W.E Depart the Amsterdam-bound Eurostar at Rotterdam in 3.5 hours from London and change platforms for the 23-minute journey to The Hague. The “City of Peace and Justice” (who wouldn't love that?) is home to the Dutch Parliament (the 13th century Gothic Pinnenhof), two of the three royal family residences, and the International Court of Justice. Neo-Renaissance Peace Palace. What's more, many of the Netherlands' most famous paintings are found in Mauritshuis, one of the most famous art galleries in The Hague.
It seems that Amsterdam has nothing left, but The Hague has one more asset.
However – or perhaps – because of all this, The Hague does not take its hat off to tourists. It's a city for locals, maybe politicians and lawyers. On the outskirts of the 19th-century Stättenquartier neighborhood, we avoided the chain hotels and lived like those lucky locals for a few days in a stylish renovated duplex rented through Airbnb. It is 10 minutes by tram from the beach and the same from the center.
The Hague claims to be the greenest city in the Netherlands and plans to be more carbon neutral by 2030 than the rest of the country thanks to solar, wind and hydrogen projects. A new €50-a-day parking scheme was exaggerated by UK reports (it was implemented on very few streets and then replaced), but the lack of cars in The Hague is notable. Trams and buses are frequent, cheap and card-paid, but most people, of course, ride bicycles. The cycle path in front of our Valeriusstraat platform is widely used, especially by families, with knee-deep mopeds confidently accompanying their parents.
So we joined them on the rented bikes from Hack City Bike. There is no one in lycra or a helmet, and riding a bike is so natural that it is fun from the beginning. “For us, cycling is freedom,” says our guide Remko. “We will not allow special clothing or helmet laws to interfere.” Old women travel in dresses; We see men in blazers, a DJ and even one with a bow tie.
At 10:30 a.m. on a sunny Saturday morning, we are the only customers at the beachside cafe, and there is no one else on the acres of pale golden sand. It looks like Ten Hager is taking the weekend easy. Scheveningen was a fishing village in the Middle Ages, although now the old brick terraced streets are completely civilized. The only reminder of the hard life is a statue of a fisherman's wife looking out to sea. From here to the northeast there are hills crossed by well-maintained paths, all surrounded by sandy beaches.
With lungs full of sea air, we return to the city through Westbroek Park and the Scheveningen Forests, two of The Hague's 460 green spaces. For the beach and the park, the city flag has equal stripes of yellow and green. “Every 550,000 citizens have a tree to hug,” says Remko.
To the south of the forest we arrive at the most photographed building in the city, the magnificent Peace Palace. Home to the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, it is run as a harmonious combination of Disneyland Castle, a Byzantine church and London's St Pancras Station, perhaps with a contribution from each country that supported its construction. The doors are from Belgium, the marble columns from Italy, a fountain from Denmark, tapestries from Japan. The clock in the main tower is Swiss, there are Persian carpets and the iron bars that surround its enclosure are German. The worst fighting the world has ever known began shortly after it ended in 1913, but the intentions were good.
Exploring the city center by bike is also easy: there are bike racks everywhere, although Remco warns to always cross tram lines at a 90-degree angle. Every ten hoarders has stolen a tire at some point.
The 13th-century Binnenhof, home to parliament and the prime minister's office, is closed for renovations until 2028, but citizens have not been keeping their distance. The platforms outside the lake are used for temporary exhibitions, and from the free observation tower at its western end, people can look over the palace walls and enjoy a 360-degree view of the city.
Anyone who missed last year's successful Vermeer exhibition in Amsterdam can make up for it at the Mauritshuis Gallery. The Woman with the Pearl Earring shines “in the flesh,” but a big surprise is the painter's vision of Delft, where the seafront houses in the foreground are in shadow, but sunlight highlights the rooftops and towers of the streets behind. I also admire the two-tiered goldfinch by Rembrandts and Fabricius.
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The Hague has canals – Hoogracht and Neuve Utleg Beautiful, but by train (15 minutes) or the characteristic tram (30 minutes), Delft, birthplace of Vermeer, is surrounded by picturesque canals lined with period houses. In this small town, almost overshadowed by the larger southern campus of Delft University of Technology (a famous alumnus: one MC Escher, see below), there are trips to the factory where the blue and white porcelain of the same is made. name, but we prefer a bit of a walk. Paths linked by beautiful bridges and the main Mark Square, with its 400-year-old town hall. Vermeer is buried in the Old Church (“Old Church”, Leaning Tower), and you can climb the tower of the Neue Kerk, the resting place of the Dutch royal family, for distant views.
Back in The Hague, there are many more galleries to visit. The palace is home to hundreds of Escher's The Impossible Stairs and other optical illusion prints, and the art museum is home to masterpieces by Mondrian, Schiele, Kandinsky and Bridget Riley.
We spent the nights on a constant diet. Hack for vegetarians and vegans, whether they are pizzerias, burger restaurants or Indonesian specialists.
Our best dish is Ethics, named after the philosophical treatise of Baruch Spinoza, who spent the latter part of his life in The Hague. Self-taught chef Robin Collard takes green cooking to the next level. The menu is mainly vegetarian, prepared from their organic or locally sourced garden, but also serves meat from wild animals that are in abundance in the Netherlands. Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks are also homemade. Most importantly, the food is amazing too. Starters of Ukrainian borscht with crispy buckwheat, mushroom jelly with shaved red cabbage and fresh peas and beans in barbecue sauce delight us. Served over a duck breast starter, the wild garlic robin touille was spicy, crunchy and unlike anything I've ever had.
Later, there are cozy “brown cafes” for a drink and many bars with live music. Bartcafe takes the stage across the pond to up-and-coming talent and rock music stalwart Black Rider.
We didn't see the red light district and they didn't give us recipes: another reason to come here instead of Amsterdam.
