t open their doors until 12pm either. If you’re in The Hague in the weekend but still in need of some quiet time, make sure you stay in the historic part of the inner city.

Museums in The Hague

The Hague has many museums, including the Gemeentemuseum (Stadhouderslaan 41), which features extensive collections in modern art and sculpture, fashion, applied arts, and music, as well as a changing temporary exhibit.

The Haags Historisch Museum (Historic Museum of The Hague; Korte Vijverberg 7) is dedicated to keeping the history of The Hague alive. If you’re interested in the history of the seat of government of the Netherlands, this is the place to go. The aforementioned Museum Gevangenpoort (Buitenhof 33) is also part of this museum.

A very special (and in Holland very well-known) small museum you can visit is the Panorama Mesdag (Zeestraat 65). Panorama Mesdag is a 15 foot high cilindrical painting and a 120 meter long circumference painted by one of the most famous painters of The Hague, Hendrik Willem Mesdag. This huge 19th century painting shows you a view of the sea, the dunes, and the village of Scheveningen.

The Panorama Mesdag is the oldest panorama in the world and a unique historic monument. The museum itself also houses a permanent collection of other works by Mesdag as well as several changing exhibitions.

If you’re looking for a fun place to go with the kids, maybe the Museon (Stadhouderslaan 37) is the place to go. This museum’s motto is “Playroom for Knowledge” and offers hands-on activities to help children understand mankind in nature and culture as well as recent developments in science and society.

Both kids and adults will also enjoy the close-by IMAX Theater Omniversum (President Kennedylaan 5), which offers several educational yet fun movies on a large screen. This immersing experience will have you feeling like you’re actually there, living the adventures.

Finally, another museum well worth your time is the Paleis Lange Voorhout (Lange Voorhout 74), which offers the magical permanent exposition “Escher in the Palace”. On four floors, you can view pictures, etchings, and archive material of this legendary artist, famous for his illusionist paintings which play tricks on your senses.

If you want, you can also enjoy one of several multimedia presentations about Escher’s work.

Parks

Although The Hague is not exactly a city known for its elaborate parks, it does in fact have several beautiful parks where you can find some rest and relaxation away from the busy city center.

The largest park in The Hague, by far, is the Zuiderpark, at the Mr. P. Droogleever Fortuijnweg. This park was created in the 1920s and features large open meadows and wide, easily accessible walkways. In addition to some very international plants and trees, the park contains, among other things, a large area set aside for sports (including a covered swimming pool), a bowling alley, a skate track, an open-air theater, a steam-powered train, an urban farm, and a deer park.

During the summer months, you can visit one of the many multicultural events taking place in the park, the most well-known being Parkpop in June, Europe’s largest free pop festival.

The Haagse Bos is among the oldest forests in Holland. The entrance is close to the downtown area of the Hague, near the Malieveld. Although the forest has decreased in size and is now only about 600 yards wide and 2 miles across, you can still find small game in the area. The remaining forest has been designated protected area, but there are still two main roads smack dab in the middle: the Utrechtse Baan (A12) and the Laan van Nieuw Oost Indië.

The Westbroekpark (Kapelweg in Scheveningen) is a nice park where you can relax close to the ponds, in the tea garden, or the flower garden, while your kids play in one of the playgrounds. Because of the clustered groups of trees and the picturesque views, this park will remind you somewhat of an English garden. The showpiece of the garden, however, is the International Rosarium, a rose garden where you can see some 20,000 roses in bloom from June to October.

The Hague is surrounded by many magnificent dunes; one of the most interesting areas for you to visit is the “Meijendel” (at the Meijendelseweg), also known as “Oostduinen” in The Hague. Parts of these area are open to the public and lend themselves very well for hiking or biking. You can find the visitor’s center – as well as a great pancake restaurant – in the central Meijendel valley.

Other Attractions in The Hague

Madurodam: Holland in Miniature

If you’re planning to visit The Hague, that’ll give you the extraordinary additional opportunity to visit all of the rest of Holland at the same time. Just before the seaside town of Scheveningen, you can find Madurodam (George Maduroplein 1), which is, in essence, a miniature version of the Netherlands.

At Madurodam, you can see everything that Holland is famous for on a 1:25 scale. Windmills, canals, flower fields, famous city objects such as the cheese market in Alkmaar, the Dam in Amsterdam, and old gentleman’s houses; but also the modern Schiphol Airport is represented here in miniature, as well as many other typically Dutch landscapes. Hundreds of moving parts complete the picture: cars driving around in towns, cities, and on highways; trains, trams, and buses making their route; there’s even a carnival for you to enjoy.

Madurodam is open all year long, during the summer until late at night, when the lights in mini-Holland go on and the whole scene becomes even more enchanting.

Drievliet: Family Fun

Drievliet (Laan van ’s-Gravenmade) is a small and cozy family fun park with many carnival-related attractions for both old and young. If you are adventurous in nature, you will most likely enjoy the Space Loop, Lunatic, and Moonraker; but there’s also a children’s farm and a caroussel for the younger members of your family.

Drievliet is opened daily from April through October.

Duinrell

Just outside of The Hague, in the town of Wassenaar, you can find attraction park Duinrell (Duinrell 1 in Wassenaar). The most famous and popular attractions have to be the huge covered waterslides called Tikibad. The Tikibad is open year-round, the rest of the park is open daily between April and October.

Seeing The Hague by Canal Boat ("De Ooievaart")

Although this is an attraction that’s usually associated with Amsterdam, The Hague also offers you the opportunity to see the sights by canal boat. The boat departs at (and returns to) the Bierkade in the downtown area, and shows you areas such as Chinatown, two former Jewish neighborhoods, Schilderswijk, Transvaal, Denneweg, and Smidswater with the close-by Lange Voorhout, Malieveld, and modern downtown area.

This boat tour is only available during the summer months (May until September) and then only on Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, and 4:15pm. The tour itself lasts about an hour and a half. You should reserve your place ahead of time at the Ooievaart site to guarantee availability.

(Flea)markets in The Hague

The best-known market in The Hague is the “Haagse Markt” at the Herman Costerstraat. This open-air market is – with 550 stands – the largest of its kind in Holland and has a huge offering ranging from cheese, fruit, vegetables, flowers, and fish to clothing, domestic items, and second-hand stuff.

All the walks of life of The Hague are represented at this market, and as such it offers you a wonderful opportunity to see the various cultures that are part of this city. Sometimes during the summer it even feels like you’re shopping in a whole other country.

The Haagse Markt is held on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 8:45am to 5:00pm. Although the market is a very safe place, please be careful of pickpockets – they do roam this heavily trafficked area.

Another market that might be worth a visit is the Boerenmarkt at the Hofplaats near Hofweg/Lange Poten. Only biological foods are traded at this market, which is held every Wednesday.

Shopping in The Hague

You can find most stores in The Hague in the downtown area. You can find the large department stores in the area around Spuistraat/Venestraat and Grote Markt; specialty stores around Lange Poten, Korte Poten, and Plein; the area around Denneweg and Frederikstraat offers smaller stores that sell antiques, art, and other gadgets; and in Hoogstraat and Noordeinde, you can find the more expensive shoe stores and clothing stores. Of course, if you need to take a load off, there are more than enough establishments available everywhere where you can enjoy something to eat and drink.

If you feel more like visiting a (small) mall, look for the shopping center called Babylon, right next to the central train station (Koningin Juliana Plein). There aren’t too many shops, but the selection is varied, and this shopping center is easily accessible when you’re visiting the city by train. Additionally, one of The Hague’s tourist offices (VVV) is located right next to this shopping center.

In case you’re also visiting one of the cities close to The Hague such as Rijswijk, Voorburg, or Leidschendam (all of which you can reach by public transportation), all of them have an nice historic core as well as modern shopping centers available. In Rijswijk, you can go to Winkelcentrum In de Boogaard and in Leidschendam, you can visit Winkelcentrum Leidschenhage.

The Hague Nightlife

The nightlife in The Hague is sizzling and well-known outside of the city. Most bars, cafés, and clubs are located within walking distance of one another in the city center. You can find many and busy small cafés on the Plein, the place where many downtown workers come to unwind after a hard day’s work. Suits and ties are especially prevalent in this area on Friday nights.

Other places to go out in downtown include the Buitenhof (Havana’s, Bierkelder, La Luna) and Grote Markt (De Zwarte Ruiter, Boterwaag); for live music, you can visit Café de Paap (Papestraat 32) and Het Paard van Troje (Prinsegracht 12).

If you’re looking for a place to dance, you can go to former cinema ASTA on the Spui, Maliehuisje (Maliestraat 8), and Catacomben (Groenmarkt/Grote Halstraat 3). De Tempel is a club for young people and is located somewhat outside of the city center (Prins Hendrikstraat 39).

Of course, the above overview is anything but complete; there are many other bars, cafés, and clubs where you can hang out. In addition, the nearby resort town of Scheveningen also has a very active nightlife scene; you can find more information about Scheveningen below.

Cinemas

The Hague has several different cinemas that you can visit during your stay in this city in the Netherlands. One of them is Pathé Buitenhof (Buitenhof 20), located in a historic building. One of the rooms offers a unique view of the Buitenhof and the Hofvijver because the screen is only lowered just before the movie begins.

Babylon, located next to the mall with the same name and close to the central train station, offers a blend of popular (American) movies and other foreign and Dutch movies.

“Het Filmhuis”, on the Spui, is a moviehouse dedicated to showing lesser-known cultural films.

Scheveningen also has a Pathé theater (Kurhausweg 2). This movie theater is, with 8 screens, the largest in the area. Like the Pathé in The Hague, this cinema shows mostly popular movies.

Restaurants

Many international food flavors are represented in The Hague, so you can enjoy almost any kind of food you fancy while you’re in the city. Most restaurants are clustered in and around the city center, offering such diverse tastes as French, Turkish, Russian, South American, Chinese, and Japanese. Popular streets in The Hague that offer a number of restaurant choices are Noordeinde (the part past the Paleis, just beyond the shopping street), Frederikstraat, Hooigracht, Denneweg, and Het Plein.

If you’re looking for typically Dutch food, look for the smaller establishments that do not display information on the region they’re from (or for the words “bistro” or “Hollands eetcafé”, which are sometimes used). Usually, these small diners can offer you a small but tasty selection of local food at a reasonable price.

Scheveningen

Although Scheveningen is a city of its own, it is in fact in many ways tied to The Hague. This town, founded in the 13th century, used to be a fisherman’s village, but has since grown into a mondain seaside resort and one of the most popular tourist cities in Holland.

In days long gone, the women used to bring the fish the fishermen caught to The Hague in baskets that they carried on their heads. Once they had completed their trip to the city over the “Westerpad”, they would sell their fish in the streets to eek out a living for themselves and their family.

It wasn’t until the 17th century that a proper road was built between the two cities (today’s Scheveningseweg). This new road made it much easier for the inhabitants of The Hague to visit Scheveningen, and many new fish eating houses popped up, as well as other recreational trades.

When the people discovered how healthy bathing in salty seawater was, bath houses quickly popped up as well (the first one being built by a man named Jacob Pronk). Since these bath houses proved to be a huge success, The Hague quickly took over the exploitation of the town. Just to the north of the village, the new resort started growing and developing, its most striking addition being the Kurhaus (1885), a larger and more luxurious version of Jacob Pronk’s original bath house.

Although this type of outing was reserved for the rich during the first years, these days everybody is welcome in Scheveningen. If you’re interested in visiting the town during the summer months, be prepared for crowds… hordes of tourists from both the Netherlands and other countries have found their way to this seaside resort, and many return year after year.

Of course, there is a reason that so many people keep coming back to this town, so close to The Hague: it’s a fun town to hang out and relax. You’ll find clean, large beaches hugging the North Sea, many pavillions offering refreshments, and a cozy boulevard with nice shops.

While you’re there, don’t forget to pay a visit to the local harbor, on the southern end of town; it’s a lot more quiet there and they’ve got some positively wonderful fish stands.

Even during the colder season, Scheveningen has a lot to offer. You can visit the Palace Promenade, a covered shopping center near the boulevard; you can see a new movie in the Pathé cinema; go to the bowling alley, visit the see aquarium, or the local casino.