Seat of Parliament, the “unofficial” capital of the Netherlands, despite its 460,000 inhabitants, reminds us of a peaceful village a little timeless, where it is good to stroll. But it is especially necessary to come to The Hague for its exceptional museums, in particular the Mauritshuis which shelters world famous paintings by Vermeer, the child of the country.

Walk in The Hague
For most tourists, Holland means Amsterdam. It would be a shame to forget the rest of the land of tulips, starting with The Hague, a royal residence since 1248.

It is hard to imagine, wandering the alleys or along the canals of this peaceful city 60 kilometers south of Amsterdam, that it is the seat of Parliament, of the main ministries and of foreign embassies. Only the surroundings of Spui, with its modern buildings, give it the air of a big city.

The imposing Binnenhof Castle, symbol of the administrative importance of The Hague, sits in the heart of the old town. Residence of the Counts of Holland from 1248, it has housed several official state bodies since 1815.

It was here that the Estates General that proclaimed the creation of the United Provinces met in 1651. Today, it is the seat of Queen Beatrix’s solemn annual Throne Speech.

More attractive than the Binnenhof, the city’s many Art Nouveau buildings are worth a look. They bear witness to the opulence of The Hague at the start of the 20th century. There is a large concentration of Jugendstil buildings, like Barcelona, Brussels or Vienna. Get a thematic route at the VVV tourist office.

The population of The Hague is particularly wealthy. The city therefore offers many shopping possibilities rather BCBG, especially in the center in the shopping mall De Passageor from the Noordeinde fashion and antique shops.

Vermeer, Rembrant, Escher, Mondrian

Under no circumstances should you miss the museums in The Hague. A real gem, the Mauritshuis has a very beautiful collection of Dutch paintings from the Golden Age. He alone deserves the trip. It is in this elegant patrician residence that you can admire the famous “little section of yellow wall” of the View of Delft by Vermeer, made famous by Marcel Proust in La Prisonnière.

Another masterpiece: The Young Girl with a Pearl Earring by the same painter, one of the most famous paintings in the world! Rembrandt is also there with Self – portraits and his magnificent Homer, without forgetting Van der Weyden, Frans Hals, Paulus Potter, Memling, Rubens, Van Dyck, Jan Steen. In our eyes, the Mauritshuis is one of the most beautiful museums in Europe. Small in size, big in influence.

In a completely different genre, the Escher in het Palais museum is also unforgettable. Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the craziest and most singular geniuses of visual art.

His paintings are all fantastic visions, constructed from spatial and geometric structures flouting the rules of common sense and challenging the principles of representation. Escher’s paintings take us into a universe where everything is illusion and deception. ‘eye, a real geometric delirium many times copied by advertising and comics. The strange building that houses the museum highlights the surrealist world of Escher.

Another museum to see: the Gemeente museum (the municipal museum) and its remarkable art collection. Earthenware from Delft, modern art (Picasso, Bacon, Appel) and a whole section devoted to Piet Mondrian await you inside the beautiful building designed in the 1930s by Hendrik Petrus Berlage, one of the fathers of Dutch modernism.

Scheveningen, Madurodam and Delft
A few kilometers from the city center, it is possible to go for a walk along the beach or, for the less chilly, take a dip in the North Sea in Scheveningen.

Very popular in fine weather, this suburb is accessible by bus. It is pleasant to stroll, a cone of fries or an ice cream in hand, on its promenade which reminds one of Brighton, even to visit its open-air sculpture museum by the water.

Very close to Scheveningen, children adore Madurodam, an amusement park open from mid-March, where a miniature Holland is on display: 1/25 scale reproductions reconstruct canals, mills, cheese markets and even the Port of Rotterdam or Schiphol Airport!

Finally, lovers of Vermeer and blue and white earthenware will have a look around Delft, near. Located 20 minutes by tram from The Hague, this small town of 80,000 inhabitants, which had its heyday in the 18th century thanks to its famous earthenware, seems a bit out of time with its venerable period buildings and canals dozing off.

You can find Delftware in antique stores (very expensive) or in the Koninklijke Porceleyne workshop (royal porcelain) which still manufactures in the classic style of “old Delft”. Vermeer’s crazy people will be sure to visit the Vermeercentrum interpretation center, which reveals some secrets from this master of light.

As for the famous “little section of yellow wall”, they will look for it in vain. No one has ever found it!

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