Skip to main content

Museums by city

Museums in The Hague: Vermeer, palaces and the sea

Girl with a Pearl Earring, a panorama of the dunes and Escher in a palace: The Hague has museums you will not find anywhere else.

Place: The Hague

Many of the museums in The Hague lie around the Binnenhof and the Lange Voorhout, which makes the city easy to explore on foot. The Hague also has something most Dutch cities lack: the sea. In Scheveningen you find a museum for sculpture right in the dunes. As the political centre of the country, the city is full of palaces and old buildings, including a prison gate where history was made. For art lovers, the Mauritshuis alone is a reason to come. Below you read how to split your day between the centre and the coast.

Museums in The Hague around the Binnenhof

Around the Binnenhof, four museums are a few minutes' walk apart. The Mauritshuis, a 17th century city palace on the Hofvijver, shows Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Goldfinch and Rembrandt's anatomy lesson. Just around the corner on the Buitenhof stands the Gevangenpoort, one of the oldest prisons in the country, where Cornelis de Witt was held in 1672. On the Lange Voorhout, Escher in Het Paleis shows the work of M.C. Escher in a former royal palace. In the Zeeheldenkwartier, Panorama Mesdag lets you look out over the dunes of Scheveningen as they were in 1881. You can walk all four in a day, and the Mauritshuis is about ten minutes on foot from The Hague Central Station.

The Kunstmuseum and the coast

North of the centre is a second cluster. Kunstmuseum Den Haag holds nearly 300 works by Mondrian, including Victory Boogie Woogie, along with Delftware and modern art, all in the last large building by architect H.P. Berlage. Fotomuseum Den Haag and KM21 share the same site, and Museon-Omniversum, a good choice with children, is right next door. From The Hague Central Station, bus 24 and tram 17 take you straight there. On the coast in Scheveningen, Beelden aan Zee shows sculpture half hidden in the dunes. If you like cars, head to the Louwman Museum near the Wassenaar border, home to one of the oldest private car collections in the world.

Planning your day in The Hague

The easiest plan is to split the city in two. Spend the morning around the Binnenhof, where everything is within walking distance, and the afternoon along the Stadhouderslaan at the Kunstmuseum, or the other way round. For Scheveningen and the Louwman Museum you take the tram or the car, so treat them as a separate outing. With the Museumkaart, the Dutch annual museum pass, you get free entry to both the Mauritshuis and the Kunstmuseum, and visitors under 19 get in free at both. The Kunstmuseum asks every visitor to reserve a time slot, even with a pass, and the Mauritshuis recommends buying your ticket and time slot online.

All museums in The Hague

Here is the full list for the city, including Scheveningen. Click a museum for its address and more details.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I see Girl with a Pearl Earring?
Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring hangs in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, together with his View of Delft.
Do I need to book the Mauritshuis in advance?
Booking is not required, but the museum recommends buying your ticket and time slot online. That guarantees entry on busy days.
Are the museums close to each other?
In the centre, yes. For Scheveningen and the Louwman Museum you need the tram or a car. The map of The Hague shows the distances.
Where is Victory Boogie Woogie?
Piet Mondrian's last painting belongs to the collection of Kunstmuseum Den Haag, which has the largest Mondrian collection in the world.
Which museums are good with children?
Museon-Omniversum, next to the Kunstmuseum, is a good choice. In the Kunstmuseum itself, children start in the Wonderkamers, and the Mauritshuis has looking and search assignments for them.

Centre or coast?

See on the map which museums lie around the Binnenhof and which are by the sea.

Open the map

Read more