City trips: The Hague, The Netherlands

When living in a beautiful city like Amsterdam one forgets that other cities also have their charm.  The Hague, home of the International Court and Peace Palace, plus political home of the Netherlands, actually has a beautiful huge, long beachfront as well. With plenty of places to eat, shop and walk, game, gamble, cycle or whatever it is you enjoy, there is something for everyone.  The Kurhaus Hotel on the main promenade of Scheveningen is an architectural delight, designed in the late 1800's by 2 German architects, funny enough.  The square in front has a lovely fountain and beach holiday apartments with palm trees with French style dome blue and white awnings, could quite easily be any sunny paradise European coastal city.                                            

                                 The Kurhaus Hotel                                                     

 

        Beach restaurants galore along a 2km boulevard

                                                Keizerstraat shopping street with cafes on the way to the beach 

                                                                           

                                                                      

Back into town , the main shopping streets are around de Grote Markt, with the new and old De Passage being worth the visit.  The Binnenhof (Political Parliament ) is currently under construction but there's a nice pond in front and two or three art museums opposite.  Further towards the festival terrain, Malieveld is also the Escher Museum and Mauritshaus.  

                                               

                                                                De Passage 

                                       The famous Peace Palace which houses the international court.