The Hague

A small museum hanging Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Fabritius's The Goldfinch. In this 17th-century mansion the rooms are modest, so you stand right up to the canvases. You enter not by the front steps but down to a foyer under the forecourt.

Parliament and the Prime Minister's office ring a court around the 13th-century Hall of Knights. A big restoration since 2021 has closed it to visitors, with reopening expected in 2028. Seen across the Hofvijver pond the hoardings show least.

The world court sits here, in a building paid for by Carnegie and opened in 1913. Judges still sit inside, so entry is by guided tour on set days, and tours need booking. Most visitors settle for the visitor centre by the gate and a look through the railings.

An old seaside resort with the Kurhaus hotel, opened in 1885, mid-way along the seafront. Timber beach restaurants line the sand; many are taken down for winter and rebuilt in spring. Gusts off the sea mean even midsummer has jacket days.

A two-deck pier running out over the water, with a Ferris wheel that juts out above the sea. At the wheel's highest point the dunes and the city run off along the coast. At the far end a tower offers bungee jumps toward the sea.

A park of the country's buildings and landscapes at 1:25 scale, opened in 1952. It was founded by the parents of George Maduro, a young resistance fighter who died in a camp. Many models move at the press of a button, so children linger.

Mesdag's 1881 painting of the Scheveningen shore wraps the walls of a round room. Past a dark passage you stand on a mock dune, and the line between paint and real sand vanishes. Wait a little for your eyes to get used to the gloom and it reads better.

The world's largest Mondrian collection, including his last, unfinished Victory Boogie Woogie. In Berlage's brick building the tiled corridors are worth as much attention as the art. Delftware and historic musical instruments are in the collection too.

A glass-roofed arcade opened in 1885, the oldest covered shopping street left in the country. Its passages meet under a domed hall, and on rainy days it serves as a dry shortcut through the centre. On Sunday many shops open late.

One of Europe's bigger open-air markets, where Surinamese, Turkish and Indonesian traders sell spices next to the vegetables. It does not trade daily, so look up which days first. As the end of trading nears, sellers shout prices down to clear what is left.

The king's working palace, whose building is normally closed to visitors. The palace garden behind it is open to the public for walks. When the king is at work a flag flies over the square in front.

A museum of cars collected by one family over nearly a century, among the world's oldest private car collections. It runs from steam carriages and early horseless coaches to racing cars. It sits by the woods on the city's edge, reached by tram and bus.

Wassenaar's country estate has housed this contemporary art museum since 2016. Permanent pieces include a James Turrell room open to the sky and Leandro Erlich's pool you appear to walk under. With its big gardens and woodland paths, plan on half a day.

An English-style park from the 1920s best known for its rosarium. Roses bloom from June until November, and a yearly contest judges new varieties. Scheveningen beach is a short walk on, worth combining.

A medieval gatehouse used as a prison until 1828, now a museum. In 1672 Cornelis de Witt, held here, was killed by a mob outside the gate together with his brother. A guided route leads past the cramped cells and the torture instruments.

A small Chinatown announced by a red gateway over the Wagenstraat. Chinese restaurants mix with Indonesian grocers. It runs straight off the main shopping streets, and many drop in for dinner.

A sculpture museum built half buried in the dunes of Scheveningen beach. Pieces stand on its sea-facing terraces with the waves behind them. Steps lead straight up from the beach promenade.

The fishing port south of the beach, with fish restaurants along its quays. On Flag Day in June, opening the new herring season, boats fly flags and crowds pack the quays. It is calmer than the beach front, and locals head here for a fish supper.