For the kid who points at every tram and waves at every boat. The Hague has historic trams you can ride, canals with bridges so low the boats go roofless, and whole cities shrunk to knee height where ships dock and model trains run. Here's what we checked, from the old tram depot to the car museum's treasure hunt.
The museum fills the Frans Halsstraat tram depot, built in 1906 and used by the city's tram company until 1983. Inside stand about 30 trams that all served the city between 1905 and 1993, plus changing exhibitions drawn from its photo archive.
More than 100 volunteers restore the trams and drive them, and visitors can ride one on a round trip through the city.
The Louwman Museum holds more than 275 rare and iconic automobiles, from the first motorized vehicles to designs far ahead of their time, plus car posters, sculptures, trophies and miniatures.
Kids get a free printed treasure hunt and pen on arrival: each answer found in the halls gives a letter toward a hidden word, and a solved sheet earns a small gift at the museum shop.
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.
SkyView de Pier is a 50-meter Ferris wheel on the Pier of Scheveningen, set 8 meters above the North Sea. Its 36 gondolas are closed and air-conditioned, and each group rides alone. From the top, kids can pick out the beach, the boulevard, the sea and the city in a full 360-degree view. It works best as a calm add-on to a beach day, not a thrill ride.
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.
Miniworld is an indoor model world built at 1:87 scale across 650 m², with trains, ships and 27,000 tiny residents. The layout runs from the coastal village of Marendam and its lighthouse through polder landscapes to a model Rotterdam, with Rotterdam Centraal, the cube houses and the Calandbrug, plus what the venue calls Europe's largest covered miniature harbor. Every 24 minutes night falls and thousands of lights come on.
Zuiderparadijs is an indoor playground on a first floor, reached by lift. Kids race down multi-lane slides and a power tower, bounce on trampolines, climb towers with rope bridges and tunnels, and build with giant blocks.
Parents can drive the electric minicar circuit too. There is a big ball pit, a soft toddler corner with its own trampoline, and an arcade room for older kids.
Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage site where 19 windmills and three pumping stations show how the Dutch have kept low-lying polders dry for centuries.
Kids can climb the stairs inside two museum mills, passing close to a revolving gear wheel, ride the tour boat past the mills, and solve the Mill Code scavenger hunt for a surprise at the gift shop.
For the kid who points at every tram and waves at every boat. The Hague has historic trams you can ride, canals with bridges so low the boats go roofless, and whole cities shrunk to knee height where ships dock and model trains run. Here's what we checked, from the old tram depot to the car museum's treasure hunt.
The museum fills the Frans Halsstraat tram depot, built in 1906 and used by the city's tram company until 1983. Inside stand about 30 trams that all served the city between 1905 and 1993, plus changing exhibitions drawn from its photo archive.
More than 100 volunteers restore the trams and drive them, and visitors can ride one on a round trip through the city.
The Louwman Museum holds more than 275 rare and iconic automobiles, from the first motorized vehicles to designs far ahead of their time, plus car posters, sculptures, trophies and miniatures.
Kids get a free printed treasure hunt and pen on arrival: each answer found in the halls gives a letter toward a hidden word, and a solved sheet earns a small gift at the museum shop.
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.
SkyView de Pier is a 50-meter Ferris wheel on the Pier of Scheveningen, set 8 meters above the North Sea. Its 36 gondolas are closed and air-conditioned, and each group rides alone. From the top, kids can pick out the beach, the boulevard, the sea and the city in a full 360-degree view. It works best as a calm add-on to a beach day, not a thrill ride.
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.
Miniworld is an indoor model world built at 1:87 scale across 650 m², with trains, ships and 27,000 tiny residents. The layout runs from the coastal village of Marendam and its lighthouse through polder landscapes to a model Rotterdam, with Rotterdam Centraal, the cube houses and the Calandbrug, plus what the venue calls Europe's largest covered miniature harbor. Every 24 minutes night falls and thousands of lights come on.
Zuiderparadijs is an indoor playground on a first floor, reached by lift. Kids race down multi-lane slides and a power tower, bounce on trampolines, climb towers with rope bridges and tunnels, and build with giant blocks.
Parents can drive the electric minicar circuit too. There is a big ball pit, a soft toddler corner with its own trampoline, and an arcade room for older kids.
Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage site where 19 windmills and three pumping stations show how the Dutch have kept low-lying polders dry for centuries.
Kids can climb the stairs inside two museum mills, passing close to a revolving gear wheel, ride the tour boat past the mills, and solve the Mill Code scavenger hunt for a surprise at the gift shop.
