Amsterdam Scheveningen

For non-Dutch speakers, pronouncing the name of this beach town due north of The Hague is usually an exercise in futility. (Pick your poison—Let’s Go has heard SHKHE-ven-ikh-er, SHAY-fen-ing-ger, and SKHAY-vuh-ning-gen. Attempt at your own risk.) Luckily, Scheveningen is easier done than said: a popular summer vacation spot for the Dutch, this carefree, libertine oasis is a hop, skip, and a jump from The Hague’s cultivated seriousness. Running right along the coast of the North Sea, Scheveningen’s main drag, Strandweg, is a long boardwalk packed end to end with hopping bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and souvenir stands. On most sunny summer days, the beaches are packed with all manner of little kids, tourists, locals, beach bums, and sunbathers, while the nightlife, focused around these themed beach bar-cafe-dance clubs, runs almost year-round.

Transportation And Practical Information. To reach Scheveningen from Amsterdam, you’ll have to at least pass through The Hague, from which trams #1 and 9 trace the path to the sea; just look for the hordes of bathing-suit-clad commuters on hot days. For sprightlier beach bums, well-marked paths provide a great hike or 30min. bike ride from The Hague (rent from Holland Spoor or Centraal Station, €6.50 per day), which you can then extend into a shoreline cycle trek. For bicycle rental in Scheveningen, your best bet is Du Nord Rijwielen, Keizerstraat 27-29, just off Strandweg, to the west of Gevers Deynootweg. (}/fax 355 4060. Rentals from €7 per day, €35 per week. Open Apr.-Oct. daily 10am-6pm; Nov.-Mar. Tu-Sa 10am-6pm.) The Scheveningen branch of the VVV, Gevers Deynootweg 1134, has info on rooms and can help book them for an €8 fee. Outside the office is a 24hr. Internet terminal that will set you back €0.10 per min. (☎0900 340 3505, €0.40 per min. Open Apr.-June and Sept. M-F 10am-6pm, Sa 10am-5pm, Su 10am-3pm; July-Aug. M-Th 10am-6pm, F 9am-7:30pm, Sa 10am-5pm, Su 10am-3pm; Oct.-Mar. M-F 10am-6pm, Sa 10am-5pm.)

Accommodations And Food. Accommodations in a beach resort like Scheveningen don’t come cheap. The large hotels along the beachfront cater to family vacationers and to more heavy spenders. Just off the main stretch, however, lie some noteworthy exceptions. Several more affordable hotels are located along Gevers Deynootweg, past the main boardwalk area, going back toward The Hague. In nice weather, it’s a good idea to book in advance. Hotel Mimosa 2, Renbaanstraat 18-24, is one such hotel only a five-minute walk from the beach. To get there, follow Rotterdamsestraat from Gevers Deynootweg and take a right onto Renbaanstraat. Its comfortable rooms come with TV and phone, access to a lovely breakfast room and back patio, and a nice, quiet location; everything is well run here. (☎354 8137; www.hotelmimosa.nl. Smaller singles with sink €52.50, larger singles with bath €85; doubles €75/115; triples €165.) If you don’t feel like biking that far, stay right above the Du Nord Rijwielen bike shop at the Empire Hotel 1, Keizerstraat 27A-29. Rooms here are a good deal—completely basic, completely clean, and just steps from the beach. (☎350 5752; www.hotelempire.nl. Shared bath and shower. Breakfast included. Singles €35; doubles €65; triples €85. Cash only.) Closer to the VVV, you’ll find the Hotel de Stern 2, Gevers Deynootweg 68, with its good selection of smaller and larger rooms at competitive prices. It’s nothing fancy, but with friendly, personal service two minutes from the beach, it’s got it where it counts. (☎350 4800; www.hoteldestern.nl. Breakfast included. Parking €8 per day. Singles €45-70; doubles €60-90; triples €120; quads €140. Cash only.) For those craving a big beachside hotel, Hotel Nordzee 3, Seinpostduin 24, has very standard rooms with TV, phone, and bath. Downstairs, the bar is open from 3pm to 3am, and a restaurant fires up the ovens during the week. Next door is a comfortable old wood house with larger rooms, operated by the same staff and owner. (☎352 3500. High-season singles €75; doubles €95; triples €120. Low-season singles €65; doubles €85. AmEx/MC/V.)

For picnicking supplies, the most basic stop is Albert Heijn supermarket, Keizerstraat 342. (Open M-Sa 8am-10pm, Su 10am-6pm.) Next door, Arjan van Leeuwen, Keizerstraat 338, is a charming cheese shop to complement your buys. (☎358 4845. Open M-Sa 8am-6pm, Su 8am-5pm.) Dining in Scheveningen is best done at any of the fresh-fish vendors that roll up to Strandweg and sell broodjes (around €4) and meals of cod, calamari, perch, and pike (€3-5). If you can’t land a vendor, Simonis 1, Strandweg 77-79, near the Scheveningen Pier, operates a snack shack just on the other side of the boulevard where you can get good fried fish and chips and snacks for around €4.50. (☎306 1619. Open daily 9am-9pm.) Most restaurants along Strandweg tend to double as bars and triple as dance clubs, and each one has a particularly garish theme, from the South Seas to giant gorillas to crazy pianos. (If you’re looking for nightlife that can be taken seriously, go back to The Hague.) Dinner at these places isn’t cheap, with main dishes running €10-20. If you want to get off the beachfront, nearby Keizerstraat, decorated with flags from around the world, also has some places to shop and to eat, including bakeries, falafel and kebab shops. Brada’s 1, Keizerstraat 158, is a source for Surinamese selections. (☎322 6623. Open M 1-9pm, Tu-Sa 11am-9pm, Su 4-9pm.) If you want something slightly fancier, the Indonesian sit-down restaurant Lombok, Stevinstraat 174, has delicious food in a comfortable, quieter, and less beachy environment. (☎355 9349. Open M-Tu and Th-Su 4pm-11pm. AmEx/MC/V.)

Sights. Strandweg stretches along the beach, scattered with outdoor terraces and a few carnivalesque attractions, including a small merry-go-round. The beach itself is dotted with beach clubs that serve food and have space where you can recline with a beer and catch some rays. These pre-fabricated huts change yearly, but the best ones tend to cluster at the less crowded northern end of the Strand. From the tram stop Circustheater, follow Badhuisweg to Gevers Deynootweg, then continue to the left until Harteveltstraat. A sculpture museum “on the sea” that advertises itself as “a silent sensation,” Beelden-aan-Zee, Harteveltstraat 1, houses no big names, and the pieces, culled from the slightly oddball collection of a family of Dutch industrialists, are mostly figurative work from the mid- to late 20th century. But it’s not just the art that you should come here to see: the museum, built under the foundations of a 19th-century pavilion and carved literally out of the sand, is a work of art itself. Large skylit galleries curve seamlessly around airy outdoor patios and push up against the sand of hilly beachside dunes. The panoramic views over the ocean offered by this unique space manage to obscure the roiling mess of street vendors and beach-hoppers on Strandweg below, giving the impression of stillness and quiet. (☎358 5857; www.beeldenaanzee.nl. Open Tu-Su 11am-5pm. €7, students and ages 5-18 €3.50.) Though the Scheveningen Pier dates back some 100 years, its recent renovations have erased the ravages of time. The walkway extends several hundred meters out above the ocean. Upstairs, you can walk in the open air, looking out over the sea and faraway windsurfers in one direction and the beach and its colorful clubs in the other. On the bottom level of the pier is a covered walkway filled with kitschy souvenir shops, a restaurant, and even a casino. An entry fee is required here. Bungee jumping over the North Sea is an option for the less faint of heart. (☎306 5500; www.pier.nl. Pier €1. Open daily 10am-10pm. Bungee €50. Open in summer noon-11pm.) If you’re looking for some family-friendly entertainment while in Scheveningen, try to visit Sea Life, Strandweg 13, on the way to the pier from Beelden-aan-Zee. This aquarium boasts an impressive collection of eels, sharks, sea turtles, and rays. Many of the fishes are native to the North Sea, but there is also an exhibit on the rainforest with piranhas, tropical fishes, and sea horses.(☎354 2100; www.sealife.nl. Open daily 10am-6pm. €11.50, ages 3-11 €7.50, over 65 €10.)