The Hague is where the Dutch king works and the country is governed, and kids can see a lot of it up close. Each September the Glass Coach rolls out for Prinsjesdag, King's Day fills the streets with orange, and an old royal palace now hangs Escher's mind-bending prints. Here's what we checked, from the garden behind Noordeinde Palace to the cells of the medieval Prison Gate.
On Prinsjesdag, the day the Dutch parliamentary year opens, King Willem-Alexander rides in the Glass Coach from Paleis Noordeinde to the Koninklijke Schouwburg, where he reads the King's speech (troonrede).
Kids watch from the roadside as the coach and the royal procession pass. It suits kids happy to wait for a few minutes of spectacle, less so those who need constant action.
Koningsdag, King's Day, turns The Hague orange. The big draw for families is the vrijmarkt: free street markets where people lay out blankets and stalls full of second-hand goods, vintage finds and snacks.
Markets pop up in neighborhoods across the city, so you can stay local and wander at your own pace. It suits families who like a browse and a treat more than a big show.
The Royal Christmas Fair is an open-air Christmas market on Lange Voorhout, in the center of The Hague. There's nothing to book: you walk in, browse the stalls and leave when the kids have had enough.
It works as a short stop on a winter walk through the city center, and suits families who want some festive atmosphere without planning around a set start time.
The Paleistuin is a one-hectare park behind Noordeinde Palace, laid out in the English landscape style with winding paths, lawns, a pond and a sculpture garden. From the paths you see the back of the palace and the Royal Stables. A play area was added in 2008.
In 1785 Jean-Pierre Blanchard took off from this garden in the first crewed balloon flight in the Netherlands.
The Visitors Centre explains the Peace Palace, the 1913 building that houses the UN's International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. An audio tour covers the palace's history and the work of the courts inside.
The grounds are open only on guided tours: inside the palace, around the outside, or through the garden. It suits school-age kids curious about how countries resolve disputes without war.
More than 120 prints by M.C. Escher hang in the former winter palace of Queen Emma on Lange Voorhout, from Day and Night to the seven-meter Metamorphosis III.
Kids get the most from the second floor, "Through Escher's Eyes": they turn giant or tiny in a few seconds, make their own tessellation, play with impossible figures and walk an Op-art room where the artworks seem to move.
The Mauritshuis is a 17th-century palace on the Hofvijver pond, beside the Binnenhof, filled with Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. Kids can stand in front of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Fabritius' Goldfinch and Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
The galleries are intimate rooms with damask wallpaper, chandeliers and painted ceilings, and over 200 masterpieces are on show.
The Prison Gate was the entrance to the castle of the Counts of Holland, then for centuries a prison. A museum since 1882, it holds old cells and the largest collection of punishment and torture instruments in the Netherlands.
In the courthouse exhibition, kids feel how heavy a leg block is, see how thumbscrews work, and end the visit playing judge.
Madurodam is a miniature park of famous Dutch landmarks built at 1:25 scale. Kids can watch container ships move through the port of Rotterdam, spot the Cube Houses and walk past Amsterdam canals lined with hundreds of bicycles.
Hands-on spots include water play, model trains, wind power and port traffic games, plus playgrounds. Indoor attractions such as New Amsterdam, where kids help fire the cannons, make it work in rain.
De Ooievaart runs guided trips in open boats along The Hague's old canal ring, dug as a city defense in the early 1600s. A volunteer guide tells the city's story from the water, and the route passes the Royal Stables and the royal gardens.
The bridges are too low for a roof, so the boats stay open. It suits kids who can sit for a long ride more than toddlers.
The Hague is where the Dutch king works and the country is governed, and kids can see a lot of it up close. Each September the Glass Coach rolls out for Prinsjesdag, King's Day fills the streets with orange, and an old royal palace now hangs Escher's mind-bending prints. Here's what we checked, from the garden behind Noordeinde Palace to the cells of the medieval Prison Gate.
On Prinsjesdag, the day the Dutch parliamentary year opens, King Willem-Alexander rides in the Glass Coach from Paleis Noordeinde to the Koninklijke Schouwburg, where he reads the King's speech (troonrede).
Kids watch from the roadside as the coach and the royal procession pass. It suits kids happy to wait for a few minutes of spectacle, less so those who need constant action.
Koningsdag, King's Day, turns The Hague orange. The big draw for families is the vrijmarkt: free street markets where people lay out blankets and stalls full of second-hand goods, vintage finds and snacks.
Markets pop up in neighborhoods across the city, so you can stay local and wander at your own pace. It suits families who like a browse and a treat more than a big show.
The Royal Christmas Fair is an open-air Christmas market on Lange Voorhout, in the center of The Hague. There's nothing to book: you walk in, browse the stalls and leave when the kids have had enough.
It works as a short stop on a winter walk through the city center, and suits families who want some festive atmosphere without planning around a set start time.
The Paleistuin is a one-hectare park behind Noordeinde Palace, laid out in the English landscape style with winding paths, lawns, a pond and a sculpture garden. From the paths you see the back of the palace and the Royal Stables. A play area was added in 2008.
In 1785 Jean-Pierre Blanchard took off from this garden in the first crewed balloon flight in the Netherlands.
The Visitors Centre explains the Peace Palace, the 1913 building that houses the UN's International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. An audio tour covers the palace's history and the work of the courts inside.
The grounds are open only on guided tours: inside the palace, around the outside, or through the garden. It suits school-age kids curious about how countries resolve disputes without war.
More than 120 prints by M.C. Escher hang in the former winter palace of Queen Emma on Lange Voorhout, from Day and Night to the seven-meter Metamorphosis III.
Kids get the most from the second floor, "Through Escher's Eyes": they turn giant or tiny in a few seconds, make their own tessellation, play with impossible figures and walk an Op-art room where the artworks seem to move.
The Mauritshuis is a 17th-century palace on the Hofvijver pond, beside the Binnenhof, filled with Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. Kids can stand in front of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Fabritius' Goldfinch and Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
The galleries are intimate rooms with damask wallpaper, chandeliers and painted ceilings, and over 200 masterpieces are on show.
The Prison Gate was the entrance to the castle of the Counts of Holland, then for centuries a prison. A museum since 1882, it holds old cells and the largest collection of punishment and torture instruments in the Netherlands.
In the courthouse exhibition, kids feel how heavy a leg block is, see how thumbscrews work, and end the visit playing judge.
Madurodam is a miniature park of famous Dutch landmarks built at 1:25 scale. Kids can watch container ships move through the port of Rotterdam, spot the Cube Houses and walk past Amsterdam canals lined with hundreds of bicycles.
Hands-on spots include water play, model trains, wind power and port traffic games, plus playgrounds. Indoor attractions such as New Amsterdam, where kids help fire the cannons, make it work in rain.
De Ooievaart runs guided trips in open boats along The Hague's old canal ring, dug as a city defense in the early 1600s. A volunteer guide tells the city's story from the water, and the route passes the Royal Stables and the royal gardens.
The bridges are too low for a roof, so the boats stay open. It suits kids who can sit for a long ride more than toddlers.
