This guide covers five places in The Hague: the Hofvijver pond, the old prison gate of the Gevangenpoort, The Hague Historical Museum, the miniature park of Madurodam and the Louwman Museum of cars. The first three stand together around the pond at the centre of Dutch politics and tell the city's own story; the other two lie outside the centre and are the best reasons to take a tram or bus out of it.
The Hofvijver
The Hofvijver, the Court Pond, is the rectangular lake beside the Binnenhof, the complex of buildings where the Dutch parliament has met for centuries. It began as a natural dune lake fed by small streams, and it took its straight-edged shape in the 14th century, when the counts of Holland had their residence on its bank. Count William II of Holland built a palace here in 1248, and The Hague grew up around it.
Today the pond is the classic picture of The Hague: the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis on the south bank, reflected in the water, with the trees of the Lange Vijverberg on the north side. The Binnenhof itself is under a long renovation that is expected to last several more years, so parts of it are wrapped in scaffolding and parliament sits elsewhere in the meantime; the view from the pond is still open.
- The Torentje, the small tower on the corner of the Binnenhof by the water, which is the office of the Dutch prime minister.
- The little island in the middle with its flagpole and the fountain beside it, and on the Lange Vijverberg the small statue of Jantje pointing across the water at the Binnenhof.
The Gevangenpoort
The Gevangenpoort, the Prisoners' Gate, was once a gatehouse between the Binnenhof, the inner court, and the Buitenhof, the outer court. From 1420 it was used as a prison for people accused of serious crimes who were waiting for their sentence, and it stayed a prison until 1828. In 1882 it became a museum, and it is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt route.
Its darkest day came in August 1672, the year the Dutch call the Disaster Year. Cornelis de Witt was held here on a charge of plotting to kill the stadtholder, and his brother Johan, the leading statesman of the republic, came to visit him. A crowd stormed the prison, and on 20 August both brothers were killed on the square in front of the gate. Inside, guided tours lead through the old cells and show instruments of torture and paintings of the punishments once carried out here.
- The bust of Johan de Witt in the museum rooms, and the paintings of the beheading of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt in 1619 and of the murder of the De Witt brothers.
- The Prince William V Gallery right next door, a picture gallery whose 1774 hang of paintings, frame to frame, has been reconstructed.
The Hague Historical Museum
The Hague Historical Museum stands on the Korte Vijverberg, on the east side of the Hofvijver, in the old guild house of the civic militia of Saint Sebastian, which met here in the 17th century. The museum tells the story of the city through about 7,500 objects, from guild silver to paintings by Jan Steen and Jan van Ravesteyn. The building is a stop on our scavenger hunt. The museum itself is closed for renovation and expansion, with reopening expected in 2027, so check before you go.
- Jan van Goyen's panorama of The Hague, a painting almost five metres wide.
- The most macabre exhibit: a finger of Cornelis de Witt and a tongue of Johan de Witt, kept as relics after the murder of 1672, so you can link this museum with the Gevangenpoort across the water.
Madurodam
Madurodam, in the Scheveningen district, is the Netherlands in miniature: canal houses, windmills, Schiphol airport, the port of Rotterdam, the Rijksmuseum and the Dom Tower of Utrecht, all built at a scale of 1 to 25. It opened on 2 July 1952, and on that day the teenage Princess Beatrix was made its mayor, a title she gave up when she became queen. The whole net profit goes to charities in the Netherlands.
The park carries the name of George Maduro, a law student from Curaçao who fought the German invasion as an army lieutenant and then joined the resistance. He was arrested and died in Dachau concentration camp in 1945, and he was given the Military William Order, the highest Dutch award for bravery, after his death. His parents paid for the park as a memorial to their son, after Mrs Boon-van der Starp, who had heard of a model village in England, brought them the idea.
- Look for the miniature of the Binnenhof and the Hofvijver, so you can compare it with the real thing in the centre.
The Louwman Museum
The Louwman Museum is built around a family car collection that started in 1934, when Pieter Louwman, an importer of Dodge cars, bought an old Dodge, and his son Evert built it up into a collection of about 275 cars, carriages and motorcycles. The museum moved into its present building, designed by the American architect Michael Graves, in 2010, and it was opened by Queen Beatrix.
The collection is strongest on the earliest days of driving and includes one of the largest groups of cars built in 1910 or earlier. There is also a large set of Spykers, the Dutch make, and a few famous owners in the line-up.
- Look for the Spyker 60 H.P. of 1903, the Bugatti Type 18 known as Black Bess, a car that belonged to Winston Churchill and a Cadillac once owned by Elvis Presley.
How to see them in one walk
Start at The Hague Historical Museum on the Korte Vijverberg and walk along the Lange Vijverberg beside the Hofvijver, with the Binnenhof and the Torentje across the water. At the end of the pond you reach the Buitenhof and the Gevangenpoort; from there the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis are only a few minutes away. Madurodam and the Louwman Museum are not in walking distance of each other or of the centre, so keep them for a separate half day and use public transport: Madurodam lies on the way to the beach at Scheveningen, and the Louwman Museum is on the edge of the city towards Wassenaar.
See The Hague with World City Trail
Our The Hague scavenger hunt turns the city centre into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Escher in Het Paleis to the Peace Palace, and The Hague Historical Museum and the Gevangenpoort are both stops, along with the Mauritshuis, Het Plein, the Binnenhof, Noordeinde Palace, the Royal Stables and the World Peace Flame. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in The Hague, for people who prefer a different format.
Play The Hague scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of The Hague →
Play the outdoor escape game in The Hague →
Facts checked in October 2026.