Private Tour: The Hague Walking Tour Including Hall of Knights Dutch Parliament
The Hague, Netherlands
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Trip Type: Private Sightseeing Tours
Duration: 3 hours
The seat of the Dutch government, The Hague is filled with many important sites that are best explored by foot. This private walking tour shows you highlights including Noordeinde Palace, the Tower of Rutte, Square 1813, the Prison Gate Museum, City Hall and the Parliament buildings around the Binnenhof, the cultural heart of the city established in the 13th century. End with a visit to the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal), where the Dutch king opens the Parliament each year.
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The seat of the Dutch government, The Hague is filled with many important sites that are best explored by foot. This private walking tour shows you highlights including Noordeinde Palace, the Tower of Rutte, Square 1813, the Prison Gate Museum, City Hall and the Parliament buildings around the Binnenhof, the cultural heart of the city established in the 13th century. End with a visit to the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal), where the Dutch king opens the Parliament each year.
Meet your guide at The Hague Central Station in the morning or afternoon. During your 3-hour private walking tour, discover The Hague’s most important cultural and historical landmarks, as well as those relating to the city’s royal and political heritage. Many of The Hague's top attractions are located within a small area, so a walking tour is the perfect way to explore. With a flexible itinerary, just let your guide know what interests you most!
As you’ll learn, The Hague is the seat of the government of the Netherlands. City life concentrates around the Hofvijver pond and the Binnenhof building complex, where the Parliament is located. On your walk you'll see several Parliament buildings, the International Court of Justice and the Tower of Rutte, which is the office of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. View the facade of Noordeinde Palace, one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family that is used as the ‘working palace’ of Dutch King Willem-Alexander.
Head to Prison Gate Museum for a look at the former prison of the Court of Holland. Despite its rather gruesome history as a penitentiary and place of torture, the museum gives a unique and interesting look at what life was once like for those jailed in Holland. (Entrance fee at own expense.)
Visit Square 1813, known in Dutch as Plein 1813, and explore the quadrangle city square dominated by the Monument of Independence, the largest 19th-century monument in the country. Your guide will explain how it commemorates the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands after the French occupation.
Make a stop at Hague City Hall, located in the new city center, and saunter down the busy Spui shopping street. Then, make your way to the highlight of your tour, the Hall of Knights.
The main building of the Binnenhof, the Hall of Knights was once the home of the Dutch counts in the Middle Ages. Now it's used for the state opening of the Parliament every year in September, when the Dutch King drives to Parliament in a golden carriage and delivers a speech from the throne. Inside this large Gothic hall, marvel at the magnificent stained glass windows depicting the coats of arms of Dutch towns.
Your guide will then walk you back to the starting point to conclude your tour.
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