Scheveningen Beach, Den Haag, Holland, The Netherlands
Scheveningen is part of Den Haag, which is known as The Hague to us in the UK. Scheveningen was a bit surprise for me to be honest, I was a little shocked to see an amazingly long, wide sandy beach on the coast of the Netherlands! The beach is also complete with a pier, esplanade with some great beach bars and restaurants. A light house and of course not forgetting the nudist section to the north. I can’t comment on this part of the beach as there were too many bars to make it past before we could get there.
If you are into surfing, not the web kind, there are some reasonably good waves which had a few people riding on, I haven’t seen anyone windsurfing there yet but looks pretty good conditions for it, how I am now thinking back to being in Lancelin and wishing i had learned to windsurf… long story cut short, one of the best places in the world to windsurf, but it was too windy for me to learn. There were a few people testing their kites for kiteboarding/kitesurfing which judging by the waves would have been awesome.
I never set foot unto the peir, it didn’t look particularly that interesting, apart from you can bungy jump off the top. A pretty small bungy jump too compared to my AJ Hacket bungy, but it would have been fun i’m sure. I tried to get Dorota to do a tandem one with me, but she wasn’t feeling the excitement.
If i had gone here a couple of hundred years ago, in fact in 1654, i would have probably been killed. As the Battle of Scheveningen was fought here between the English and the Dutch. The amusing thing is that in Britain anyone not in the actual battle would have ran off, but in the Netherlands the dutch stood on the beach to watch! I was curious as to which side won, and to my estonishment from reading the wiki both sides did 😉
“Oddly both sides claimed a victory: the English because of their tactical superiority, the Dutch because the strategic goal of their attack, the lifting of the blockade, had been achieved”
Whilst on the wiki i noticed this interesting piece of trivia:
“There is anecdotal evidence of the name Scheveningen being used shibboleth during WWII to identify German spies: they would pronounce the initial “Sch” differently from Dutch native speakers”
There is an amazing hotel in Scheveningen called the Kurhaus Scheveningen, it was built by ze germans in 1884, and has recently been completely renovated and now is a high class hotel and casino.
So to sum it up, if you’re ever near Amsterdam it is most definitely worth a drive to the beach here, it’s about a 45 minute drive away and so worth it for a nice chilled relaxing day, and dare I say it… almost as nice as Brighton 🙂
Comment by Ken on 24 July 2008:
I always think of the Hagg as just a place to put war criminals on trial, I had no idea that there was a beach there either
Comment by Ken on 24 July 2008:
I always think of the Hagg as just a place to put war criminals on trial, I had no idea that there was a beach there either
Comment by Abby on 1 August 2008:
I love Holland, can’t wait to go next summer. I’ll hit Brussels too. Any tips for sites with info for my trip? I’ve found a few good one’s. See you all in Europe!
Comment by Abby on 1 August 2008:
I love Holland, can’t wait to go next summer. I’ll hit Brussels too. Any tips for sites with info for my trip? I’ve found a few good one’s. See you all in Europe!
Comment by Renee on 13 August 2008:
I’m glad to find your blog, I have been to this beach before but could never remember the name. It is such a beautiful area. I remember enjoying the great combination of old architecture and new art.
Comment by Renee on 13 August 2008:
I’m glad to find your blog, I have been to this beach before but could never remember the name. It is such a beautiful area. I remember enjoying the great combination of old architecture and new art.
Comment by Cecil Lee on 16 August 2008:
Hi Alex, great to find your interesting travel blog. To be frank, I did not know about this Scheveningen Beach of Holland at all. All the while and where I’ve been to is only Amsterdam as it’s mostly marketted tourist site of Holland. I hope I have a chance to visit Holland again one day and I’ll be sure to visit Scheveningen Beach, for its nudist section, perhaps?
Cheers!
Comment by Cecil Lee on 16 August 2008:
Hi Alex, great to find your interesting travel blog. To be frank, I did not know about this Scheveningen Beach of Holland at all. All the while and where I’ve been to is only Amsterdam as it’s mostly marketted tourist site of Holland. I hope I have a chance to visit Holland again one day and I’ll be sure to visit Scheveningen Beach, for its nudist section, perhaps?
Cheers!
Comment by cottages and castles on 21 August 2008:
Nice place and really great architecture 🙂 Can I send you any photos of good beach from another side of the world? It is called haeundae-gu, South Korea. It is beautiful as well.. But sometimes too crowded 🙂
Comment by cottages and castles on 21 August 2008:
Nice place and really great architecture 🙂 Can I send you any photos of good beach from another side of the world? It is called haeundae-gu, South Korea. It is beautiful as well.. But sometimes too crowded 🙂
Comment by Trevor Lee on 19 September 2008:
Totally agree, Amsterdam is not known for it’s beaches or surf!
But I’m spoilt as I live on the East Coast of Australia.
Comment by Trevor Lee on 19 September 2008:
Totally agree, Amsterdam is not known for it’s beaches or surf!
But I’m spoilt as I live on the East Coast of Australia.
Comment by Travel Posh on 21 September 2008:
Holland is a beautiful country, iv been to Amsterdam, Keukenhof Gardens in full bloom but havent been to Den Haag.
Comment by Travel Posh on 21 September 2008:
Holland is a beautiful country, iv been to Amsterdam, Keukenhof Gardens in full bloom but havent been to Den Haag.
Comment by Nepal Trekking on 8 December 2008:
Hi Alex, I like your travel blog. It is very Interesting.
Cheers!
Comment by Nepal Trekking on 8 December 2008:
Hi Alex, I like your travel blog. It is very Interesting.
Cheers!
Comment by Happy Hotelier on 18 February 2009:
Hi Alex
Glad I found you. I live and work 3 km (1.5 mile) from Scheveningen Harbour:-)
Comment by Happy Hotelier on 18 February 2009:
Hi Alex
Glad I found you. I live and work 3 km (1.5 mile) from Scheveningen Harbour:-)
Comment by B&B Blackpool on 22 August 2009:
Outside of the UK Holland (The Netherlands) is my favourite destination. Probably due to the fact the people there are very friendly. As an ex member of British Airborne Forces I will never forget the kindness shown by the people of Arnhem and Oosterbeek in recognition of the British losses at the battle in 1944.
The annual ceremony on September 17th where Dutch school children lay a flower on each British War grave in the cemetery in Oosterbeek brings a tear to even the most hardened paratroopers eye.
Comment by B&B Blackpool on 22 August 2009:
Outside of the UK Holland (The Netherlands) is my favourite destination. Probably due to the fact the people there are very friendly. As an ex member of British Airborne Forces I will never forget the kindness shown by the people of Arnhem and Oosterbeek in recognition of the British losses at the battle in 1944.
The annual ceremony on September 17th where Dutch school children lay a flower on each British War grave in the cemetery in Oosterbeek brings a tear to even the most hardened paratroopers eye.
Comment by touristravelling on 5 May 2010:
How can nobody mentions Madurodam , Hooland in miniature?
It is the most popular tourist site in Den Hagg.
You can see the whole country in less than one hour…
Comment by touristravelling on 5 May 2010:
How can nobody mentions Madurodam , Hooland in miniature?
It is the most popular tourist site in Den Hagg.
You can see the whole country in less than one hour…
Comment by El Cid Vacation on 21 June 2010:
i never knew Netherlands had a beach like this! so nice! 🙂
Comment by El Cid Vacation on 21 June 2010:
i never knew Netherlands had a beach like this! so nice! 🙂
Comment by travelling on 3 September 2010:
I highly recommend Panorama Masdach in De Hag.I was there last summer , travelling with friends that live in Almere.
I was so impressed by this 360 degrees old painting, few hundred meters long of an old village. I wonder why most of travel books do not mention it….Don’t miss it!!!!!
Comment by Marie on 4 May 2014:
Hi Alex! Thank you for your interesting blog! Especially I enjoyed to read this post about Den Haag, since I moved to the Netherlands a few month ago to study. I really liked this beach and of course all the bars:)
I wanted to ask you for a little help regarding my master thesis. It is about travel blogs and their impact on the tourist experience. I would be very happy to have a talk with you about it. If you are interested just contact me via email and I can give you more information:)
Greetings from Tilburg, Marie