What to See in The Hague, Netherlands: Free Audio Guide

The Hague combines Dutch political history, royal palaces, major art collections, international law and the seaside district of Scheveningen. It is a city where a medieval parliamentary complex, a Vermeer masterpiece, wooded royal grounds and the North Sea all belong to the same visit. Neywo’s free audio guide to The Hague brings 258 narrated places to life as you explore.

What to See in The Hague

Binnenhof and the Grafelijke Zalen

The Binnenhof is the historic heart of The Hague and one of Europe’s oldest parliamentary complexes still serving that purpose. Its story began in the thirteenth century, when the counts of Holland built a castle here. The site later became associated with stadtholders, the States of Holland and West Friesland, and the States General.

At the centre of the complex stands the Grafelijke Zalen, once the palace of the counts of Holland. Its largest room is the Ridderzaal, or Hall of Knights, a Gothic brick building from the thirteenth century. The Dutch monarch delivers the speech from the throne here during Prinsjesdag, the state opening of Parliament. The hall also hosts royal receptions and other official gatherings.

Mauritshuis and Girl with a Pearl Earring

Beside the Hofvijver, the Mauritshuis occupies a former seventeenth-century city palace. Johan Maurits, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, commissioned the building in the first half of the seventeenth century, and the painter and architect Jacob van Campen designed it. Since 1822, it has served as a museum.

Its Royal Cabinet of Paintings contains 854 objects, mainly Dutch Golden Age works. Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen and Paulus Potter are among the artists represented. The collection includes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, Jan Steen’s Soo voer gesongen, soo na gepepen, Paulus Potter’s The Bull and Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp.

Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk

The Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk is one of The Hague’s oldest surviving buildings. Its six-sided tower rises 92.5 metres above Torenstraat, making it one of the ten tallest church towers in the Netherlands. The late-medieval church is an early example of the Hague hall type, with interior spaces arranged as halls of comparable height.

In 1456, knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece met here and left their heraldic shields behind. The church also has a long musical tradition: its tower received a carillon soon after it was built, and its first organ dates from around 1500 or possibly earlier.

Noordeinde Palace

Noordeinde Palace is one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. In the centre of The Hague, it is the official workplace of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, a role it has held since 2013. The palace was formerly a royal residence and is also known as Het Oude Hof, or “the Old Court.”

Peace Palace

The Peace Palace, or Vredespaleis, is devoted to the peaceful settlement of disputes between states. The story of the building began with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, established at the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899. Constructed between 1907 and 1913, the palace officially opened on 28 August 1913.

Today, it houses both the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations. The International Court of Justice has been based here since 1946. The neo-Renaissance building stands at Carnegieplein in a park landscape, reflecting The Hague’s role as a city of international law and diplomacy.

Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Kunstmuseum Den Haag brings together modern art and applied arts in a building designed by the Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. Constructed between 1931 and 1935, it opened in 1935 and was designed in the style of rationalism.

The collections include paintings, sculpture, posters, porcelain, fashion, jewellery, period rooms and musical instruments. The museum also holds important works associated with the Hague School, as well as works by Pablo Picasso, Theo van Doesburg, Claude Monet and Charley Toorop.

Huis ten Bosch

In the wooded setting of the Haagse Bos stands Huis ten Bosch, literally “House in the Woods.” It is the home of King Willem-Alexander and his family and one of the official residences of the Dutch monarch.

The palace began in the middle of the seventeenth century as a summer residence commissioned by Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange and Amalia van Solms. During the first half of the eighteenth century, Prince William IV of Orange-Nassau had it transformed and expanded into a palace. Pieter Post prepared the plans, and the building now stands within a sixteen-hectare park-like woodland site.

Churches and hidden heritage

The H.H. Jacobus- and Augustinuskerk is one of The Hague’s hidden churches. Its discreet entrance on Juffrouw Idastraat leads from an ordinary-looking street façade to an eighteenth-century Baroque interior. City authorities permitted the Catholic church in 1720 on the condition that it could not be visible from the street; it came into use in 1722.

The Sint-Jacobus de Meerderekerk on Parkstraat is another Catholic place of worship in central The Hague. The Katholiek Apostolische Kerk and the Sint-Marthakerk add further layers to the city’s religious heritage.

Binckhorst Castle

Binckhorst Castle, or De Binckhorst, contains several centuries of history in a modest landmark. The present manor dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was built on the site of a demolished medieval castle. Its origins therefore reach back to the beginning of the fourteenth century.

Scheveningen’s Old Church and Antonius Abtkerk

Scheveningen’s Oude Kerk, or Old Church, is the oldest monument of the former fishing village. The church’s story reaches back to the fifteenth century, when Scheveningen became an independent parish. After the All Saints’ Flood of 1570 destroyed much of the village, the church stood at its edge rather than in its centre. It was restored between 1957 and 1959.

At the end of Scheveningseweg, the Antonius Abtkerk is a listed national monument with a tall square tower. Built in 1926 and 1927 by Joseph Cuypers and Pierre Cuypers junior, it combines a businesslike Expressionist exterior with a richly decorated Art Deco interior. Its apse contains a huge, colourful mosaic commemorating the cholera epidemic of 1848. Designed by Antoon Molkenboer, the mosaic is about twelve metres wide and more than seventeen metres high, and was made from two million small pieces.

A The Hague Self-Guided Walking Tour with Neywo

Neywo offers six walking tours in The Hague, one bus route and one bike route. The walks cover different sides of the city:

• Where Dutch Power Sits: Binnenhof and the Court Pond — 1.97 km, 105 minutes and 10 narrated stops.
• Royal Hague: Palaces, Escher and the Lange Voorhout — 2.35 km, 105 minutes and 11 stops.
• City of Peace and Justice: Peace Palace and the Mesdag Circle — 2.52 km, 114 minutes and 12 stops.
• Scheveningen: Fishermen, Lighthouse and the Pier View — 4.37 km, 111 minutes and 8 stops.
• Spinoza, Markets and the Old Centre — 2.21 km, 82 minutes and 10 stops.
• Art, Mandela and the Law: Zorgvliet and Statenkwartier — 1.22 km, 68 minutes and 9 stops.

For a different way to move through the city, Bus 24: Hague School Quarter to the Old Centre covers 3.3 km in 14 minutes with 11 narrated stops. The Scheveningse Bosjes: Memorials in the Woods bike route covers 1.4 km in 7 minutes and includes 4 stops.

Download Neywo and Explore The Hague at Your Own Pace

Download Neywo to explore The Hague with a free audio guide covering 258 narrated places. Choose from six walks, one bus route or one bike route, with tours ranging from 1.22 to 4.37 km and from 7 to 114 minutes. The stories are available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. After exploring The Hague, continue through South Holland to Delft, Leiden or Rotterdam, or plan a wider journey through the Netherlands.