The Hague

The Hague (Den Haag) is the seat of the Dutch government, the Dutch royal family and the International Court of Justice, yet it feels less frenetic than Amsterdam — broader, leafier and more residential, with a regal elegance earned over centuries as the political capital of the Netherlands. It is one of Europe's great underrated city breaks. The Peace Palace, home to the International Court of Justice, is a grand turn-of-the-century building open for guided tours. The Mauritshuis museum, in a 17th-century mansion beside the Hofvijver pond, houses one of the most perfectly curated art collections in the world — Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp are here. The Gemeentemuseum (now Kunstmuseum Den Haag) holds the world's largest collection of Piet Mondrian. The city's beach neighbourhood, Scheveningen, is a proper Dutch seaside resort just 5 kilometres from the centre, with a long pier and excellent fresh herring stalls. Kijkduin is calmer and more local. The Binnenhof — the medieval parliament complex surrounding the Hofvijver lake — is one of the Netherlands' finest architectural ensembles. The city's Indonesian food scene (a colonial legacy) is exceptional, and the weekend market at Markt in the Centrum is one of the best in the Netherlands.