"Scheveningen: the beach resort of The... " a Scheveningen Travel Page by tijs

Of course, Scheveningen-Bad is the biggest beach resort of The Netherlands. It has a promenade along the sea with lots of pavillions, in front of it you'll find a crowded beach and pier, to the left is a surf beach, to the right is a nude beach, a gay beach and a silent beach and so on. It has lots of hotels, clubs, restaurants, casinos and nightlife.
And you need to make a walk on the pier and climb the tower of it to enjoy the view on the city. Scheveningen-Bad did not exist until Jacob Pronk built a bithing house (Kurhaus) in 1818. From the beginning it was a commercial success and it still is nowadays, being part of the Steigenberger hotel group and connected with a health and leasure center.

But there is more to see. Actually Scheveningen is not just a suburb of The Hague. It's an old fishing village which was already mentioned in books in the 13th century as 'terram de Sceveninghe'. And until the 12th century there was another village more inland of it, but because of the heavy sand storms this village had dissapeared. Most of the inhabitants of Scheveningen lived of the fish, that they sold in the nearby The Hague. It was not an easy life and many fishermen have been drowned with storms. In 1570 the houses west of the old church were all taken by the sea.

Near the old church, at the end of the Keizerstraat, you can still find a lot of little old houses and narrow streets full of flowers in pots.

And you should not miss the harbour: it breathes a special atmosphere, you can watch the fishing boats coming in and eat a herring. There are lots of good restaurants in the second harbour, much better than the restaurants near the boulevard. The harbour was digged after a heavy storm in 1894 destrayed the whole fleet of fisher boats on the beach.

On the boulevard you will find Sea Life, a sea aquarium for kids. Just behind the boulevard is a sculpture museum and not far away from there a museum about the history of the fishing village. In the harbour is the sea museum and an old army ship can be visited.

If you like nature, you have to hire a bike and cycle through the wonderful dunes and eat a pancake in Meijendel.