The Hague, help.
 

I'm going to be in Amsterdam for a few days next week and wanted to know if visiting the Hague is worth it? I'm a politics nut so visiting the International Court would be pretty cool; other than that, is it a good time? And how long does it take to get there? Thanks a bunch.

trefingers -

You can check rail schedules on the following website:

www.ns.nl

For English, click on "English" in the center of the page.

You can easily do a day trip from Amsterdam to den Hague - it takes about an hour via train. Although I have never toured inside the International Court or Peace Palace, it was interesting to walk around the area and look at some of the magnificent buildings.

My number one recommendation for den Hague would be Escher in het Paleis, located at Palais Lange Voorhout, #74 (E7.50). It is a relatively new museum, opened in November 2002, and might not be in all the guide books yet. The museum features two floors of M.C. Escher's works, from the beginning to the end of his art career, and on the third floor is a virtual reality tour that takes you through several of his pieces. It was AWESOME!! I know you didn't mention an interest in art and museums, but I would be remiss if I did not recommend this wonderful museum to you.

Since you will be so close, I would also recommend a visit to Delft. It is a charming little town - quintessential Dutch.

If I was planning the day trip, I would take the train to Delft in the morning for a 2-3 hour walkabout, then take tram #1 to den Hague (use the National Strippenkaart) for the afternoon, then take tram #7 or #8 (check first since I can't remember which is correct) to Scheveningen for the evening, then train back to Amsterdam. Of course, you could just spend the whole day in den Hague seeing the sights, since there is so much to do and see. Check out the following websites for more information:

www.denhaag.com
www.vvvdelft.nl/end/index.html

I hope this helps in your planning. Have a safe and wonderful journey. Peace.

Robyn

YES!! Go to the Hague. Actually, it is much nicer than Amsterdam, in my opinion! The architecture is awesome, and it is a very interesting town. Your interest in politics makes it even that much more appealing, so make sure you give it at least a day trip of your time. Have fun.

The International Peace Palace (Vredespaleis) is an interesting building. The Hague is a bit more sedate compared to Amsterdam. Easy to do on foot. From the Vredespaleis, walk through Noordeinde (past Noordeinde Palace), then on to Lange Voorhout and the Escher Museum as mentioned. Just around the corner from the Lange Voorhout are the Denneweg and Hooikade; lovely little streets with lots of little bars and restaurants.
The Dutch Parliament is very nearby too.

I wouldn't miss the Mauritshuis, with fantastic works from 17th century Dutch and Flemish masters, not too big and always exciting.
(I also wouldn't miss a bag of fat, chocolate-flaked buttery muffins from Le Marche bakery at Vroom & Dreesman's department store, in the pedestrian-only shopping street nearby, or the Italian ice cream parlour right across from it).

the Hague has also a lot of excellent antique dealers !

An Escher museum? Boy am I glad that I posted... I wouldn't miss that for the world. Thank you all for the speedy replies; I'm going to have a look at rail schedules now. If you can think of anything else exciting to do in Amsterdam itself (especially for an adventurous college lad) that would be great! I'm going to be there for 3 - 4 days.

Well, trefingers, if the Dutch team do well on the European soccer championships, then go to the Leidseplein on match days; there's usually a big screen there to watch. Don't forget to dress in orange!

I have to second a vote for the Mauritshuis - A real gem of a museum. Has Vermeer's girl with a pearl earring amongst other great works. Lovely.

I actually live in The Hague. It's a lovely town, more elegant then Amsterdam. There's a lot to see over here: Maurits Huis, Escher Museum, Peace Palace..it will take you a 50-minute train ride from Amsterdam to get here. Don't take a cab because it'll cost you over 100 euros. Enjoy your stay!

Do take some time to explore the "2005" area: Denneweg, Hooigracht, Nieuwe Uitleg etc.

The Hague is a city with lots of reminders of Dutch ties with the Dutch East Indies, which reflects in the number of excellent Indonesian restaurants: a good lunch spot is "Toko Frederik" on Frederikstraat.

Don't miss the Voorhout and the Vijverberg: the Hague is at its most elegant there.

I just returned from a trip to Amsterdam and went to the Hague for a day, also. It's absolutely worth the trip. The Mauritshuis is one of the most beautiful museums I've ever seen.
One note of caution not mentioned in the guide that I read: In order to visit the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace),
which houses the Int'l Court of Justice, and is quite an impressive building, you'll need to make a reservation for a guided tour ahead of time. We were very disappointed to show up at the time we expected it to open only to be turned away because we didn't call first. The number to the palace is 070/302-4137, according to the palace security guard at the gate.

I am using someone else's computer as I still cannot get on Fodors from my home computer(but then Avis just told me that they cannot send me my confirmation via AOL as it cancels it thinking that its spammed-think I will be changing to Comcast soon?). Anyway, I will be spending some time in August in the Hague and wanted to know if anyone had a favorite department store for general and shopping area for garden stuffetc. Any reasonable restaurants that are in the area of the International Court as my hotel is in that area. Does anyone know if there is any type of marine museum/aquarium in the area ? Thanks-miss typing on here,believe me!

Be sure to go to a bakery/store that sells candy and buy some Haagshe Hopjes, delicious coffee candies. You can buy them loose or in a wonderful, colorful tin. These are candies from the Hague (Haagshe).

Den Haag is an excellent place to visit-I second everything the previous posters have said-partic. the Mauritshaus-when you think that thousands of people waited in line for hours and hours to see the Vermeer exhibition and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" in the US, why, in Mauritshaus, I went right up to the painting to examine it only inches away-it is displayed as if it is a painting on a wall in someone's home! Amazing! And the priceless collection there of the Dutch Masters- the early Rembrandts, in partic. -well, it's just an exquisite collection.

But there's so much more...the lovely green leafy parks, the Binnenhof, as Artstuff mentioned the Escher museum-(glad to hear a review of that) the Peace Palace and the ICJ (WELL worth a visit)and, if you want to go to the beach and relax, why, you can even take the tram (is it #8? help me out Dutch posters!) out to Schevenigen- a ride of about 20 min. I think-which is the fun seafront/beach area with a promenade/boardwalk where you can stop in any number of little restaurants serving moules and frites, walk the beach area, look in the shops, go across the street to the casino, or even go to a seafront spa for a beauty treatment, as there are a number of spas in the area.

One interesting little factoid about the word "Schevenigen." This was a word used by the Dutch Resistance during WWII to ferret out Nazi spies amongst their midst. The Germans pronounce this word very differently, and although spies would speak Dutch, it was the German pronunciation of this one word that would mark them as non-Dutch and thus a Nazi spy. Only the Dutch pronounce it properly!