There are some places you visit because they are on your itinerary, and then there are places you visit because there is one particular thing you simply cannot leave the country without seeing.
For me, that thing was Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. And it was on my itinerary the minute I realized it is very much possible to see it on a day trip from Amsterdam.
So, during my time in Amsterdam, I decided to make a day trip to The Hague – or Den Haag, as it is known in the Netherlands – to visit the Mauritshuis Museum and finally stand in front of the painting I had seen reproduced countless times.
Den Haag is most popular as the global hub of international law and the political heart of the Netherlands. While Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, The Hague is where the Dutch parliament (Binnenhof), Supreme Court, and cabinet reside. While I was looking forward to seeing the beautiful Binnenhof building, my main reason for the visit was, of course, The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
And because I enjoy travelling by road (and it is also very affordable), I decided to take a FlixBus from Amsterdam. The Flixbus stop is at Sloterdijk and the ticket gives you a map link to exact spot of the bus stop. I took a train to Sloterdijk from Amsterdam Centraal Station.
Amsterdam to The Hague by FlixBus
The Hague is an easy day trip from Amsterdam. The current FlixBus route takes as little as around 40 minutes, with buses connecting Amsterdam and The Hague throughout the day. The Hague stop is at Den Haag Centraal, making it particularly convenient for exploring the city on foot.
Amsterdam to The Hague by bus
I liked the idea of taking a bus rather than a train because I enjoy seeing a country from the road. There is something about travelling through a place at ground level that lets you notice details you would otherwise miss – roads, buildings, vehicles, signs and all those little everyday things that make one country feel different from another.
I had also enjoyed my bus travels in the USA for exactly this reason. A bus gives you a slightly different perspective from a car: you sit higher up, almost like having a bird’s-eye view of the road, while still being close enough to watch the landscape and towns pass by.
Arriving at Den Haag Centraal
Once I arrived at Den Haag Centraal, I could have taken local transport towards the centre. The Hague has an extensive network of trams and buses, and the central sights are well connected.
But I deliberately chose to walk.
Walking from Den Haag Central to Mauritshuis Museum
It wasn’t the fastest option, but I wasn’t in a hurry. And this was a chance to see the city a little bit. I wanted to experience The Hague rather than simply get from the bus station to the museum. And this turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the day.
The Mauritshuis itself is only about a 10-minute walk from The Hague Central Station, so walking is perfectly manageable if you enjoy exploring cities on foot. There was a “Blow Up” festival going on when I visited and huge inflatables were everywhere, even on popular landmarks. I don’t what to think about it. I would have loved to see the city as it has been all through the decades, but I guess I have to accept the modern sensibilities also.
The Hague immediately felt different from Amsterdam. There was a lovely mixture of grand historic buildings, wide streets, elegant architecture and the feeling of a city that is both historic and very much part of present-day Dutch life.
But I had one important appointment.
The girl was waiting.
First Stop: Mauritshuis
The Mauritshuis was the main reason for my day trip.
Mauritshuis Museum
Housed in a beautiful historic building in the heart of The Hague, the museum has one of the world’s most celebrated collections of Dutch and Flemish paintings from the 17th century. Its highlights include works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and other great masters.
I had deliberately booked an early time slot.
And if you are visiting the Mauritshuis primarily to see Girl with a Pearl Earring, I would strongly recommend doing the same.
Go straight to the Girl with a Pearl Earring
The moment I entered, I made a beeline for Vermeer’s famous painting.
No wandering around first.
No “I’ll come back to it later.”
I wanted to see her before the room filled up.
And I’m very glad I did.
When I reached the painting, there were relatively few people around it, so I could actually stand there and take it in.
Then I went on to explore the rest of the museum at my own pace.
Perhaps half an hour or so later, I happened to pass through the same room again.
What a difference.
There was now a crowd gathered around the painting.
That tiny experience completely confirmed my strategy: if there is one enormously popular painting you particularly want to see, go to it first.
The Mauritshuis itself recommends booking a ticket and time slot in advance because of visitor demand. Once inside, you can stay as long as you like.
But don’t rush out after seeing Vermeer
It would be a shame to treat the Mauritshuis as simply the place where Girl with a Pearl Earring lives.
There is so much more to see.
The collection includes Vermeer’s View of Delft, Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, Fabritius’ The Goldfinch and works by Frans Hals, Clara Peeters and other important artists.
Mauritshuis Artwork collection
The museum has an especially lovely Vermeer connection: Girl with a Pearl Earring, View of Delft and Diana and Her Nymphs are part of the collection.
There are also 11 Rembrandts in the museum, including The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp and one of Rembrandt’s final self-portraits.
And then there is The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius — another small painting that has a remarkable presence despite its size.
The museum estimates that you need around 90 minutes to meet all the masters, although naturally you can spend much longer if you are an art lover.
The beautiful Mauritshuis Museum
A little Mauritshuis shopping
Before leaving, I also had a look around the museum shop.
It is in the foyer, so you don’t need a museum admission ticket simply to visit the shop. It has art books, postcards, gifts and various art-inspired souvenirs.
Found this hilarious title at the museum shop!
I always like museum shops. They are often a much better place to find souvenirs connected to a destination than the usual tourist shops.
And after all that art, I was ready for a little break.
A Quiet Pause by the Hofvijver
Just outside the Mauritshuis (exactly behind the museum house) is one of the most beautiful views in central The Hague: the Hofvijver.
This historic pond sits right beside the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis, and the view across the water towards the museum is particularly lovely. Mauritshuis actually looks in its full glory from across the Pond. And there is, of course, the Binnenhof – the historic 13th-century complex that serves as the political heart of the country and the oldest active parliamentary building in the world.
The Hofvijver garden has a lovely wooded path and a beautiful view of the Mauritshuis and the Binnenhof (Dutch Parliament) building across the pond.
Instead of rushing to the next attraction, I found a bench, took out some snacks and simply sat there for a while.
This was one of those completely unplanned moments that I remember more vividly than some of the “must-see” sights.
The beautiful museum across the water, people walking around, the historic buildings surrounding the pond – it was a lovely place to just stop.
Sometimes a day trip is better when you don’t fill every minute of it.
Walking Past the Prison Gate Museum
The Blow-Up festival had taken over the Prison Gate Museum but I did walk through the entrance tunnel.
From the Hofvijver, I continued walking through the historic centre towards Museum de Gevangenpoort, or the Prison Gate Museum.
The building dates back to the 13th century, when it was a gate to the outer courtyard of the Counts of Holland’s castle. From 1428, it became a prison and remained one for about four centuries. It eventually became a museum in the 19th century.
I didn’t actually visit the museum itself.
Instead, I saw the imposing entrance from outside and walked through the historic, tunnel-like passageway.
It was one of those unexpected architectural details that made walking around The Hague so enjoyable. You don’t necessarily need to enter every attraction to appreciate the history of a city.
If you do want to visit the museum, though, it is a proper museum experience, with medieval prison cells, historical displays and the collection of instruments of torture and punishment.
Wandering Through The Hague
By this point, I had stopped thinking of the day as a checklist. The place had so much more to offer than the items on my checklist! I saw pretty stores, unique window displays, lively squares, interesting signs on old buildings…
I simply walked and took it all in.
And that is something I would recommend doing in The Hague.
The city centre has beautiful streets and historic architecture, but it also has shops, cafés, galleries and everyday city life woven into it. You can move from a centuries-old building to a modern shop within minutes.
Eventually, I reached De Passage, the elegant covered shopping arcade in the centre of The Hague.
It was fun to simply walk through, look at the shops and window-shop.
De Passage and HMV shop – this made me linger!
One of the places I particularly wanted to check out was HMV. As someone who loves music and physical media, I naturally had to have a look around.
The store carries music, films, books and entertainment-related merchandise, so it was a completely different experience from the art museum I’d just come from.
And this is another thing I like about exploring cities on foot: you can move between completely different worlds without deliberately planning to.
A museum.
A historic prison gate.
A pond beside medieval government buildings.
A beautiful shopping arcade.
A music store.
All within one walk.
The Beach at Scheveningen – The Part I Didn’t Get To
My original plan was actually to continue towards Scheveningen, The Hague’s famous seaside district.
I wanted to take a tram out to the beach and add a completely different side of the city to the day – historic centre in the morning, North Sea coast in the afternoon.
The Hague’s tram and bus network makes Scheveningen quite accessible from the city centre and central railway stations. Depending on where you start, several tram and bus routes connect the centre with the beach.
That would have made a lovely ending to the day.
But sometimes travel plans have a way of rewriting themselves. And I believe that things you miss have a way of calling you back to that place!
Here’s my original itinerary lol!
Instead, I started making my way back towards the station because my phone battery had died and, rather unhelpfully, my power bank wasn’t working either. Without a working phone, navigating an unfamiliar city and keeping track of the return journey suddenly became much less appealing.
One last look at the view from the Hofjiver and I walked through it back to the station
And that is when my perfectly organised day trip became slightly less organised.
The FlixBus I Missed
I had booked my return journey to Amsterdam with FlixBus.
The problem was that I was relying on Omio for updates, and I didn’t receive the kind of notification I was expecting. The bus wasn’t there on time and there was no way for me to know if it was late, or any way to track it or contact anyone. Add to that a dying phone battery.
There was another little complication: the bus I was looking for was white, rather than the green FlixBus coaches I was accustomed to seeing. But I didn’t know that because I received no notifications about it. It is only later on my other FlixBus travels throughout Europe, which I booked directly through the Flixbus App, that I realized that FlixBus sends you notifications, what to look for, where to stand exactly, live running status of the bus etc.
It took me a couple of hours to realize that the bus had either not arrived or I had missed it.
For a few moments, I genuinely panicked.
This was only my second full day in Europe, I was in a city I didn’t know particularly well, my planned bus was gone, and I had that horrible travel feeling of:
“Oh no. How am I getting back?”
And then I remembered something very useful about travelling in Europe.
I was standing at a major railway station.
Of course there were options.
I walked into the station, asked for help, bought a ticket for an NS Intercity to Amsterdam, and before long I was on my way back.
Problem solved.
And honestly, this little mishap ended up teaching me something I now keep in mind when travelling:
Missing one connection does not necessarily mean you’re stranded.
Especially in a city with a major transport hub, take a breath, walk inside the station and ask.
There is usually another way.
My Ideal Amsterdam – The Hague Day Trip
View of the Binnenhof, Mauritshuis and other buildings from across the Hofjiver
If I were planning this day again, I would structure it something like this:
| Time of day | What to do |
|---|---|
| Morning | FlixBus from Amsterdam to Den Haag |
| Morning | Walk from Den Haag Centraal towards the centre |
| Early morning | Mauritshuis — go straight to Girl with a Pearl Earring |
| Late morning | Explore the rest of the Mauritshuis |
| Around midday | Hofvijver — snacks, bench and a little downtime |
| Afternoon | Walk past Museum de Gevangenpoort |
| Afternoon | Explore The Hague city centre |
| Later afternoon | De Passage + shopping/window-shopping |
| Later afternoon | HMV |
| Late afternoon/evening | Tram to Scheveningen beach |
| Evening | Return to Amsterdam |
The exact order can easily be changed depending on your museum time slot and transport schedule.
And if you are particularly interested in Girl with a Pearl Earring, build your day around your Mauritshuis entry time rather than treating the museum as a casual stop.
Is The Hague Worth a Day Trip from Amsterdam?
Absolutely.
What surprised me most was how much variety I managed to experience in a single day without feeling as though I was constantly rushing from one attraction to another.
There was art.
History.
Architecture.
Shopping.
A beautiful pond.
And, if I had followed my original plan, the North Sea beach at Scheveningen too.
I also loved that I could do so much of the day simply by walking.
The Hague is the kind of city where the spaces between attractions become part of the experience. You see a beautiful building while looking for a café. You stumble across a historic passage while walking somewhere else. You find yourself sitting beside a pond with a packet of snacks instead of ticking another sight off your list.
And, of course, there was the girl.
After travelling all the way from Amsterdam to The Hague to see her, was Girl with a Pearl Earring worth it?
For me, yes.
Not because a photograph of the painting doesn’t exist online – of course it does.
But because there is something about standing in front of the original, in the room where it hangs, and seeing the tiny details for yourself that a screen simply cannot reproduce.
That was the whole point of the day.
I had gone to The Hague to meet the girl with the pearl earring.
And somewhere along the way, I discovered that I rather liked the city she lives in too 🙂
Practical Tips for Your The Hague Day Trip
Book Mauritshuis in advance. The museum recommends an online ticket and time slot because of visitor demand.
Go to the most famous painting first. If Girl with a Pearl Earring is your priority, don’t assume you’ll be able to walk straight up to it later. My early visit gave me a much quieter experience.
Consider walking from Den Haag Centraal. The Mauritshuis is only around a 10-minute walk from the station, and walking lets you experience the city rather than simply crossing it by tram.
Leave time for the Hofvijver. It is an ideal place to pause between sightseeing stops.
Don’t confuse the Prison Gate Museum with its exterior passage. I only explored the historic entrance from outside; visiting the actual museum requires admission.
If you want the beach, plan for Scheveningen. The centre is well connected to the seaside by public transport.
For your return bus, check the actual stop and departure information carefully. Don’t rely only on the colour of the coach or a third-party app’s notifications. FlixBus provides the current stop information with the booking.
And finally, if something goes wrong, don’t panic before you’ve checked your alternatives. Den Haag Centraal is a major transport hub, and my missed bus turned into a train ride back to Amsterdam rather than the travel disaster I had imagined for those first few minutes.
Planning your own Amsterdam – The Hague trip? I also wrote about my experience travelling around Europe by FlixBus – including why I enjoy seeing countries from the road rather than always taking the train.
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