While Amsterdam is the official capital of the Netherlands, The Hague (or Den Haag in Dutch) is the administrative capital and is where the government actually seats. The Hague also plays a huge part in international law as the city is host to both the International Court of Justice as well as the International Criminal Court. A 2-day The Hague itinerary often includes the Peace Palace, the art museums such as Panorama Mesdeg, Mauritshuis and Escher in the Palace and also the Scheveningen Beach, and we’ll help you kickstart that planning!

This The Hague itinerary contains affiliate links (marked with *) that will earn me commission if you click and make any bookings, at no additional cost to you. 

The Hague itinerary planning considerations

1. Number of days

The Hague is fairly small and compact and so it’s possible to visit the main sights of the city in just a day trip. It is also possible if you want to do it in half a day if you are a bit selective on the attractions to visit.

But spending a further day in the city (2 days in total) will allow you to enjoy the city at a slower pace, and include a visit to the Scheveningen beach or theme park such as Madurodam (mini Netherlands).

Below is a diagrammatic representation of the city as well as an overview of the various attractions and landmarks.

2. Getting to The Hague

By Air

You can get to The Hague either by arriving at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport (AMS) or the Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM).

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

AMS is one of the top 5 busiest airports by passenger volume in Europe, so booking a flight to the airport shouldn’t prove to be difficult. Particularly, the national carrier KLM has its home base at AMS and flies direct to and from many cities in the world. Similarly, many other airlines are likely to also have direct flights into the airport. Including the budget carriers such as easyJet and Ryan Air.

Once you arrive at AMS, you are just 30 to 50 minutes by train to The Hague depending on the type of train you take, as well as the train station you arrive at (Den Haag Centraal or Den Haag HS). You can either make use of the NS Dutch Railways website or Google Maps to plan your onward journey to The Hague.

The trains are operated by NS Dutch Railways and costs around €11 each way for the various options available (payable with a contactless bank card).

Rotterdam The Hague Airport

If you are arriving from the region (several parts of Europe and North Africa), you can potentially find flights to RTM. From the RTM airport, you can take bus 33 to the Meijersplein / Airport metro station for your onward journey on the Metro line E to The Hague at Den Haag Centraal.

By train

If you are travelling from a neighbouring country such as England, Belgium, Germany or France, you can arrive at the Den Haag Centraal or Den Haag HS stations. That will likely be the quickest and most convenient way, bringing you straight to the city centre even though you may potentially need to change trains at Amsterdam.

From Den Haag Centraal or HS stations, the Metro, tram as well as the bus systems can help you connect to other parts of the city.

By Car or Bus

If you chose to arrive at The Hague from neighbouring cities or countries by FlixBus, you are likely to arrive at the Den Haag Centraal bus station.

However, when there are train options, I usually prefer them over buses because of the shorter time and (usually) more predictable arrival times. Buses are likely to be the budget option though, if that matters to you more.

If arriving by car, it is definitely not difficult to drive around the but parking may be expensive.

By Ferry

There are ferries from Harwich in the UK to Hook of Holland with a duration of about 8 hours and you can read about it and plan accordingly.

3. Accommodation

The Hague is not a large city to begin with. So it is easy to walk from point to point without having to take any public transport, unless you are staying anywhere else further than the Centrum or Zeeheldenkwatier (Sea Heroes Quarter).

Centrum is where most of the city sights are located, so it’d definitely be very convenient when it comes to moving about. Zeeheldenkwatier is a more modern and trendy area with boutique shops and bustling cafes, therefore making it a popular place among the young. The district pays tribute to the Dutch ‘sea heroes’, with street names after Dutch naval officers.

Especially if you haven’t got much time in The Hague, I’d recommend Centrum or Zeeheldenkwatier to be the places to stay in. This will also help you save on transport costs. Or if you’d love to be near the beach, then Scheveningen is the place to be.

The Hague is generally a very safe city, so I don’t feel that there is any particular areas to avoid.

Where I stayed

I have been to The Hague twice, the first on a day tour and the second on a 2-day stay. During my second trip, I stayed in the Centrum area and was able to walk to all the main attractions in the city (with the exception of Scheveningen Beach, Madurodam and the Nationaal Monument Oranjehotel which are all further away).

4. Getting around The Hague

The Hague is well connected by a network of trams and buses, together with a portion of the Rotterdam Metro line E terminating at Den Haag Centraal station. Other than the Metro line operated by Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET), the city’s trams and buses are operated by HTM (formerly Haagsche Tramweg Maatschappij).

Each single journey within the HTM network costs a base rate of €1.16 plus a variable rate of €0.201 per kilometre, and can be paid by tapping your contactless bank card upon entry as well as your exit of your transport.

Otherwise, the city centre can easily be explored on foot without the need of public transport. Especially if you are staying in the Centrum area.

Cycling

Travelling by bicycles is certainly the Dutch’s preferred mode of transport. This is evident by the fact that there are 23 million bicycles in the country compared to the total population of only 18 million people!

In case you are physically able to, renting a bicycle is definitely an option you can think of. I tried doing that during my first trip to Amsterdam, but it was quite a nerve-wrecking experience for me trying to deal with passing vehicles and human traffic. So I’d say, consider this if you are an experienced cyclist.

5. Passes for The Hague

There are some passes that you can consider purchasing during your visit so you can try to bring costs down.

DenHaagPas

Unfortunately, the DenHaagPas has now been discontinued so is no longer an option.

Museum Pass (Museumkaart)

Before I go into the details of the Museumkaart, it is important to highlight that there is one meant for residents of the Netherlands, as well as the temporary Museumkaart meant for visitors.

The temporary Museumkaart allows a visitor to visit any 5 museums in the Netherlands within 31 days, all for a cost of €75. It can only be purchased at participating museums, so you need to do so at your first museum visit.

In case you are visiting the other major cities of the Netherlands such as Amsterdam, and also planning to visit at least 5 museums, this is a card you can perhaps consider.

Is the Museumkaart worth it? 

The Museumkaart is great if you intend to visit 5 museums, especially those with high entrance fees and you are visiting more than just The Hague in the country. For example, each entry to Mauritshuis costs €21. So 5 of such visits anywhere in the Netherlands definitely makes the Museumkaart worth it.

Therefore you should pick the museums you are interested in within the Netherlands and then work out whether getting the Museumkaart or not works the budget better.

HTM 2-hour and Day tickets

As mentioned earlier, HTM is The Hague’s main public transport operator, covering the network of buses and trams within the city. In case you are planning to take multiple trips within the city, the HTM 2-hour or the HTM Day tickets may be of use to you. Each single journey (lasting up to 2 hours) costs €4.85, while a single day ticket costs €8.60.

This is compared to a single one-way journey being charged at a base rate of €1.16 plus a variable rate of €0.201 per kilometre.

This makes a comparison quite tricky to work out unless you know exactly the distance you are expecting to travel on public transport. Having said that, I’d generally think that if you are travelling around the city or to Scheveningen, that’d normally cost around €2 and you are not likely to hit the single day ticket of €8.60.

HTM day pass – My opinion

The Hague is fairly small compared to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and so you can actually walk to most attractions within the city centre. Even if you are visiting Scheveningen, I don’t expect you’d hit the amount of €8.60 for the day ticket.

For this reason, I did not purchase any travel passes during my visit to The Hague.

The pass for this 2-Day The Hague Itinerary

Based on the 2-day The Hague itinerary featured in this article, you do not need any of the above passes. However, do take note that if you are also visiting other cities within the Netherlands, you can consider getting the temporary Museumkaart.

6. Safety

The Netherlands is one of the safest countries that I have been to, and is in fact around the top 10 safest in the European continent by the Global Peace Index. Violent crimes are rare but petty crimes can be common. These include those such as pickpocketing and theft, which are very much avoidable if you stay vigilant and avoid dark places.

Road safety

There are more bicycles in the country than the population. Each person in the Netherlands owns an average of 1.3 bicycles and is the preferred mode of transport for short to medium distances. So, it is important to keep a lookout for them, avoid standing in the way and prevent getting into accidents with them.

Similarly, if you are the cyclist, make sure to keep watch of vehicles and pedestrians.

Drugs and ‘coffee shops’

You might have heard about drugs and ‘coffee shops’ in the Netherlands, and of course in The Hague. The Netherlands takes a tolerance stance on drugs in the country. This means that while illegal, possession and sale of small amounts of soft drugs (such as cannabis) is being tolerated. That is why you still see ‘coffee shops’ (cafes selling cakes and cookies with certain dosage of soft drugs) in The Hague.

I wouldn’t recommend trying them or more so purchase any drugs from anyone on the streets. This is because you don’t know the dosage, the contents, and how your body may react to them. You don’t want these to ruin the rest of your holiday!

Take note though, that hard drugs such as cocaine are not tolerated and are strictly prosecuted.

7. Food

You can read more information in detail about the food you can find in the Netherlands at my Netherlands Travel Guide: Planning for a Unique Visit.

In summary, these are mainly the Dutch snacks such as poffertjes, pannenkoeken (pancakes), stroopwafels and bitterballen.

When it comes to winters, stews become warm and comforting food, along with soups such as Erwtensoep (a thick split pea soup).

Unfortunately, I am not able to give you personal recommendations as my time was very limited in The Hague having been plagued by flight cancellations and delays and the meals that I had during my stay weren’t anything worth mentioning.