The Hague

“The Hague was not constructed around a specific center. Going downtown, you won’t encounter the same stressful sense of tumult as in Amsterdam. There are a lot of Dutch and a lot of tourists here, of course, but everything is more laid back.

You feel much calmer and more relaxed here, looking at the bars and restaurants on the shopping street of The Hague, (including the covered shopping street called the Passage, which runs between several blocks, and is ridiculously expensive) or hidden away between blocks. By the way, restaurants are busy in the evening, so if you want to eat in the Grand Bazaar, for example, you’ll have to be quick to grab a free table.

Although The Hague has several large shopping malls in the center, there are also bustling shops lining the nearby streets. There are even separate restaurant streets, where, as is the Dutch style, you will find all kinds of oriental restaurants, Argentine steak bars, and Greek gyros. Maybe it’s because even locals feel that their ‘national dishes’ such as pickled herring with bread, French fries and mayonnaise, waffles, and caramel wafers aren’t quite the gastronomic cat’s pajamas.”
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“I really liked the parks and the many green areas. There are many good restaurants to choose from. Most of the buildings are beautiful, especially in the government district. There are some modern buildings, but they seemed very strange to me, especially the windows. The beaches are stunning, and there are plenty of comfortable places to sit.” (i.i., 2022)

Shopping

Hoogstraat and Noordeinde are the main shopping areas.

Public safety

The most common crime is the theft of bicycles.

Less crime than in Rotterdam.

Not entirely safe neighbourhoods are Schilderswijk, Transvaal, Duindorp and Spoorwijk.

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Interestingly, in this land of the bicycle, almost everyone rides around on an old, beat-up bike, and during the week you never see a real sports bike – the latter are said to be reserved for weekend trips. The number of bicycles per capita in The Hague is said to be so high that bicycle theft is hardly treated as a crime: one bike more or less hardly makes a difference. ‘Steal another for yourself’, the police advised one victim of theft we spoke to.

And when it comes to police, when people think of The Hague they may first think of coffee shops where marijuana can be legally smoked. The latter is, of course, not true for foreign tourists, but the locals surprisingly handle the fact that in their country – in certain locations – the enjoyment of cannabis is not a punishable offense.

Destination in brief

The Hague is in the western part of the Netherlands.

The Dutch name of the city is Den Haag. 

The Hague has direct access to the North Sea.

Population (in 2020): 474,000 in the city area and 700,000 in the urban area -The third-largest city of the country

About half of The Hague’s population is of foreign background.

Average net monthly salary (in 2020): 2550 Euro

Here is the parliament, the government as well as most of the embassies.

Peace Palace (International Court of Justice)

 Maurithuis Museum

Escher Museum

Madurodam