The Hague, Netherlands — Travel Tips
Getting There By Air
Rotterdam Airport (RTM)
Tel: (010) 446 3444.
Website: www.rotterdam-airport.nl
Rotterdam Airport is the nearest international airport, and is located 20km (12 miles) south of The Hague.
It is small with limited but high quality facilities including an upmarket self-service restaurant, an attractive grand café/restaurant, a currency exchange bureau, a duty-free shop, a couple of other shops, good conference and business facilities, executive lounge and international car hire operators.
From here the RET airport shuttle bus runs to Rotterdam Central Station (15 minutes) from where you can take the train (around 25 minutes), bus or tram (50 minutes) to The Hague.
However Rotterdam receives relatively few flights and the vast majority of visitors fly into Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport.
Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport
Tel: 0900 7244 7465.
Website: www.schiphol.nl
Facilities include several banks, bureau de change and ATMs and a post office, dozens of restaurants, cafés bars and over 100 shops and first-class business facilities. All major national and local car hire operators, and travel agencies and tour operators are represented.
Trains depart every 30 minutes or so to The Hague and take 30 minutes. Schiphol is the country’s principal hub and one of the busiest airports in the world with hundreds of charter and scheduled flights calling daily.
Getting There By Road
Driving in The Hague is on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. speed limits are 120kph (75mph) on motorways and 50kph (30mph) in towns. An International Driving Permit is not required, as long as a national driving license from the country of origin is held. EU pink-format photocard licenses are accepted. A Green Card is advisable but not compulsory. Without it, drivers with motor insurance policies in their home country are granted only the minimum legal cover in The Netherlands - the Green Card tops this up to the level of cover provided by the driver's own policy.
Emergency breakdown services
ANWB Wegenwacht (tel: (088) 269 2888).
Coach services
Eurolines international coach services (tel: 954 907 844 or 902 405 040; www.eurolines.com) operates daily National Express services to Amsterdam, taking 11 to 12 hours.
Getting There By Rail
The Hague benefits from good rail links.
Rail Services
Den Hague Centraal Station (CS) is the well-equipped main railway station in The Hague. From here it is a 10-minute walk to the city center. Regular train services connect the city with Amsterdam (from 45 minutes away) and beyond.
Rail Operators
The Dutch rail network is operated by NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) (tel: 0900 9292/6; www.ns.nl). Eurostar (tel: 0870 518 6186; www.eurostar.com) runs from London to Brussels in just under two hours. The high speed Thalys (tel: 0900 9228; www.thalys.com) service links Brussels with Amsterdam, in about two hours.
Getting Around in The Hague, Netherlands
Public Transport
The Hague city center can be covered easily on foot with a good network of trams and buses covering outlying areas. The local tram and bus company is HTM (tel: (070) 384 8666; www.htm.net). Tram 1 runs from Delft to Scheveningen via the Centrum (city center) and Vredespaleis (Peace Palace). Timetables are available from the tourist office. Buying a one-day ticket or a strippenkaart (from the tourist office, post office or other outlets) is cheaper than buying single or return tickets. If you buy a strippenkaart (which come in either 15-45 strips), a basic fare is two strips plus an additional strip for each grenze (zone) you pass through.
Taxis
Reliable taxi firms include HCT City Tax (tel: (070) 383 0830), Hofstad Taxi (tel: (070) 346 2626), Rijswijkse Taxi Centrale (tel: (070) 390 6262) and Taxi Hegro (tel: (070) 386 0202).
Driving in the City
The main motorway routes into the city are the A4/A44 from Amsterdam, the A13 from Rotterdam and the A12 from Gouda and beyond.
The Hague is well supplied with parking options – there are 20 multi-story car parks dotted around the city, along with many on-street metered parking spaces, which can be paid for using cash, a 'chipknip' smart card available from the tourist office, or in some cases mobile phone or credit card. As in most large cities, though, traffic can be heavy at peak times.
Car Hire
All major national and international car hire companies operate from Amsterdam airport and several can also be found in Rotterdam airport. In The Hague, try Avis (tel: (070) 385 0698; www.avis.nl) and Hertz (tel: (070) 381 8989; www.hertz.com), or local operators Bloemfontein (tel: (070) 380 9874) and Low Price (tel: (070) 363 2609).
Bicycle Hire
Cycling is a very popular way of getting around town, with many dedicated cycle paths. Pay special attention to trams and other cyclists and never leave your bike unattended unlocked. Cycles can be hired at the railway station: ask at the station information desk.
