The Hague is not just a beautiful beach city in the Netherlands- it is the the home of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which makes The Hague one of the major cities hosting the United Nations along with New York, Geneva, Vienna, Rome, and Nairobi. Additionally, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, together with Queen Máxima.

How to get there:

From Amsterdam airport, you can get a direct train to The Hague. The public transport system in the Netherlands is AMAZING; you can get a train direct to any major town or city from very early in the morning to very late at night so don’t worry about missing a train, you will get there eventually!

Where to stay:

It all depends what kind of holiday you want. If you want more of a beach holiday, you should seek a place to stay near the Scheveningen district.

Budget Hotel: Budget Beach Studio

Steal: Novotel The Hague World Forum

Splurge: Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin

However, if you are hoping for a city break to explore the parliament buildings and the palace, you should for accommodation of the city center or the old city center.

Budget: Stayokay Den Haag

Steal: Patten Hotel

Splurge: Boutique Hotel Corona

Look on booking.com for more perfect accommodation!

What to do:

Hire a bike and get sight seeing! You can explore all sides of The Hague just by hopping on a bike! The city, like all dutch cities, have a bike lane on every road so don’t worry about cycling in a busy city, it is completely safe!

• Peace Palace
  It houses the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library. I unfortunately didn’t get time to go inside. However, outside the gates burns a flame for peace- around the flame are stones and each stone represents a country. It’s worthwhile going to see, even if you only have time to stare at the beautiful building and read all the countries that has a stone around the flame.
  
  

  
• Scheveningen
  This is the popular tourist beach. The beach is lined with beach clubs, making the beach so colourful and lively, even in the middle of September! Due to the numerous amounts of restaurants, it is extremely hard to choose where to eat!! The beach has a lovely atmosphere and is very clean- no rubbish in sight! Definitely a must if you are The Hague!
  
  

  

  

  
• Sea life
  Sea life is a chain of famous aquariums. It is situated beside the Scheveningen beach so its easy enough to find. It is agreat way to give your skin a break from all the rays you will be soaking up! Or a great way to waste an afternoon if the weather isn’t great. WARNING: Do not find the fish or the otters and then go to the beach without washing your hands!! Stephen was literally attacked by at least 10 sea gulls that were trying to eat his fishy fingers! It was like a scene out of Birds (the horror film). It was terrifyingly funny!
  
  

  
• Kijkduin
  This beach isn’t widely known to the tourist which makes it perfect place for the locals to hang out. So if you are thinking about going to The Hague in the summer, I highly suggest you check out this beach first especially, if you don’t want to fight for a spot on the beach in Scheveningen. This district is very like Scheveningen except there are fewer beach clubs – but still lloooadddsss to choose from!
  
• Madurodam: the Netherlands in miniature
  This attraction is a miniature park in the Scheveningen district. It’s a perfect way to see all the famous landmarks of Netherlands in miniature form! The attartication is full of miniature dutch buildings, cities and towns including canals, an airport and trains! There is also a play park for the kids or for adults who still think they are kids. And if that wasn’t enough, you can also buy a miniature model of yourself!
  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

• Palace Noordeinde
  This is one of three official palaces in the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander uses this palace as his office and does all his work here since 2013.  It is located in the city center but it pretty easy to overlook it.
  

  
  

• Binnenhof
  Binnenhof is a collection of buildings that surround a courtyard. It is sort of a castle, and sort of not. It is hard to describe it!  You can take a walk inside courtyard and admire the fairytale-like buildings that make up Binnehof and you may even see the  very serious important people that live there, like the Prime Minister.

The Hague offers soo much more like one of the largest markets in Europe, a groovy China town and sooo many shops that would make any shopoholic drool! It is literally a city for anyone, whether you are a beach person, a sight see-er or a shopper – the Hague has something for you!

*Note: the Dutch call it Den Haag so don’t get confused when you are over there*

Thanks for reading,
Peace out my wanderers!

Lisa♥