We are planning to visit The Hague to see the Escher and Mauristhuis museums. Any other museums or places that you suggest if there's time? Kunstmuseum?
Some comments aren't effusive about visiting, but the museums look interesting to us.
Also, any lunch recommendations are appreciated. Thank you.
Hello,
My family (including 8 and 12 year old children at the time) really enjoyed the Escher Museum. The canals and city itself were also nicer than expected. Those two things alone are enough for me to recommend a day trip.
We would have been happy to spend more time there, but it was a long vacation in the Netherlands and we had already been to more art museums than my kids could reasonably handle...so can't comment on Mauristhuis unfortunately. We finished our day in Scheveningen. The kids loved the zipline and seeing the water, but I wouldn't say the carnival-like atmosphere is something i'd recommend. I was also interested in Madurodam (miniatures) and the Prison Gate Museum, but will have to wait for next time.
Cheers,
Thanks so much. We'll only have a day trip from Amsterdam, at most, so we'll only see The Hague, and we almost certainly won't have the time to visit even nearby towns.
The museums you mentioned are well worth the trip. I can't recommend a specific place to eat, but the whole central area is largely pedestrian, with loads of shopping and restaurants. I think people overlook the town because it is largely a modern European city, few quaint buildings, canals, and tourist shops. I have stayed there several times at the ends of trips, before flying out, and always enjoyed it.
The Kunstmuseum is excellent if you enjoy modern and contemporary art, especially Mondrian. The H.P. Berlage designed building itself is lovely and very interesting.
For lunch I could recommend Dudok, just a six minute walk from Mauritshuis. It’s a large, casual bistro/bakery/cafe kind of place. I am by no means a foodie so someone else may have a better suggestion than mine.
The Panorama Mesdag is really interesting.
We had lunch at the Mauristhuis cafe and quite enjoyed it.
We enjoyed our stop in The Hague. The Mauristhuis was great and the Escher Museum was really really cool. I’m glad we went there. We hopped on the train when we were done and had lunch in Delft.
Thanks for all the responses!
Many will scoff at this advice, but if it's your first visit to the Netherlands consider going to the world of miniature at Madurodam.
You'll learn a lot of history and get a glimpse at a great many other Dutch towns that you might like to also visit.
I've been there twice.
I loved it as a six-year-old and I loved it as a 56-year-old.
I agree with the recommendation above. Although Madurodam was initially presented to us as more of a children's attraction, we found it both surprisingly informative and genuinely fun. We are in our mid-thirties. The park has miniature versions of many important landmarks and regions in the Netherlands, giving a clear overview of the country.
