Netherlands · Provincie Zuid-Holland · The Hague
Centre, The Hague — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Centre is the innermost district of The Hague, the stadsdeel that holds the historic core and the seat of national government. The Torentje, the prime minister's working office, stands over the Hofvijver, and the Mauritshuis rises beside it. Museums crowd the old streets. Around them run the main shopping lanes and the government quarter that gives the district its formal, capital-city character.
About Centre
Where to stay in Centre
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Staying in the Centre puts a visitor within walking distance of most of what draws people to The Hague. The museum cluster around the Mauritshuis and the Escher Museum is on the doorstep, and the ministries, main shops, and evening cafes sit within the same few streets. Sightseeing is the point here.
On foot you can reach the Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk, the Panorama Mesdag, and the Hofvijver. Rooms run mostly to business and mid-range hotels near the courts. For quieter or cheaper beds, look out toward Segbroek or the coast at Scheveningen.
About Centre
What are the main landmarks in Centre?
The Mauritshuis holds the district's best-known collection, a short walk from the Escher Museum in the old Lange Voorhout palace. Nearby stand the Gallery Prince Willem V and the Museum Bredius, both hung with old-master paintings. Panorama Mesdag keeps its circular seascape a few streets away.
The Mesdag Collection sits beside it. Two medieval churches anchor the old skyline: the Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk with its hexagonal tower and the Nieuwe Kerk, with the Kloosterkerk standing on the Lange Voorhout. Smaller houses honour writers and books, among them the Louis Couperus Museum, the Literature Museum, and the Kinderboekenmuseum.
What is the history of Centre?
The district grew up around the Binnenhof, the walled court of the medieval counts of Holland, which gave The Hague its start and remains the country's political seat. That court fixed the city's role. The Torentje beside it served as an office within that complex.
In the seventeenth century the town spread outward: the Mauritshuis went up as the residence of Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, and the Nieuwe Kerk was raised as a Protestant church, its churchyard later receiving the philosopher Spinoza. The older Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk had already stood for centuries as the parish church. By the Gevangenpoort, a former city gate turned prison, the De Witt brothers met a violent end at the hands of a mob.
Where is Centre?
The district fills the middle of The Hague, ringed by the city's other quarters rather than the shore. Its heart is the Hofvijver, the rectangular court pond whose still water mirrors the government buildings ranged along the southern bank. The Lange Voorhout runs north.
Segbroek lies to the west and Laak to the southeast, while the coast at Scheveningen begins only a short way to the northwest.
Good for
More areas in The Hague
Updated July 2026