While the bulk of my European travels since college has been mostly in Central or Eastern Europe. There is one Western European country, aside from Germany, I have made an effort to visit on a semi-regular basis. That country is the Netherlands. I have quite a lot of friends there. My paternal roots are from there. But that is not really why I enjoy going there.
The country has grown on me in quite a few different ways. I don’t have this naive utopia image of the country that I had as a teenager. I’ve some mixed feelings about quite a few contemporary issues in Dutch society. However, this post is not to address this. I want to talk about a city that I’ve grown to adore. People sometimes ask me ” Where in the Netherlands would you live if you do decide to move to the Netherlands?” My answer is often ” Den Haag ” or what is more commonly known to the rest of the world as the Hague. This response gets met with some puzzling looks.
Sandwiched between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Hague is overlooked by both of them. Most non-Dutch people have some image of a Balkan war criminal being prosecuted because of the International Court of Justice. Dutch people seem to have mixed opinions about it. Some tell me I should go to a “real Dutch city” or ” It’s so boring”. Others can’t think of much else to add.
Most foreign travellers prefer Amsterdam, of course, for many reasons. The more edgy ones prefer Rotterdam because Amsterdam is a tourist trap. Truth be told, I actually love all three of these cities for different reasons. There is more to Amsterdam than the red light district and the crowded inner canal ring. Rotterdam is also fantastic. My first reason for picking the Hague is that is is between both of these cities. I like getting the best of all three worlds.
While many people don’t really travel there, there is a large foreigner community in the Hague. I have a sizable group of friends who live there, and only about half of this group is Dutch. There are many international jobs in the Hague, so many people worldwide are based there. Aside from the International court of justice, there are over 150 international organizations based there.
While it has a Dutch face, it also has a foreign-friendly vibe that is not overly touristy. It does not really have the ” Piss off outsiders” vibe that both Amsterdam and Rotterdam can have. I can spend time in a nice establishment, practice my mediocre Dutch, and be treated as another person who lives there.
I guess the lack of obsession with exclusivity is another reason. Compared to its other counterparts, the Hague sees no need to compete with Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It’s not that provincial compared to the other cities in the Netherlands as it seems a lot of people move there from all over the Netherlands as well for work.
There is enough to do there. There is a fair amount of green space and 12 km of coastline. You can spend the day in Scheveningen, the beach district, if you come on a nice day. The Dutch coast is not really famous for being as beautiful as other coasts, but if you can catch it at the right time, it can be downright stunning.
There are lots of good choices for food as well. The largest Chinatown in the Netherlands is in The Hague. It is also one of the best in Europe. You can’t go wrong with St Anny Tea house and Full Moon city. You can find lots of Indonesian and Surinamese restaurants, like most cities in the Randstad. There are many other types of International cuisine in this city. I almost stopped in a Uygyur restaurant the last time I was there.
The nightlife is not as much to write home about compared to nearby Rotterdam. However, some of the most fun I’ve had in the Netherlands was on King’s night in The Hague. There are also plenty of pubs and night clubs. Two pubs that stick out in my mind are Hopzaks and DePaas beer cafe. In the summer, The Grote market turns into an outdoor terrace, so you can spend the whole evening enjoying drinks with your friends, which frankly is more my type of thing than clubs. However, the Paard club does not disappoint.
You can find plenty of culture in The Hague. The Mauritshuis where you can find the girl with the pearl earring, unless she is on tour, but there are many other fine works for art to look at. If you are an International Relations or International law nerd, you can visit the Peace Palace. I sometimes go look at it and imagine how things could have been if I applied myself more in my youth.
Maybe I have become dull over the years, but I quite like my time spent in The Hague. Maybe it is because the type of person that move there to work is a kind of refined version of myself, so I can pretend to fit in. Perhaps I will be one of those people; I look at job listings there often.
Until I commit to a job there, I will enjoy the feeling of being a visitor that is almost a resident for now. I will enjoy dinner parties with my dear friends, my lovely strolls through Scheveningen and Clingendael and have some Friday night cocktails from Van Cleef. If you want a different day in the Netherlands than the usual suspects, give the Hague a try.
It makes me want to visit the place! There’s really something for all tastes it seems.
There is! Once you get tired of it, you have two awesome big cities nearby and many smaller cities nearby! It is also not too far from the Tulip fields in the spring. I hope you can make it.