Mauritshuis Museum Tickets The Hague

The Mauritshuis, a 17th-century city palace

The Mauritshuis was built between 1633 and 1644 as a city residence for a Dutch count who governed the colony in Brazil, and it still carries his name. Its elegant facade of brick and sandstone, with tall pilasters and a crisp triangular pediment, is one of the finest examples of Dutch Classicism, and it rises straight from the water of the Hofvijver, next to the Binnenhof parliament complex.

The palace became a national picture gallery in 1822, built around paintings collected by the princes of Orange. A major renovation completed in 2014 added an underground foyer that links the old palace to an Art Deco building across the street, giving space for a shop, a cafe and temporary exhibitions while the historic rooms keep their intimate, almost residential feel.

Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age

The collection is compact but extraordinary. Its most beloved work shows a young girl in a blue and yellow turban turning over her shoulder, her lips parted and a single luminous drop shining at her ear. Nearby hang a serene view of a Dutch town across the water under a vast sky of clouds, a dramatic group portrait of surgeons gathered around an anatomy demonstration, and a tiny bird chained to its perch against a pale wall.

Look out too for a life-size young bull standing in a meadow, cheerful household scenes full of children and animals, river landscapes under towering clouds and small still lifes of shells and strawberries painted with jewel-like precision. Flemish portraits complete the picture of a century when art in the Low Countries reached an exceptional level. Is the Mauritshuis worth visiting? For anyone who loves painting, it is one of the highlights of the Netherlands.

Planning your visit: time slots, app and rules

Entry tickets are sold with a timed entry slot to control the number of visitors; the slots available on this page currently run from 11:00 to 16:00. Once inside you can stay as long as you like, and most visitors spend about an hour and a half. For the Mauritshuis opening hours on national holidays, check your confirmation or message us before you go.

There is no physical audio guide, so download the official museum app before your visit and bring your own headphones. A highlights tour is offered in many languages, with full audio coverage in English and Dutch. Selfie sticks, flash photography and large bags are not allowed inside, and lockers are provided. The best time to visit the Mauritshuis is the first slot of the day or late afternoon, when the rooms are calmer.

Around the Mauritshuis: the Hofvijver and the Binnenhof

The museum stands at Plein 29, in the political heart of The Hague. From its windows and from the pond-side path you look across the Hofvijver to the towers of the Binnenhof, where the Dutch parliament has met for centuries around the Gothic Hall of Knights. The Plein square in front of the museum is lined with outdoor cafes and government buildings.

If you are wondering how to get to the Mauritshuis, it is about ten minutes on foot from Den Haag Centraal station, and trams stop at the nearby Buitenhof and Centrum stops. After your visit, stroll along the Lange Voorhout avenue, explore the old streets around the Grote Kerk or take a canal cruise to see the city from the water.