The Rotterdam Marathon finishes on the Coolsingel on Sunday afternoon. Twenty-five minutes north by train is a city with government buildings along tree-lined canals, the best collection of Dutch Golden Age painting outside Amsterdam, and three kilometres of North Sea beach.
The Hague - Den Haag in Dutch - is not a city that announces itself. What it has instead of Rotterdam's deliberate visual drama is a kind of considered elegance that becomes apparent slowly.
April in The Hague and Scheveningen: The North Sea in April is cold: around 9°C. The beach clubs that pack Scheveningen in summer are either closed or just opening their outer terraces. The Bloemencorso Flower Parade passes through The Hague from Noordwijk on 18 April 2026, which depending on your marathon date may coincide with your visit and would make the city considerably more crowded than usual. Outside of parade day, April is manageable.
Night One: The Hague
Trains from Rotterdam Centraal to Den Haag Centraal run every ten minutes; the journey takes 25--30 minutes (approximately €6 single on an OV-chipkaart). Den Haag Centraal is a ten-minute walk from the Binnenhof.
The Binnenhof is the working parliament of the Netherlands, a medieval courtyard complex housing Dutch governance since the thirteenth century. The Ridderzaal, built as a ballroom by Count William II around 1250, still hosts the state opening of parliament. Entry to the courtyard itself is free; guided tours of the interior run approximately 90 minutes.
A two-minute walk from the Binnenhof brings you to the Mauritshuis - a seventeenth-century merchant's house now containing one of the most precisely selected small collections of Dutch painting anywhere. Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring is the headline, though Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp makes an equally strong claim. Entry approximately €17.50; book online in advance during April. Two hours covers it thoroughly. The building is compact and largely level.
From the Mauritshuis, follow Lange Vijverberg west along the Hofvijver pond to Noordeinde Palace, the working palace of King Willem-Alexander. The Passage shopping arcade opposite - a glass-roofed galleria from 1885, the oldest in the Netherlands - is worth stepping into.
Where to stay: The Hotel des Indes on Lange Voorhout has been running since 1881 and retains a period grandeur that The Hague's diplomatic neighbourhood suits particularly well. Park Centraal Den Haag on Koninginnegracht is a more moderately priced option in a converted art deco building.
Where to eat: Haagsche Bluf on Molenstraat is a Dutch brasserie with a seasonal menu; the Monday after a marathon, walk-in is generally possible. Restaurant Grasso on Papestraat does Italian at a price that makes sense after a weekend that included hotel and race entry costs.
Scheveningen
From Den Haag Centraal, Tram 1 or 9 reaches Scheveningen in approximately 20 minutes. The beach is approximately 4.3km (2.7 miles) from Den Haag Centraal on foot; the tram is strongly recommended on post-marathon legs.
Scheveningen's boardwalk (Boulevard) runs for approximately 3km: entirely flat, with beach clubs, restaurants, and an occasional waffle stand on one side and the North Sea on the other. In April, terraces are operating but the sand remains mostly clear. A walk from the pier south to the quieter dune section and back covers about 2.5km (1.5 miles), with bench seating at regular intervals.
The pier extends 382 metres into the sea; walking it takes about ten minutes each way. The Beelden aan Zee sculpture museum at the northern end of the boulevard is built partially into the dune line and focuses on figurative twentieth- and twenty-first-century sculpture. Entry approximately €14.
Where to eat in Scheveningen: Seinpost on Zeekant sits at the edge of the dune system with a dining room facing the water. The fish is from the working harbour. Booking recommended. Beach Club Jansz on the boulevard has a covered terrace and decent mussels.
Getting Back to Rotterdam
Tram 1 or 9 from Scheveningen back to Den Haag Centraal (20 minutes), then train to Rotterdam Centraal (25--30 minutes). Trains run until late evening; no advance booking required.