What to do in The Hague when it rains: museums, arcades and a day that works indoors

A rainy day in The Hague is a museum day. Within ten minutes on foot of the Binnenhof you have the Mauritshuis (€21.00, open every day, Monday from 13:00), Escher in Het Paleis, the Gevangenpoort and De Passage, the covered arcade from 1885. Fifteen minutes adds Panorama Mesdag, a painted beach to look at while the real one is under a cloud; a tram adds the Kunstmuseum and the coast. Hours and prices were checked on the venues’ own sites on 7 October 2026, and two timed itineraries follow.

How much does it actually rain in The Hague?

Often, but rarely all day. KNMI’s 1991 to 2020 normals for De Bilt, the national reference station, give about 186 days a year with measurable rain and 132 with at least 1 mm: 12 to 13 wet days a month in April and May, 16 in October, 18 to 19 from November to January. Monthly totals barely move, 74 mm in April to 89 mm in November, so there is no dry season; what changes is the light, 214 hours of sunshine in July against 55 in December. The table is on knmi.nl. The coast is also windy: an umbrella on the boulevard is a lost cause, a hooded coat is not. So plan the day indoors, keep a 20-minute walk in it, and treat a dry hour as a bonus for the Hofvijver and the Lange Voorhout.

Where should a rainy day in The Hague start?

At the Mauritshuis, Plein 29: the best collection in the city, compact, and the one museum that opens on Monday, from 13:00. Tuesday to Sunday it opens at 10:00, closing at 18:00 every day. Adults €21.00, under 19 free, students €13.50, groups of 15 or more €18.50 per person, Museumkaart free with a booked time slot. Book online; weekend slots fill. Details on the Mauritshuis visitor page.

The question of the autumn is whether Girl with a Pearl Earring is back. The museum closed for alterations from 24 August to 20 September 2026 and lent her to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka, where the exhibition ran until 27 September. She is back on the second floor, and the museum’s collection on tour page no longer lists her among the works away; check it on the morning of your visit if she is the reason you are coming. One Vermeer you will not see this autumn is View of Delft, which is in Madrid from 9 October 2026 to 10 January 2027.

Ninety minutes covers the Vermeers (minus View of Delft, away in Madrid until 10 January 2027), the Goldfinch, the Rembrandts and the Bull; our Mauritshuis visitor guide has a room-by-room plan. On a wet day the galleries are fullest from 11:00 to 14:00 and empty after 15:30. The Plein outside has cafés under awnings for lunch.

Which museums are within a short walk of the Mauritshuis?

Escher in Het Paleis, Lange Voorhout 74, eight minutes north. More than 120 Escher prints over three floors of a former royal winter palace. Open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, closed Monday. Adults €14.50, 13 to 17 €11.00, 7 to 12 €8.00, under 7 free, students €13.50. It does not accept the Museumkaart; see the Escher admission page. The Denneweg, five minutes further, is the street for a quieter lunch.

Gevangenpoort, Buitenhof 33, three minutes along the Hofvijver. The medieval prison gate of the Binnenhof, cells and instruments still in place. Open Monday 11:00 to 17:00, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, weekends 11:00 to 17:00. Adults €15.00, 4 to 17 €7.50, Museumkaart free; tickets are timed and include an audio tour, see gevangenpoort.nl. Allow an hour.

Panorama Mesdag, Zeestraat 65, 15 minutes north-west via the Noordeinde and its coffee bars. A 360-degree painting of Scheveningen beach in 1880, viewed from a dune platform under a skylight; on a rainy day the painted sky is overcast too. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday. Adults €17.50, 0 to 18 free, students €12.00, Museumkaart free. See the Panorama Mesdag ticket page.

De Passage is not a museum but it is the driest 200 metres in The Hague. Built between 1882 and 1885, the oldest shopping arcade in the Netherlands and a national monument, with a glass roof, a dome where its arms meet, cafés under the glass, and entrances on the Buitenhof, Spuistraat and Hofweg. Open Monday 11:00 to 18:00, Tuesday to Saturday 09:30 to 18:00 (Thursday to 21:00) and Sunday 12:00 to 17:00; see depassage.nl. Use it as the covered link between the Buitenhof and the Grote Markt.

What is in the Statenkwartier, and is it worth the tram?

Yes, for an afternoon. Tram 17 from Den Haag Centraal or Den Haag HS stops at the Kunstmuseum in about 20 minutes. Three museums share the block on the Stadhouderslaan.

Kunstmuseum Den Haag, number 41: the largest Mondrian collection in the world including Victory Boogie Woogie, Delftware, fashion, and Berlage’s 1935 building. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday. Adults €22.00, under 19 free, Museumkaart free. Combination tickets with the Fotomuseum and KM21 exist; the museums’ sites quoted different prices when we checked, so take the figure from the Kunstmuseum visit page. Two hours.

Fotomuseum and KM21, number 43, share one ticket: Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 to 17:00, €18.50, or €2.50 with the Museumkaart.

Museon-Omniversum, number 37, is the family option: a science museum with a giant dome cinema. A day ticket of €17.95 for adults and €14.95 for children 4 to 11 includes one dome film; under 4 free, Museumkaart free. Hours follow school holidays, so check museon-omniversum.nl.

Our overview of museums in The Hague ranks all of these.

Can I visit the Peace Palace when it rains?

The Visitors Centre, yes, and it is free, audio tour included. It sits at the gate, ten minutes from Panorama Mesdag or a stop on tram 1. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00 in the summer season and 11:00 to 16:00 from the end of October to mid-March; confirm the switch date on the Peace Palace visitor page. The palace itself can only be entered on a guided tour, with tickets released about two weeks ahead.

What about Scheveningen in the rain?

Most of the resort is outdoors, but three things work in rain and are close together. Trams 1 and 9 run from the centre to the coast.

Sea Life Scheveningen, Strandweg 13: 13 themed zones including an underwater tunnel, open daily 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00. Online adult tickets were €20.00 against €25.00 at the door when we checked on visitsealife.com.

Museum Beelden aan Zee, Harteveltstraat 1, is built into the dune behind the Kurhaus, a sculpture museum that is almost entirely indoors. Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday. Adults €22.00, 13 to 18 and students under 27 €9.25, under 12 free; Museumkaart holders currently pay a €3.50 surcharge, per beeldenaanzee.nl.

The Kurhaus, the grand hotel on the boulevard, has a public lounge under its painted dome; coffee costs more than in town and the grey sea through the tall windows is the reason to pay it.

Madurodam is sometimes suggested for a wet day. Do not: it is a miniature city in the open air. Our post on whether Madurodam is worth it says when it is.

Is anything covered at the Haagse Markt or the Louwman Museum?

The Haagse Markt is an open-air market: canopied stalls, open aisles. Fine in drizzle, miserable in a downpour.

The Louwman Museum, Leidsestraatweg 57 on the Wassenaar road, is fully indoors, one of the oldest private car collections in the world. Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday. Adults €20.00, 5 to 18 €10.00, under 5 free, Museumkaart free, per tickets.louwmanmuseum.nl. A half-day in itself, so the alternative to the Statenkwartier.

How do I get around The Hague dry?

By tram, with nothing bought in advance. Every HTM tram and bus takes OVpay: tap a contactless debit or credit card, or a phone, when you board and again when you leave, and the fare is worked out by distance. Use the same card for both taps. The lines you need are trams 1 and 9 to Scheveningen, tram 17 and bus 24 to the Kunstmuseum, and trams 16 and 17 for the Statenkwartier. Den Haag Centraal is a covered station with the tram platforms under its roof. OVpay is explained on htm.nl. In the centre, walk: nothing is more than ten minutes apart.

What is closed on Mondays?

Most of it: Escher, Panorama Mesdag, the Statenkwartier museums, Beelden aan Zee, the Louwman and the Peace Palace Visitors Centre. Open: the Mauritshuis from 13:00, the Gevangenpoort from 11:00, De Passage from 11:00, Sea Life every day. A rainy Monday is a Gevangenpoort morning and a Mauritshuis afternoon, with the Passage and a long lunch between.

A half-day indoor plan

Tuesday to Sunday.

• 10:00 Mauritshuis, first time slot. Second floor first for the Vermeers and the Goldfinch, then down.
• 11:30 Three minutes along the Hofvijver to the Gevangenpoort, one hour with the audio tour.
• 12:45 Through De Passage, under glass, to lunch on the Grote Markt side or back on the Plein.

Swap the Gevangenpoort for Escher if you would rather have prints than cells.

A full-day indoor plan

Tuesday to Sunday.

• 10:00 Mauritshuis, 90 minutes.
• 11:45 Up the Lange Voorhout to Escher in Het Paleis, 75 minutes.
• 13:15 Lunch on the Denneweg, five minutes on.
• 14:30 Fifteen minutes via the Noordeinde to Panorama Mesdag, 45 minutes.
• 15:45 Either tram 1 to Scheveningen for Beelden aan Zee and coffee in the Kurhaus, or walk back through De Passage to the Grote Markt.

On a Monday: Gevangenpoort at 11:00, lunch on the Plein, Mauritshuis at 13:00, then De Passage. For the all-weather version, see The Hague in one day.

When is a guided Mauritshuis visit worth it in the rain?

When the main event of the day is indoors anyway and you want your time inside to count. The guided Mauritshuis visit is one hour inside the museum, the guide meets you in the lobby at the time you choose, and the group is yours alone. It fits the plans above in the 10:00 or the 13:00 slot, and on a crowded wet morning the guide knows where the coach groups are and goes the other way. If the sky clears, the same guide can continue with the private walking tour of The Hague.

Frequently asked questions

Is Girl with a Pearl Earring on display at the Mauritshuis now?

The painting was lent to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka while the Mauritshuis was closed for alterations from 24 August to 20 September 2026, and the museum’s collection-on-tour page no longer lists it as away, so it is back on the second floor. The museum posts any loan on that page, so check it before you travel.

Which museums in The Hague are open on Monday?

The Mauritshuis from 13:00 to 18:00 and the Gevangenpoort from 11:00 to 17:00 are the two in the centre. Sea Life Scheveningen is open daily and De Passage opens at 11:00. Escher in Het Paleis, Panorama Mesdag, the Kunstmuseum, Fotomuseum and KM21, Beelden aan Zee, the Louwman Museum and the Peace Palace Visitors Centre are closed on Monday.

Does the Museumkaart work everywhere in The Hague?

No. It is accepted at the Mauritshuis (book a free time slot), Panorama Mesdag, the Gevangenpoort, the Kunstmuseum, the Louwman Museum and Museon-Omniversum, and gets you into Fotomuseum and KM21 for €2.50. Escher in Het Paleis does not take it at all, Museum Beelden aan Zee adds a surcharge for its current exhibition, and Sea Life is not a museum and does not take it.

How do I pay for the tram in The Hague?

Tap a contactless bank card or phone on the reader when you get on and again when you get off. This is OVpay, it works on every HTM tram and bus, and the fare is calculated by distance between the two taps. No ticket machine or app is needed. Use the same card both times or you are charged a default fare for a missing check-out.

Is De Passage open on Sunday?

Yes, the arcade is open Sunday 12:00 to 17:00, Monday 11:00 to 18:00 and Tuesday to Saturday 09:30 to 18:00, with late opening to 21:00 on Thursday. Individual shops keep their own hours, so early on Sunday the passage may be open while the shops are still shuttered. It is a national monument and worth walking through even then.

Is Madurodam a good rainy-day option?

No. Madurodam is a miniature city in the open air, and although there are a few indoor attractions on the site, the models you came for are outside. On a wet day choose the Mauritshuis, Escher or Museon-Omniversum instead and keep Madurodam for a dry one. Our post on whether Madurodam is worth it sets out what the ticket buys.

See The Hague indoors with a Discover The Hague guide

If the forecast is bad, book the guided Mauritshuis visit: one hour inside with a guide in the language you choose, and the guide meets you in the lobby. Add the private walking tour of The Hague for the dry hours, past the Binnenhof and through De Passage. Both are private and start at a time that suits you.