Scheveningen is The Hague's seaside district and one of the most popular beach resorts in the Netherlands. What was once a small fishing village is now a long stretch of sandy beach backed by a boulevard of restaurants, bars, and hotels — but it still has more character than most Dutch beach towns.
The Scheveningen Pier is the centrepiece, jutting out over the North Sea with a Ferris wheel at its end and views up and down the coast. The Kurhaus, a grand 19th-century hotel, anchors the boulevard and is worth a look inside even if you are not staying there. Behind the Kurhaus the Beelden aan Zee sculpture museum is half-buried in the dune. North of the main beach, Scheveningen Haven retains something of the village's fishing past — there is a daily fish auction, a couple of good fish restaurants, and the Muzee Scheveningen, a small museum about the village's history.
The beach itself is broad and clean, backed by a row of beach clubs (strandtenten) that open from April through September. In summer it gets packed, especially on warm weekends, but walk ten minutes north or south and you will find space. The water is the North Sea — swimmable in July and August if you don't mind a chill, and popular with surfers year-round. The southern end is anchored by the red-and-white striped Scheveningen Lighthouse and the cliff-edge viewpoint at Seinpost. For families, the miniature park Madurodam is five minutes south, and the Circustheater hosts long-running Dutch musicals just inland of the Kurhaus.
Scheveningen is easy to reach from The Hague's city centre: tram 1 or 9 gets you there in fifteen minutes. Most visitors combine a day at the beach with a trip to The Hague itself, which has the Mauritshuis, the Binnenhof, and good Indonesian food.