The Hague hides its best free assets in plain sight: 11km of North Sea beach, three dune reserves inside the tram network, and open courtyards where the government actually sits. Add €2.50 haring and €7 Surinamese roti and three days cost less than one Amsterdam night.
A 100-hectare medieval forest that gave the city its name, open dawn to dusk with no gate and no fee. Sandy paths loop past the fenced grounds of Huis ten Bosch, the working royal residence. Enter at Bezuidenhoutseweg; tram 9 stops at Malieveld.
The King's working-palace garden opens free to the public daily from sunrise until sunset, with lawns, a rose parterre and the orangery. Entrances on Noordeinde and Hogewal. Closed only during state ceremonies; benches allow picnics.
The 1913 seat of the International Court of Justice, funded by Andrew Carnegie. The Visitors Centre beside the gate is free and holds the World Peace Flame plus donated national gifts. Interior tours only on select weekends and sell out weeks ahead.
The 382-metre 1961 pier is free to walk end to end, with two enclosed decks over the North Sea. The tiled boulevard by Manuel de Solà-Morales runs 1.8km south past the Sprookjesbeeldenaan Zee sculptures of Tom Otterness, all open air.
Europe's largest open-air market: over 500 stalls across Herman Costerstraat, open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 09:00–17:00. Turkish, Surinamese and Moroccan traders sell produce by the crate; a kilo of tomatoes runs about €1.
A working fish stall at the Scheveningen auction quay where Hollandse Nieuwe herring is served with raw onion and pickle. Prices sit well under the tourist boulevard's; a broodje kibbeling with garlic sauce feeds you properly for pocket change.
The Transvaal strip behind the market is lined with Surinamese-Hindustani warungs selling roti kip with potato, kousenband beans and boiled egg. Portions are plate-sized and takeaway-wrapped; bami and pom sell by the plastic tub from the counter.
The square ringed by De Zwarte Ruiter and Boterwaag turns into the city's cheapest terrace after work. A cone of Vlaamse frites with joppiesaus and a bowl of bitterballen splits between two people for the price of one canal-side beer in Amsterdam.
A 1,800-hectare drinking-water dune reserve of marked trails, ponds and Highland cattle, free to enter on foot and bike. Bus 23 from Den Haag Centraal reaches the Meijendel entrance; paths climb to sand ridges with views to the sea and the city skyline.
The HTM tram 1 runs 24km from the beach through the old centre and out to Delft, one of the longest tram lines in the Netherlands. On an OV-chipkaart or contactless bank card the whole ride costs a few euro and doubles as a moving city tour.
The quieter southern beach, backed by dunes and free to access at any hour. Walk 3km south along the tideline to the Zandmotor, an experimental 21-million-cubic-metre sand peninsula built in 2011, now a lagoon and kitesurf flat with no facilities.
The Binnenhof's reflecting pond lights up after dusk with the parliament facade mirrored in still water. Loop north up Lange Voorhout, the lime-tree avenue of embassies where the Escher palace stands, then along Denneweg's lit shopfronts.