Known for
Seat of the Dutch government and the royal family
Must-see landmarks
Mauritshuis, Peace Palace, Scheveningen Pier and the Binnenhof
Free to visit
The Uitzichtpunt Binnenhof viewpoint, and Scheveningen's beach
Getting around
A walkable centre plus HTM trams and buses for the rest of the city
On the Plein beside the Hofvijver, the Mauritshuis holds the Royal Cabinet of Paintings, 854 mostly Dutch Golden Age works including Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, inside a 17th century house built for John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen. The Uitzichtpunt Binnenhof viewpoint is a 6 minute walk.
With the Binnenhof itself behind hoardings while it is renovated, this free public viewpoint on the Buitenhof lets visitors climb 148 steps to a platform 28 metres up for a 360 degree view over the government quarter. It has no lift and closes in extreme weather; open daily 09:00-17:00. Gevangenpoort is a 2 minute walk.
This medieval gatehouse on the Buitenhof held prisoners awaiting sentencing from 1420 to 1828, its most notorious case the lynching of Johan and Cornelis de Witt in 1672. A museum since 1882, it now also shows the restored Prince William V Gallery, a reconstruction of the 1774 royal art cabinet. Noordeinde Palace is a 6 minute walk.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima have used this working palace, grown from a 16th century farmhouse, as their official base since 2013, so the building stays closed to visitors most of the year. Its palace gardens are open to the public free of charge every day from sunrise to sunset. Escher in Het Paleis is a 10 minute walk.
The former Lange Voorhout Palace now holds a permanent exhibition of M.C. Escher's impossible staircases and tessellations, open Tuesday to Sunday, with two free audio guides through the Bloomberg Connects app. Lange Voorhout itself, the city's grandest tree-lined avenue, runs past the museum's front door. Panorama Mesdag is a 13 minute walk.
Painter Hendrik Willem Mesdag completed this cylindrical panorama of Scheveningen in 1881 with his wife Sientje and student painters including George Hendrik Breitner. More than 14 metres high and about 40 metres across, it is viewed from a central platform that makes the painted beach and dunes look real. The Peace Palace is an 8 minute walk.
Opened in 1913, the Peace Palace houses the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration behind a Neo-Renaissance facade. Its grounds are open only on a guided tour, whether inside the palace, around it or through the garden, with tickets released online roughly two weeks ahead.
Zuiderpark Live: Bee Gees by Maincourse plays Zuiderparktheater on 11 September at 19:30.
Zuiderpark Live: Pink Project plays Zuiderparktheater on 12 September at 20:30.
Derek Ogilvie - Up Close and Personal plays Fletcher Hotel Leidschendam - DH on 13 October at 19:30.
Rob Lamberti brings his tribute show A Celebration of George Michael to World Forum Theater on 24 October at 20:00.
A ballet set to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons takes the stage at AFAS Circustheater on 1 December at 20:00.
Swan Lake is staged with a live orchestra at World Forum Theater on 20 March 2027 at 20:00.
Free, no ticket or reservation needed, this timber viewpoint over the Binnenhof building site is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00, weather permitting. A turnstile limits the platform to 60 people at a time, and there is no lift, so visitors who need step-free access are directed to the Informatiecentrum instead.
Photographing the palace and its gates from Carnegieplein, outside the fence, costs nothing at any hour. Stepping past the fence itself is the part that needs a booked, paid tour.
The entire stretch of sand and the boulevard behind it cost nothing to walk, cycle or sit on at any hour; only rides on the pier, such as its Ferris wheel and bungee jump, are ticketed.
Browsing the glass-roofed arcade between Spuistraat and the Buitenhof is free at any time it is open; only what is bought in its shops costs anything.
This free exhibition at Plaats 22 covers the archaeological finds and eight centuries of history uncovered during the Binnenhof renovation, with free guided tours running several times a week. It closes Monday and Tuesday, opening Wednesday to Saturday 10:00-17:00 and Sunday 12:00-17:00.
The Hague's grandest avenue, lined with lime trees planted from 1536, costs nothing to stroll past its 18th century mansions and embassies, and hosts a Sunday antiques and book market and an open-air sculpture walk.
This Art Nouveau neighbourhood built between 1870 and 1890, just north of the government quarter, is free to wander for its architecture and independent shops along the Piet Heinplein.
Free to enter, this park near Scheveningen holds a large municipal rose garden that peaks with thousands of blooms in the summer rose season, alongside ponds and playing fields open the rest of the year.
The Hague's own tourism board calls this the largest commodity market in the Netherlands, and wandering its stalls of food, fabric and household goods costs nothing even without buying anything.
Amsterdam is the official capital, but The Hague is where the Dutch government actually sits: the Cabinet, the States General, the Supreme Court and the Council of State all meet here, and the king works at Noordeinde Palace while living at Huis ten Bosch. The city also hosts the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and around 200 other international organisations, earning it a reputation as a hub for international law that feels distinctly different from Amsterdam's tourist bustle.
The Centrum holds the government quarter around the Hofvijver and Binnenhof, the Mauritshuis and the grand avenue of Lange Voorhout within easy walking distance of each other. The Zeeheldenkwartier just north is a quieter grid of Art Nouveau streets, while Scheveningen, reached by tram, swaps government buildings for a sandy beach, a pier and a working fishing harbour.
Spring brings mild weather and, in season, a day trip to the Keukenhof gardens near Lisse, while summer is warmest for the beach at Scheveningen. Delft and Leiden are both a short train ride from Den Haag Centraal and combine easily with a longer stay. One full day covers the main sights at a brisk pace, and two or three let museums and the coast breathe.
The government quarter, Mauritshuis and Lange Voorhout all sit within a compact, walkable centre, and HTM trams and buses cover the rest of the city, including the ride out to Scheveningen, on a single contactless card. The Peace Palace, opened in 1913 and still the seat of the International Court of Justice, is the other reason the city turns up in every guide to what to see in the Netherlands.