Free Things to Do in The Hague: Sights, Squares and Walks

What is free in The Hague, and what still costs money

The free things cluster in two halves of the city. In the centre you pay nothing to walk the old lanes, cross the Plein, look across the Hofvijver at the Binnenhof, stand in front of Noordeinde Palace, walk through the Palace Garden or look at the Peace Palace from outside; at the coast, the Scheveningen promenade, the pier and the streets of Oud Scheveningen cost nothing either. Plan the day around those and treat the museums as optional add-ons rather than the spine of the trip. For other green stops in the city, see The Hague City Centre and our parks guide.

Two paid sights sit directly on the free route, which is where budgets go wrong. The Mauritshuis, on the corner of the Hofvijver, is the gallery holding Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Fabritius's The Goldfinch, and Panorama Mesdag on the Zeestraat is built around a canvas 14 m tall and 120 m round showing Scheveningen as it looked in 1881. Both are worth the ticket if art is your reason for coming, but neither is something you stumble into for nothing.

One caution for anyone working from an older guidebook: the Binnenhof, the parliament complex at the heart of the old centre, has been closed for renovation since 2021. The government expects the public to be able to walk across the courtyard again in the summer of 2031, and the cost has run past €2.7 billion, as reported in this Hague itinerary. Older itineraries still send readers inside a site they cannot enter, so build the day around the outdoor views instead.

The Hofvijver and the Plein: the Binnenhof from outside

Start at the Hofvijver, the pond with the Binnenhof rising behind it, because this is the view that defines The Hague and it costs nothing. Because the courtyard is fenced off for the works, you see the complex from the water and from the Plein next door rather than from inside. Give it twenty minutes and take the photograph from the far bank.

The Plein is the square beside the pond where the cafe terraces sit, and it is the natural place to pause before heading north. Look across it towards the towers of the station district: the medieval brick of the Binnenhof against glass and steel is the single most The Hague juxtaposition you will see all day, and it is free to stand there and take it in.

The old shopping lanes: Papestraat, Oude Molstraat, Molenstraat and Prinsestraat

Walk the small lanes north-west of the Grote Markt first, because they are the prettiest part of the centre and they open earlier than the museums. The streets to follow are the Papestraat, Oude Molstraat, Molenstraat and Prinsestraat, all narrow, low-rise and lined with independent shops. Browsing costs nothing, and the lanes give you a feel for the old town that the fenced-off Binnenhof no longer can. For the city's markets, see our markets guide.

The Passage arcade off the Spuistraat

Add De Passage, the covered arcade off the Spuistraat, to the walk even if you are not shopping. Part of it is a modern extension and forgettable; the 19th-century half is instantly recognisable and opened in 1885, making it the oldest shopping arcade still trading in the Netherlands. Step in and look up at the glass roof. For more of the surrounding streets, see The Hague City Centre.

Noordeinde Palace and the Palace Garden

Head north up the Noordeinde, the direct line from the old town towards the Peace Palace, and you reach Noordeinde Palace. It is the King's working palace and opens to the public only on a handful of days a year, so plan on seeing the front and the gates rather than the inside; that costs nothing. Behind it, the Palace Garden is a small public park entered from the Prinsessewal at the back, and it makes a quiet free stop between the centre and the Peace Palace.

Walking north to the Peace Palace via the Zeestraat

Cross the Hogewal onto the Zeestraat and you are on the approach to the Peace Palace, which you see from outside rather than from within. The same street holds Panorama Mesdag, a strange, quiet twenty-minute experience built around an 1881 painting of Scheveningen 14 m tall and 120 m round, so decide in advance whether you are paying for it or walking past.

Scheveningen: Oud Scheveningen, the promenade and the pier

The centre and the coast are about an hour apart on foot, so the free day works best as a morning in the old centre and an afternoon at Scheveningen. Walk out through Oud Scheveningen, the old quarter, then past the Palace Promenade mall and out along the coast. Finish on the Scheveningen pier, which you walk out over the water for nothing.

This half of the day is the looser one: the waterfront, pier and old streets need no ticket and no fixed slot. If you would rather cycle the coastal stretch than walk it, arrange a bike before you leave the centre, since the distance between the two halves is the part most visitors underestimate.

The Binnenhof renovation: what you can and cannot see

Because the Binnenhof courtyard is fenced off for the renovation, you cannot walk across it at present; the government expects the public to be able to do so again in the summer of 2031. A free information centre about the works explains what is happening behind the fencing. Treat the Hofvijver and the Plein as the way to see the complex while the works run, rather than a destination you can enter.

How long the free route takes and how to split it

The centre half, taking in lanes, Passage, Hofvijver, Plein, Noordeinde and the Peace Palace, is a comfortable morning on foot, with the palace and garden adding a short detour. The coast half needs the hour-long walk out plus whatever time you give the waterfront and pier, which makes it an afternoon. That split covers what most people come to The Hague for in a single day, and you can stretch the same route over two or three days if you also want to shop properly or sit on the sand.

If you only have an afternoon, cut the coast and stay in the centre, where the free sights are packed closely enough to link on foot without transport. If you have a full day, keep the order above: lanes first while they are quiet, Hofvijver and Plein next, then north to the palace and the Peace Palace, then out to Scheveningen. Reverse it only if you want the pier in the morning light.

Should you pay for a museum or keep the day free?

Keep the day free and you still see the Hofvijver, the Plein, the old lanes, De Passage, Noordeinde Palace, the Palace Garden, the Peace Palace from outside and the whole Scheveningen waterfront. Pay for one thing only if art brought you here: the Mauritshuis for Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, or Panorama Mesdag for its 1881 panorama, both sitting on the free route so neither costs you extra walking.