Museums in The Hague: which to choose with one day, and which with two
September 3, 2026 · by Robin Lenskens
With one day in The Hague, choose the Mauritshuis and one of Escher in Het Paleis or Panorama Mesdag; all three are within ten minutes’ walk of each other in the centre. With two days, add Kunstmuseum Den Haag for its Mondrian collection and, if the weather is good, Museum Beelden aan Zee at Scheveningen. Prices, closing days and how long each one needs are in the table below, so you can decide before you buy a ticket.
Two closures matter right now. The Mauritshuis is shut for maintenance until 20 September 2026 and Girl with a Pearl Earring is on loan until 4 October 2026. The Haags Historisch Museum is closed for rebuilding until spring 2028. Both are covered below.
The museums at a glance
Prices are the standard adult price on each museum’s own website on 3 September 2026. Children under 19 are free at most of them; the exceptions are noted. “Centre” means walkable from Den Haag Centraal and each other; “Statenkwartier” is the museum quarter west of the centre on tram 17; “Scheveningen” is at the coast on tram 1 or 9.
| Museum | What it is | Adult price | Closed | Time needed | Cluster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauritshuis | Dutch Golden Age paintings, Vermeer and Rembrandt | €21.00 | Never (Mon from 13:00); maintenance closure to 20 Sept 2026 | 1.5 to 2 h | Centre |
| Escher in Het Paleis | Escher prints in Queen Emma’s former palace | €14.50 | Monday | 1 to 1.5 h | Centre |
| Panorama Mesdag | 360-degree painting of Scheveningen in 1881 | €17.50 | Monday | 45 min to 1 h | Centre (10 min walk) |
| Museum Bredius | Private collection of Old Masters in a canal-side house | €8.50 | Monday | 45 min | Centre |
| Gevangenpoort (Prison Gate) | Medieval prison with cells and instruments of punishment | €15.00 | Never | 1 h | Centre |
| Haags Historisch Museum | City history museum | closed | Closed until spring 2028 | n/a | Centre |
| Kunstmuseum Den Haag | Mondrian, De Stijl, fashion and decorative arts in a 1935 building | €22.00 | Monday | 2 h | Statenkwartier |
| Fotomuseum Den Haag and KM21 | Photography and contemporary art, next door to the Kunstmuseum | €16.00 and €18.50 | Monday | 1 h each | Statenkwartier |
| Museon-Omniversum | Hands-on science museum with a dome cinema | €17.95 online | Never | 2 to 3 h | Statenkwartier |
| Museum Beelden aan Zee | Modern sculpture in the dunes behind the boulevard | €22.00 | Monday | 1 to 1.5 h | Scheveningen |
| Louwman Museum | Private collection of historic cars in a purpose-built museum | €20.00 | Monday | 2 h | Edge of city (Wassenaar road) |
Humanity House, the museum about war and disaster near the Prinsegracht, closed permanently in 2022 after losing its municipal subsidy. It still appears in older guidebooks and listicles; there is nothing to visit.
Which museums in The Hague are worth your time?
Mauritshuis
A compact royal collection of around 200 paintings hung in a 17th-century town house on the Hofvijver, with Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson, and Fabritius’s Goldfinch. It is the one museum in The Hague that justifies a visit to the city on its own. Adults pay €21.00, under-19s enter free, and a timed slot booked on the Mauritshuis website is required even for free tickets. Normal hours are 10:00 to 18:00 Tuesday to Sunday and 13:00 to 18:00 on Monday, which makes it one of the few art museums in the country open on a Monday afternoon.
Two things to know for autumn 2026. The museum is closed for maintenance from 24 August to 20 September and reopens on 21 September. Girl with a Pearl Earring is not on view until 4 October inclusive, because it is on loan; if that painting is the reason for your visit, come after that date. Our Mauritshuis visitor guide covers tickets, the Prince William V Gallery combination and what to see room by room.
Escher in Het Paleis
M.C. Escher’s prints, more than 120 of them on display at any time, in the Lange Voorhout palace that Queen Emma used as her winter residence. The building is half the attraction: the state rooms have been kept, and the chandeliers are modern sculptures made for the museum. Open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. Adults €14.50, children 7 to 12 €8.00, 13 to 17 €11.00, under 7 free.
Tickets and current prices are on the museum’s admission page; it is the one central museum where no Dutch museum pass applies, so budget for it as a separate ticket.
Panorama Mesdag
A single painting, 14.6 metres high and 114.5 metres around, showing Scheveningen as it was on 1 August 1881: dunes, fishing boats on the beach, the old village, the sea. Hendrik Willem Mesdag painted it with his wife Sientje and three colleagues, and it is the oldest panorama still in its original building. You climb 23 spiral steps (there is a chair lift) onto a viewing platform in the middle and the effect still works. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 and on public holiday Mondays. Adults €17.50, under-19s free, see Panorama Mesdag’s ticket prices. Allow 45 minutes to an hour, longer if the temporary exhibition interests you.
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
The largest Mondrian collection in the world, almost 300 works ending with the unfinished Victory Boogie Woogie, in a building that opened in 1935 and is worth seeing in its own right. The museum also shows De Stijl, fashion and decorative arts. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. Adults €22.00, under-19s free, per the Kunstmuseum visitor page. Take tram 17 from Den Haag Centraal or Hollands Spoor; the stop is called Kunstmuseum.
Next door at Stadhouderslaan 43 are the Fotomuseum Den Haag (€16.00, photography) and KM21 (€18.50, contemporary art), both open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00. A combination ticket for all three costs €32.00.
Museum Beelden aan Zee
Modern and contemporary sculpture, nearly two thousand pieces in a museum by architect Wim Quist that opened in 1994, dug into the dunes just behind the Scheveningen boulevard with terraces facing the sea. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. Adults €22.00, children up to 12 free, 13 to 18 €9.25. Current prices and the exhibition programme are on the Beelden aan Zee tickets page. Combine it with the beach; it does not justify a tram ride out on its own for most visitors.
Louwman Museum
One of the oldest private car collections in the world, in a purpose-built museum on the Leidsestraatweg on the eastern edge of the city. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. Adults €20.00, ages 5 to 18 €10.00, under 5 free (see the Louwman entrance fees). It is the best museum in The Hague for anyone who likes cars and of limited interest to anyone who does not. It is not walkable from the centre; check 9292 for the current bus connection from Den Haag Centraal, or drive.
Museon-Omniversum
A hands-on science and natural history museum joined with a dome cinema, in the Statenkwartier beside the Kunstmuseum. Open every day 09:30 to 17:00, including Mondays, with evening dome screenings from 17:00 to 21:00 Thursday to Sunday and in school holidays. Adults €17.95 online (€0.50 more at the desk), children 4 to 11 €14.95, under 4 free, and a day ticket includes one dome film. Details are on the Museon-Omniversum visit page. This is the best museum in the city for children aged roughly 5 to 12, and the best rainy-day fallback for families.
Museum Bredius
The private collection of Abraham Bredius, the art historian and former Mauritshuis director, in a canal-side house on the Lange Vijverberg opposite the Mauritshuis. About 200 paintings and drawings including Rembrandt, Jan Steen and Hobbema, hung as a collector’s home rather than a gallery. Open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. Adults €8.50, under-19s free. Forty-five quiet minutes for anyone who liked the Mauritshuis and wants more.
Gevangenpoort (Prison Gate)
The medieval gatehouse to the Binnenhof, used as a prison from the 15th century, with its cells, guard rooms and a collection of instruments of punishment. It is the place where the De Witt brothers were held in 1672 before the mob killed them outside. Open Monday 11:00 to 17:00, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, weekends 11:00 to 17:00. Adults €15.00, children 4 to 18 €7.50. A free audio tour is included; guided tours cost €5.00 extra, with English tours at 13:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. Good for children over about 8, and one of the few centre museums open on a Monday morning.
Haags Historisch Museum
The city history museum in the Sint Sebastiaansdoelen on the Korte Vijverberg, the 17th-century civic guard hall next to the Mauritshuis. The building was handed to the contractors in October 2024 for renovation and extension, and the museum now expects to reopen in spring 2028 rather than 2027. Until then there is nothing to see on site.
Which museums with one day, and which with two?
One day: the Mauritshuis (when open) plus either Escher in Het Paleis or Panorama Mesdag, walked in the order described below, with the rest of the day for the Binnenhof, Lange Voorhout, Noordeinde and the Peace Palace visitor centre. Three museums in one day is possible but turns the day into a checklist; our post on The Hague in one day suggests a full timetable.
Two days: day one as above; day two on tram 17 to the Statenkwartier for the Kunstmuseum in the morning, then tram to Scheveningen for lunch, the beach and Beelden aan Zee, or the Peace Palace if you skipped it on day one. Our Peace Palace visitor guide explains what can and cannot be visited.
Which museums in The Hague are open on a Monday?
Mondays are thin in The Hague, as in most Dutch cities. Open on Mondays:
- Mauritshuis, 13:00 to 18:00 (outside the September 2026 maintenance closure).
- Gevangenpoort, 11:00 to 17:00.
- Museon-Omniversum, 09:30 to 17:00.
- Panorama Mesdag only on public holiday Mondays.
- Madurodam, every day of the year.
Closed on Mondays: Escher in Het Paleis, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Fotomuseum and KM21, Beelden aan Zee, Louwman Museum and Museum Bredius. If your only day in The Hague is a Monday, build it around a Mauritshuis afternoon and the city itself, or go to Delft, where the Nieuwe Kerk and Oude Kerk are open.
Which museums are good with children?
- Under 6: Madurodam and Museon-Omniversum. Everything else will be a short visit.
- 6 to 12: Museon-Omniversum first, then the Gevangenpoort (cells and punishments go down well), Panorama Mesdag (a real surprise for children who expect a painting on a wall), and Madurodam. Escher works for children who like puzzles and optical illusions.
- Teenagers: Escher in Het Paleis, the Mauritshuis with a guide who can keep it to the best rooms, the Louwman for the car-minded, and Beelden aan Zee combined with the beach.
Under-19s are free at the Mauritshuis, Panorama Mesdag, Kunstmuseum and Bredius, which makes a family visit to the centre museums much cheaper than it first looks. Escher, Gevangenpoort, Louwman, Museon and Beelden aan Zee charge for children of various ages; see the table above.
A walking route through the centre museums
All the centre museums sit within a few hundred metres of the Hofvijver. This order avoids backtracking and takes a full day with lunch:
- Den Haag Centraal, 10 minutes’ walk to the Plein via the Korte Poten.
- Mauritshuis, opening slot at 10:00 (13:00 on Mondays). Book the slot in advance. 90 minutes.
- Cross the Korte Vijverberg past the closed Haags Historisch Museum and the Binnenhof, which is fenced for renovation until summer 2031 but still visible across the Hofvijver, to the Buitenhof. Gevangenpoort if you have children or an hour spare.
- Lange Vijverberg to Museum Bredius, 45 minutes, or walk straight along it to the Lange Voorhout.
- Lunch on the Lange Voorhout or in the Denneweg.
- Escher in Het Paleis at Lange Voorhout 74. 60 to 90 minutes.
- Walk north-west along the Lange Voorhout and the Javastraat, then left into the Zeestraat, about 10 minutes, to Panorama Mesdag. 45 minutes.
- Ten more minutes along the Zeestraat and Scheveningseweg brings you to the Peace Palace visitor centre and tram 1 back to the centre or on to Scheveningen.
Between the museums, the Lange Voorhout and the Hofvijver are the best of the city’s streets, so the walk itself is part of the day.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best museum in The Hague?
The Mauritshuis. It is small, the collection is exceptional and the building is part of the pleasure. From 21 September 2026 it is open again after maintenance; Girl with a Pearl Earring returns after 4 October 2026. If you are in the city before then, Escher in Het Paleis and Panorama Mesdag are the best of the rest and both are open.
How many days do you need for the museums in The Hague?
One full day covers the centre cluster: Mauritshuis, Escher or Panorama Mesdag, and the Gevangenpoort or Bredius. A second day adds the Kunstmuseum in the Statenkwartier and Beelden aan Zee at the coast. Very few visitors need a third day unless they are combining the Louwman Museum and Madurodam with children.
Which museums in The Hague are free?
None of the main museums is free for adults. Under-19s are free at the Mauritshuis, Panorama Mesdag, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Fotomuseum and Museum Bredius. The cheapest adult ticket in the centre is Museum Bredius at €8.50. Walking the Binnenhof perimeter, the Lange Voorhout and the Peace Palace grounds from outside costs nothing.
Is the Kunstmuseum Den Haag worth it?
Yes if you care about Mondrian or 20th-century design: it holds almost 300 of his works and his last painting, Victory Boogie Woogie, and the 1935 building is a highlight in itself. It is a tram ride from the centre and takes two hours, so it belongs on a second day rather than squeezed into a first. Closed on Mondays; adults €22.00.
Is the Mauritshuis open on Monday?
Yes, from 13:00 to 18:00; on other days it opens at 10:00. Book a time slot online even if you are under 19 and enter free. Note the exception in 2026: the museum is closed for maintenance from 24 August to 20 September and reopens on Monday 21 September.
Visit the Mauritshuis and the centre with a guide
A private Mauritshuis tour with one of our guides gets a first-time visitor to the right paintings in about 90 minutes, with the context that the wall texts leave out. It pairs well with the private walking tour of The Hague, which covers the Binnenhof, the Lange Voorhout and Noordeinde in two hours and can end at the door of whichever museum you have chosen next. Both tours are private and priced per group, and our guides work in English, Dutch, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
