The beach at Scheveningen, near The Hague, is one of Europe's finest.Credit: AFP
Norman Miller sings the praises of The Hague: an oft-ignored city of art, international courts and one of Europe's best beaches.
With its international courts of justice, you can understand why the world's despots keep clear of The Hague - but why anyone else skips this appealing Dutch city smacks of injustice.
Home to the Dutch parliament and royal family, The Hague also comes attached to one of northern Europe's finest beaches, the vast, dune-backed strand at Scheveningen. In winter, the beach - a 15-minute tram ride from the city centre - draws hardy walkers and riders galloping horses along the golden sand, an atmospheric calm before the summer buzz when Dutch tourists flock here to swim, surf or party into the night at beach clubs like Culpepper, Buena Vista and WIJ, which come into their own as the mercury rises.
A promenade stretches along the shoreline from grass-covered dunes at Scheveningen's northern end to the bustling fishing harbour at the other. Heading south past a fine lighthouse in late afternoon sun, I drop into the offbeat Sculptures by the Sea Museum, admire the 15th-century church at the seaward end of Keizerstraat with its clutch of cool bars and little shops and then bowl up for the first of a couple of meals among the quayside fish restaurants that ring the harbour.
After a dinner of beautifully cooked wolffish, I amble back to my bed at the Kurhaus - a 19th-century nod to elegance whose past guests have ranged from Winston Churchill to Igor Stravinsky. There are echoes of music legends, too, in the hotel's vast Kurzaal Room - now home to one of its restaurants plus the cocktail bar - where Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich sang beneath glittering chandeliers and the Rolling Stones strutted their stuff beneath a vast cupola.
While The Hague lacks the classic Dutch-city skein of canals lined with 17th-century buildings, there's still plenty of architectural splendour: grand embassies along the Lange Voorhout, Noordeinde and Carnegieplein, the 13th-century lakeside Gothic-meets-Renaissance Binnenhof (seat of the Dutch parliament), plus Queen Beatrix's Huis ten Bosch (House in the Woods) nestled in the Hague Woods.
The Hague is also a cultural beacon rivalling Amsterdam. The Mauritshuis - a 17th-century lakeside mansion memorably described as the "cosiest of the world's great museums" - is stuffed with Old Masters, including Vermeer's iconic Girl With a Pearl Earring. Just across the lake on Lange Vijverberg, the Museum Bredius is an enchanting townhouse containing the collection of Abraham Bredius, one of the Netherlands' leading 19th- and 20th-century art collectors, while the city's Municipal Museum - housed in a building by renowned Dutch architect Hendrik Berlage - includes a collection of 2500 musical instruments among its centuries of history.
As a modernist, I happily go square-eyed over the world's finest display of Mondrian at the Gemeente Museum before exercising my visual perceptions with the Escher collection at the Paleis Museum. Then I swivel around the 360-degree sweep of the world's largest circular painting at Panorama Mesdag, where Hendrik Mesdag's 120-metre-long, 14-metre-high masterpiece offers an epic depiction of 1880s Scheveningen viewed from atop a giant indoor sand dune.
While the Netherlands may not have Europe's greatest reputation for food, The Hague's mix of wealth, history and cultural diversity - more than 100 nationalities live in the city - offers plenty of culinary temptation.
For a taste of the Netherlands' Indonesian heritage - its long-time East Indies empire was governed from The Hague - I splash out on a rijsstafelat Garoeda on Kneuterdijk, one of the best places in the Netherlands to try this classic 19th-century Dutch East Indies rice feast with its array of 20 diverse small dishes. I go more local the next day at the hip Basaal on Dunne Bierkade, where a modern European menu features classic Dutch ingredients such as white asparagus, braised chicory and IJssel beef.
The Hague's aura of wealth and style shines through its shopping. The historic streets of the Hofkwartier are full of boutiques and art dealers as well as affordable lunch spots such as Lapsang and Juni. One night I return to trawl the area's atmospheric little bars; my favourite is De Oude Mol on Oude Molstraat with its friendly bohemian vibe, delicious bar snacks and live music. Hip outlets such as Sketch jostle with antique dealers along Denneweg and Noordeinde, while department stores such as Bijenkorf and HEMA beckon on Grote Marktstraat. Dutch couture labels to look out for include Erny van Reijmersdal and PAUW.
I recharge from the retail frenzy with cafe stops fuelled by the local sweet treat haagsche kakker (tea loaf stuffed with raisin paste), though on another afternoon I treat myself to high tea at the Hotel des Indes, a baronial mansion decorated in a riot of chandeliers, burnished silks and murals.
One afternoon, I jump on tram No.1 for the 20-minute ride to Delft. Though famous as the historic production centre for the Netherlands' renowned blue tiles, I'd suggest skipping the factory and its expensive shop and head instead for the Lambert van Meerten Museum, an old townhouse with displays of tiles and other historic adornments beside a canal on Sint Agathaplein, near the town's Old Church.
Further down the same street, the Prinsenhof Museum is a beguiling showcase of 17th-century Dutch history, while on Koornmarkt the Paul Tetar van Elven Museum is the 19th-century residence of a famous local painter. I round off a great afternoon by snapping up a vintage tile for a few euros in an antique shop.
I indulge simpler pleasures the following afternoon, striking out briskly along the Scheveningen beachfront past the old harbour and on towards the rugged dunes in neighbouring Kijkduin, pausing for a warming coffee and pancake on a cafe terrace while watching a couple of windsurfers riding the breakers in a North Sea breeze.
I shift hotel to spend my final night at the boutique Residenz, a 19th-century building that once housed the Spanish consul-general. Its uber-chic black decor is warmed by crackling fires. I have another excellent fish dinner by the harbour and go for a nightcap in a cosy bar on Keizerstraat, pondering why so few tourists make it to The Hague.
FAST FACTS
Getting there
Emirates has a fare to Amsterdam for about $2130, via Dubai (14hr) then to Amsterdam (7hr 20min), low-season return from Melbourne and Sydney including tax. Regular trains from the airport to The Hague (30min), single from €7.40 ($10.50).
Staying there
The Kurhaus has double rooms from €145, see kurhaus.nl. Residenz has double rooms from €160, see residenz.nl.
Touring there
- The Mauritshuis, open Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, 11am-5pm (also Mon, 10am-5pm April 4-May 16); €12, see www.mauritshuis.nl.
- Gemeente Museum, open Tue-Sun, 11am-5pm, €10, see gemeentemuseum.nl.
- Panorama Mesdag, open Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, noon-5pm, €6.50, see panorama-mesdag.com.
- Lambert van Meerten Museum, open Tue-Sun, 11am-5pm, €3.50, see lambertvanmeerten-delft.nl.
More information
See holland.com.
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