Dutch City Tours

Itinerary · from the station

One day in The Hague

Quick answer

Give the morning to the Binnenhof, the Mauritshuis and Escher, which are within ten minutes of each other, and the afternoon to either the beach at Scheveningen or the Peace Palace and Panorama Mesdag. Both work; the weather decides.

Assumes arrival at Den Haag Centraal around 10:00 on a Tuesday to Sunday. On Mondays the Mauritshuis opens only in the afternoon and Escher, the Panorama and the Kunstmuseum are closed.

The day, hour by hour

  1. 10:00Den Haag Centraal to the HofvijverFifteen minutes west on foot. The pond gives the postcard view of the Binnenhof towers, renovation notwithstanding.
  2. 10:20Binnenhof Information CentreOn the Plaats, free. Twenty minutes on 800 years of the site and the renovation until 2031.
  3. 10:45MauritshuisTwo minutes. Vermeer, Rembrandt, Fabritius’s Goldfinch, Potter’s Bull. Ninety minutes with a timed ticket.
  4. 12:30Lunch on the Plein or the DennewegTerraces beside the museum, or the cafés of the Denneweg five minutes north.
  5. 13:45Lange Voorhout and Escher in Het PaleisUnder the lime trees to the former palace; Escher’s prints and the optical room. An hour.
  6. 15:00Noordeinde Palace and the palace gardensFive minutes. The King’s office from outside; the gardens behind are public.
  7. 15:30Choose: Scheveningen or the Peace PalaceTram 9 from Centraal to the beach and pier, fifteen to twenty minutes; or tram 1 to the Peace Palace Visitors Centre (free, until 17:00) and Panorama Mesdag.
  8. 18:00Train back to AmsterdamDirect from Den Haag Centraal, about fifty minutes.
When this plan does not work.

Not a Monday plan. If the sea is the point, go in summer; the beach in November is for walkers.

Do you need a guide for this?

The Hague rewards a guide more than the smaller cities: the politics, the royal buildings and the international courts are not self-explanatory, and the museums are best chosen rather than all attempted.

Questions people ask

Is one day enough for The Hague?
For the Binnenhof area, the Mauritshuis, Escher and one afternoon choice, yes. The Kunstmuseum and the Peace Palace tour need a second visit or a very early start.
Should I stay in The Hague instead of Amsterdam?
It is a good base for the south: Delft, Rotterdam and Leiden are each under half an hour, and the beach is on the tram. It is quieter and cheaper than Amsterdam.

Times and closures checked 2026-09-10 against the official sites linked on the The Hague page. Confirm before you travel.

Where next

Private guide, you take the trainCheck your date