Four seasons in one Hague

We are finally going to open the box on our best kept secret, the city of The Hague. Royal capital of the Netherlands, city of peace and justice as the location of many international courts and agencies and the wonderful place that we call home. Set on the North Sea coast, just 1 hour by train from Amsterdam (just 30 minutes from Schiphol) and another 30 minutes from Rotterdam, the City lives up to one of its various names – ‘s–Gravenhage, the Count’s Grove – with its tree lined streets, and expansive woods that run from the beach of Scheveningen until the city centre.

There are always things going on in the Hague, with plenty of attractions, plus a healthy calendar of events that make it a great place to visit. With it’s northern European maritime climate, the weather can be a bit unpredictable so we thought we’d give you an overview for the whole year, looking at what you can expect each season. To check the latest go to The Hague Calendar, but for our picks let’s jump into:

Where to stay
Where to eat
The classics to do, no matter the weather
Springtime
Summertime
Autumnal colours
Winter is coming

Where to Stay

The city, although more like a big village, does spread out quite a bit, so try to get a place that is in the centre, where you can get around on foot, by bike or along the well connected tram network. In recent years The Hague has really upped its game in terms of hotels and you can find some great places in unique spots. As residents we aren’t the hotel experts but from our visits and visitors we suggest to have a look at:

Vocco – right next to the main shopping street and set in a former bank
Hotel Indigo the Hague – on the main shopping street in what also used to be a bank
Novotel Den Haag City Centre – probably the most central of the hotels (by at least 5 minutes walk!) and part of the beautiful 19th century shopping gallery The Passage.
The Hilton – for our American visitors that still want a piece of home. On the edge of the main centre, and in a bit of a tram desert, so you may need a taxi if coming from the station with baggage. Next to the must-see Panorama Mesdag (more on that later), with an excellent restaurant.
Staybridge Suites the Hague – we often cycle past this stately building, that probably faces one of the Hague’s second best views of the Parliament and lake (the best view of the Hague is from our apartment!).
Holiday Inn Express the Hague – Parliament – more of a simple place to stay, and set on the busiest square for bars and restaurants, European cafe culture at its best!
Badhotel Scheveningen – set a block from the beach of Scheveningen, this hotel has the best name in the whole world and always makes us chuckle as we pass by. We’re not sure how good it is but for sure it is Bad!

Where to eat

Dutch cuisine is not that globally renowned, and probably fairly so; but fortunately The Hague is full of excellent international cuisine and in particular its Asian kitchens that seem to have been adopted by the Dutch as its new national foods! You can enjoy friday night sushi, sunday dimsum, rooftop bars, beachside shacks, michelin stars, warming ramen, cooling ice cream and everything in between. Some of our favourites include: Amier for the tastiest Lebanese cuisine; Bleyenberg for summer rooftop drinks and snacks, with wonderful views of the city; La Mian, run by the wonderful Jimmy and team who create tasty fusion dishes in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere (also with a Karaoke basement); Los Argentinos for the juciest (and most value for money) steak; Oni, that’s been serving up the best asian fusion mixes for as long as we’ve been in the Hague; Suhumi for Georgian cuisine that always gets the longest queues at the annual Hague country festival; and Sushi Morikawa, for the Hague’s best sushi in an intimate setting.

For a special occasion we also have Michelin starred restaurants as well as the Hofftrammm, that is a restaurant tram that traverses across the Hague and Scheveningen whilst serving the finest cuisine…book in advance!!

The classics to do, no matter the weather

The Hague is blessed with world class museums, theatre, dance and comedy, so no matter the weather, inside there is always something excellent to do and see when you visit. Museums are plentiful and buying a Dutch museum card will give you access to over 500 museums across the whole of the country, just for the price of going to 3 or 4 of the main ones. Some of the must see museums include: the Mauritshuis, in Matt’s opinion, the World’s best picture gallery and the home of Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earing and many other classics from the Dutch golden age.

To experience the IMAX of the 19th century visit the Panorama Mesdag, a wrap around coastal landscape of Scheveningen that will make you feel as though you are at the beach (even if it raining outside!).

Escher in Het Paleis, opens up the topsy turvy world of Escher and all his optical illusions that are mesmerizing as well as interactive.

For car enthusiasts the Louwman Museum, on the edge of the city is a must see, probably one of the finest collections of cars in the world, set in an amazing space that can have you wandering around for hours.

Heading outside, but with options for protection from the elements you can visit Madurodam, which will give you a pocket sized Netherlands…if it was not small enough already! Closeby to Madurodam you can also visit the Atlantic Wall WWII bunkers and learn how the Hague was occupied during the war.

One tasty museum to visit is the Van Kleef Distillery Museum, where you can take a tour and taste many of the different distilled Jenever (Dutch Gin) and Korrenwijn (Dutch whisky!).

A visit to The Parliament (the Binnenhof) is also a must, although ongoing refurbishment will see it closed for at least the next 10 years, but thoughtfully the local government has set up a lookout tower just next to it, so that you can look down on it’s Medieval architecture whilst the work is going on, plus some excellent views of the city and beyond.

For nightlife, the Hague can not compare to Amsterdam or Rotterdam, but it has its own treats in store for the evenings – The Plein and the Grote Markt both host a full square of bars with indoor and outdoor (heated) seating, European cafe life at its best!

Culture is well catered for with the World Forum and Amare that hosts international shows as well as home grown Dutch spectacles, and for those looking for some humour the monthly English Comedy nights at the cozy Theater Branoul are a must…just get there early if you don’t want to be in the comedian’s firing line at the front!

Springtime

From March, the sun starts to make an appearance once again, when Dutch faces at the cafes turn to the great burning ball in the sky like sunflowers, where you can be on the beach one day and yet there can still be the odd snowstorm that will pass through to whiten the whole city.

The biggest draw of springtime, around the middle of April, will be the blooming of flowers, both across the city and as you venture further northwards along the coast to the fields of colourful tulips. Newbie tourists will head for the queues and tickets of Keukenhof, but locals will jump in their cars and drive around the fields of Noordwijkerhout and Lisse that are surrounded by fields of tulips.

Mid April also sees the Bollenstreek flower parade, that has more than a million visitors to watch flowerful floats parading from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

Tulips can be found across the country, and if you are a bit further north you can also visit the tulip island of Zeewolde that makes for great aerials shots if you have a drone.

At the end of April the whole country gets its orange gear out of the cupboard, empties those same cupboards of all the junk they have accumulated and head out onto the streets to sell, drink and party for the King’s Birthday! The main event in the country is of course Amsterdam, but the Hague is typically known for it’s ‘King’s Eve’ celebrations, where the Plein fills up with revellers in preparation for the mini-holiday. Truth be told, your oooexplorers are typically jumping on a plane to visit someplace else, but we have been know to wear a bit of orange now and again!

As May arrives the weather gets a bit more consistent in sun and blue skies, probably one of the best months of the year in terms of weather and things to do. The Netherlands is a great place to live, but when the sun shines it becomes an outdoor paradise! Days at the beach, and we start to get back on the water with sloep rides of the countryside canals.

The canals of the Hague were mostly covered over for trams, cars and bikes to use, but of late they have started to be opened up and make for a nice diversion. But to fully enjoy Dutch waterways, head to nearby Leiden to rent a Sloep, grab some friends and a picnic and cruise the day away. No special licenses are needed, just general maneuvering abilities! Though busy, the waterways here will be much less crazy than trying to navigate around the canals of Amsterdam! Great rental spots are from Vlietland WSC and from the island of De Kaag (both need at least a bike or car to get to however).

Summertime

June is wonderful, sunny, hot days that extend into long long warm nights, where darkness will not descend until well after 22.30. It’s a month when a day of work can be finished at 5pm, and we grab a picnic and bottle of wine and head to the beach for the day part 2 that can last even longer than the first half. Just be careful which part of the Naaktstrand (naked beach) you end up on!

When not at the beach, we’ll most probably be on the balcony with a nice cocktail, watching the amazing sunsets that we get…the Dutch don’t have all these great painters for no reason!

Life on the water starts to go into overdrive, be it more sloeping on the canals, culinary boats tochts (tours), kayaking the waterways, surfing at the beach or e-foiling on the nearest lake!

June is also the start of the parades and festivals, mid month Flag day, where Scheveningen Harbour becomes the focal point, with free boat rides and a chance to have some delicious haring.

Nearest to 29th June is Veteran day, when the streets of the Hague are taken over by tanks and the skies with jets and helicopters.

For that bit of culture June sees the arrival of the Classic Festival – an array of classical music that can be floating on the Hofvijver, set in the Grote Kerk or on the sands of Scheveningen beach.

With a beach location volleyball is a popular sport that turns up in the summer months and the Hague has hosted both European and World Cups, either at the beach, or on floating beaches set up in the middle of town!

Get on an electric bike and head out into the dunes along the coast – the northern route to Katwijk is more dramatic and wild, whereas to the south to the Hook of Holland you’ll find more beaches to visit and novel little beach homes that you can rent and enjoy a break by the sea (but remember it’s still the North Sea!).

Scheveningen used to hold the international fireworks festival to herald the end of summer…it has not been on for some years since covid, but nonetheless you will always see someone letting of some fireworks somewhere in the Hague, unless it is New Year, when everyone is at it!

Autumn

September is a wonderful month to visit the Hague, the city wakes up from its August slumber, people are back from holidays and with typically great weather going back to work is still offset with a bit a holiday feeling. This month will normally see some perennial events to distract people from the back-to-work blues. Around the first weekend of September Red Bull pours into the city for the Stalen Ros, taking over the Prinsessegracht to watch home-made Dutch cycles and cyclists in all shapes and sizes try to navigate down an obstacle course and invariably falling into the canal.

Usually on the same weekend Lange Voorhout plays host to the embassies of the Hague…a chance to see all the different cultures that make up this city, and usually a chance to taste their wonderful cuisines…Georgia always seems to have the longest queues for its bbqs.

On the second weekend of September you can enjoy the Open Monument Day, happening across the whole of the Netherlands, but especially nice in The Hague, where hidden public buildings are opened up for all to explore, some highlights include: The Former US Embassy (such an ugly building that it is now an attraction in itself!); The Cabinet of the King (get here early); the opulence of Kneuterdijk Palace; The gentlemen’s club of Sociëteit De Vereeniging (complete with it’s own variation of bowling); the Raad voor de Rechtspraak (judicial council) that is set in a former bank still replete with vaults;

Also open to explore is the amazing Museum Panorama Mesdag; a chance to glimpse the secrets of the Freemasons; and to explore and enjoy the secret gardens and hofs around the Hague. There are so many places open that it will not be possible to visit in just one weekend…but you can have a good go!

Around the middle of September you can head to Scheveningen for the Kite Festival, wind dependent, but normally a lack of wind is never a problem in NL!

October starts to get a bit chilly and windy, but you’ll be treated to beautiful autumnal colours across the city along with the chance to cycle through layers of golden leaves, just make sure you get here before a gusty weekend blows everything away!

Winter

Winter can be a bit tough, with very short days, long dark nights and no blue skies or sunshine for weeks on end…we have a maritime climate, which means that winter can relatively mild and wet, but also means no exciting winter weather of snow, which typically only lasts for a day or two if it does arrive. But if it does settle, then get out and enjoy the winter wonderland!

Around mid-November Saint Nicholas (aka Sinterklaas) will be arriving by boat from Spain with all his helpers. Sinterklaas is the Dutch original to Santa Klaus…he arrives mid November, ready to deliver presents to Dutch home on the 5th of December. His arrival is a big public party, but the 5th of December is usually more of a family affair (just like Christmas). Typically he will arrive at a different port town across the Netherlands whilst all is helper Sints will appear across the whole country!

Christmas does take the edge off though, and a lovely little market will pop up in early December to distract you with last minute gifts, food and drinks…it’s not Germany, but it still has its own quaintness.

New Year’s eve provides a special show that is free to all across the country…fireworks are not allowed to be used privately for most of the year, but on New Year’s eve this rule is relaxed and the Dutch will send up millions of euros into the sky. If you are fortunate to have a panoramic view of the city, then a party at home with friends is the way to go and just sit back and enjoy the show!

Even after all that New Year partying there is no time to sleep in on the 1st of January as you have to attend another unique experience of the Hague…the New Year’s Dive. Thousands will hop on their bikes and cycle to the beach at Scheveningen, don their orange beenie hats and race into the frigid waters of the North sea. It is cold, but the mild winters mean it is not freezing (though it may sound like it when you hear Matt’s screams!). If you complete the task then you will be rewarded by one of the Netherlands’ finest dishes…Erwtensoep (Pea soup), truly the best thing about winter in NL!

In early January, if there are freezing temperatures and blue skies then the whole of the Netherlands becomes feverish with excitement that they can get their skates on and onto the kilometres of ice that will form. For those of you on work visits to NL during this period, don’t expect your Dutch colleagues to turn up to work as that will take second place to a tocht on the ice. Sadly these types of conditions only appear every 5-10 years, but when it does it’s great, and the Hague also has its unique skating spots to enjoy.