The Hague

Introduction

Den Haag

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Many international organizations and companies have their seat here and foreign lots of countries have their embassies here. You can visit this Embassy website for detailed information which is of interest for travellers. The Hague also houses the international court of Justice, which in the last decade was mainly busy with judging war criminals from the Yugoslavian war, including Milosevic and Karadzic. As a result of the many institutions and ambassies a lot of nationalities live and work in this city.

The Hague is also the home of many of the most famous Dutch music groups and artists. The most famous group to emerge from The Hague is probably the Golden Earring, who got world famous with their American No.1 hit: Radar Love. Also Shocking Blue (Venus, later covered by Bananarama), Q65, Anouk and Earth & Fire, and a whole bunch of others come from the Hague. That The Hague is a musical city is something you can see if you look at the many music festival and events in the city. Sadly enough the world famous North Sea Jazz Festival has moved a couple of years to ago to Rotterdam.

Neighbourhoods

The Hague has 8 neighbourhoods:

• Centrum (city centre)
• Escamp
• Haagse Hout
• Laak
• Leidschenveen-Ypenburg
• Loosduinen,
• Scheveningen (beaches)
• Segbroek

These neighbourhoods can in most cases be divided in several smaller areas.

Sights and Activities

The Hague offers visitors more than political interest. It is also an excellent place to browse great museums, or laze on the Netherlands' primary beach.

Political Attractions

The Hague is best known for the political and international organisations that operate there, including the Dutch royal family. Some of its most popular attractions are the Binnenhof, the national centre of politics (Parliament still meets there) and the Ridderzaal (Knights' Hall), where you can enjoy a guided tour of the Upper and Lower chambers where politicians meet.

Scheveningen

Sandcastels at Scheveningen

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Scheveningen (nowadays part of The Hague) is the main beach city of the Netherlands - and has been so for over 100 years. Hence The Hague can profile itself as City by the Sea. The beach is favourite place of a lot of people in the Netherlands. When the weather is good, the beach is packed with people. But when the weather is bad, and a strong wind is blowing it can be nice to be on the beach aswell. In Scheveningen you will find a lot of bars on the beach, as well as the two landmarks of this stretch of the Dutch coast: the Kurhaus, and the Pier.

Museums

The Hague boasts a number of internationally acclaimed museums, including

• The Mauritshuis - The Royal Picture Gallery has paintings from painters like Vermeer and Rembrandt.
• Another museum which is worth a visit is Panorama Mesdag in Scheveningen, which exposes the largest painting in the Netherlands with a 360-degree view. It is 120 metres long and 14 metres high and the view you will see here is one on top of a sand dune in the year 1881.
• Other interesting ones include the Museum of Photography and the M.C. Esher Museum.

Events and Festivals

Prinsjesdag

On every 3rd tuesday in September the Queen reads out her Speech of the throne (Troonrede) in the Ridderzaal. The speech itself is a dry piece of information written by politicians and not that interesting for visitors. What is interesting is the rituals surrounding the day. At 1:00pm the Queen gets into the Golden Coach, that will take her to the Ridderzaal. Along the route many people gather to grasp a glimpse of the Queen and the other members of the royal family. The route starts at the Palace Noordeinde and the goes to the Lange Voorhout and the Korte Vijverberg to the Binnenhof. It's only a short route and it takes about 15 minutes in total. After the speech, the Queen heads back to the palace, where she will appear on the balcony to say goodbye.

Parkpop

The Hague

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On the last Sunday of June, the biggest music festival in the Netherlands takes place in the Zuiderpark. On several stages in the park several bands are playing from young and local talents to big names of the international music business. On a good day it is possible that 350,000 to 400,000 people come to visit the festival. The line-up every year consist of a mix of Dutch bands and International bands, with a good mix of genres, so that everybody can find a band he or she likes. Besides the music, there are markets and of course food and drink stalls. If you plan to visit and you need to get out of The Hague by public transport, have some patience as the transport is somewhat overloaded, especially when the weather is good. And the best part of the festival is, that the entrance is for free.

KoninginneNach

The night before Queensday (the night of 29th of April) the music festival KoninginneNach takes place. You should try to pronounce it the way the locals do, when you are there. Besides the gigs at several open-air stages, there are also bands playing in several theatres and in a lot of the bars in the city. The Festival takes place in and around the inner city of The Hague.

Beatstad

Beatstad is a music festival that takes place at the end of August or beginning of September at the Malieveld. The festival started in 2005, as a festival with a line-up consisting of only bands from The Hague, but since a couple of years the headliner is an International group.

City-Pier-City Run

The City-Pier-City Run is a half marathon from the centre of The Hague to the Pier in Scheveningen, and back again. The fastest male runners run the distance in just under an hour. Besides a half marathon there are also runs of 5 and 10 kilometres, and runs for kids (1 kilometre and 2.5 kilometres). All the races finish at the Lange Voorhout. Along the route of the run several bands are playing, providing a good atmosphere for runners and spectators.

Weather

The Hague weather is typical of what you get in the Netherlands: mild winters (December - February) with rare snow, and reasonably warm summers (June - August). In general, The Hague is just bit cooler during the summer and a bit warmer during winter, meaning average temperatures of around or just above 20 °C in summer and several degrees above zero during winter.

Getting There

By Plane

Rotterdam The Hague Airport, formerly Zestienhoven serves The Hague. It's mostly used by Transavia, Correndon and VLM airlines. The first two are specialised in holiday destinations, and the last services a lot of the smaller airports in the Netherlands and Begium, and connects from Rotterdam to for example London City Airport, Manchester Airport, the Isle of Man, Hamburg Airport and Jersey. Skywork Airlines has a weekly flight to Bern in Switzerland (winter only).

By Train

The Hague has a couple of train stations, of which the Central Station and Holland Spoor are the most used ones. The Hague can be reached easily from other bigger Dutch cities. The line between Venlo and The Hague connects all the bigger cities in North Brabant and Rotterdam with The Hague.
A regional light rail system called RandstadRail connects The Hague to nearby cities, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam and was completed in August 2010. Check the map online.

By Car

The Hague can be reached by car along the A4 from Amsterdam and Schiphol, the A12 from Utrecht and the A13 from Rotterdam.

By Bus

Eurolines has international connections, sometimes stopping in other Dutch cities, like Arnhem and Breda first.
HTM provides bus and tram connections just outside The Hague, including a route to Scheveningen beaches.

By Boat

Although The Hague is located along the water, at least Scheveningen is, there is no regular transport for passenger by boat.

Getting Around

By Car

As roads, especially during rush hours and on popular shopping times (including Saturday), are congested, it's not advised to travel around by car. Parking is expensive as well, like most Dutch cities.

By Public Transport

HTM offers trams and buses in the city.

By Foot

Much of The Hague can easily be explored on foot, as it's not a very big city and the centre is relatively compact.

By Bike

Taking the bike is especially nice if you like to explore more of the outskirts of The Hague as well, including Scheveningen.

Eat

• Le Haricot Vert - Molenstraat 9A-11. Good French-Dutch cuisine, friendly people. Three course menu for around €30.

Drink

• Luden Café Den Haag - Plein 6-7, good drinks and food for affordable prices.

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

• The Hague University

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés certainly are not ubiqutous to say the least. Although there are a few, it's best to go on the internet in your hotel, hostel or maybe in the nearest library, as they can be hard to find.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

The rate for sending a postcard or letter up to 20 grams within the Netherlands is €0.46 (2010). Since 2010 there are stamps available for domestic post which no longer include the value in €. Instead, there are stamps available with either a '1' or a '2' as a substitute for value. The '1' can be used for letters and postcards up to 20 grams, while 20-50 grams require you to use the '2'-valued stamps (or two '1'-valued stamps of course).

Sending items to other EU countries will cost €0.67, while the rest of the world sets you back €0.89 per piece. Stamps are sold at post offices and supermarkets; often the place where you buy your postcards can also supply you with stamps.

Sending parcels abroad is more costly. A standard-sized parcel between 500-2,000 grams will cost you €9.10 for destinations within the EU, and €17.50 to the rest of the world. Parcel service is available from major post offices only; standard-size boxes are on sale there as well.

If you need to receive mail while moving around, you can have it sent poste restante (to be called for) to a post office of your choice, where it will be kept for a month. If you come to claim it, bring a valid ID, and make sure to have told the sender that the name on the envelope must be an exact match with that in your passport. For addresses of post offices, as well as more information, consult the TNT website.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Official Tourism Website