Where to live in The Hague, school by school

If you are moving with children, start by picking the right school. The international schools in and around The Hague are spread across the city and even a bit beyond it,
and families tend to look for a home within easy reach of theirs. Choose the school first and the list of neighbourhoods worth viewing usually shortens to three or four.

If you are moving without children, the same logic applies but now for your work: start from where you will spend your days.

Below, we set out where international families look for each of the main schools, then how the city divides by character. Both routes end at the same place: a short list of streets rather than a whole city.

Start by picking the school, not the house

Half of all international pupils in the Netherlands go to an international school in The Hague. For a family moving here, the school is usually the one fixed point:
the job may be anywhere in the region, but the children travel to the same place every day. That makes the school the most useful place to start a search.

Government-funded or independent

We can categorise the international schools here in two categories. Government-funded international schools are partly subsidised by the Dutch state, which keeps their fees considerably lower, but admission depends on your situation.

Mainly being a foreign nationality with a parent working in the Netherlands, or Dutch children returning after more than two years of schooling abroad.

Independent international schools generally follow the curriculum of their home country, and their fees often range between €17.000 and €27.000 a year.

It is worth settling which kind your school is before you set a figure for housing, because both come out of the same monthly budget and the difference between them is substantial.

Where expat families search, school by school

The overview below combines each school's location with the areas where the international families we work with usually start their search.
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It is drawn from practice rather than from a database, so treat each area as a place to begin looking rather than a boundary. Where we have a page on a neighbourhood, the name links to it.

Two more schools draw many international families. The European School The Hague, on Oostduinlaan, teaches towards the European Baccalaureate from age 4 to 18.

The German International School, on Van Bleiswijkstraat, leads to the German International Abitur. Both are in the city itself, so the same approach stays the same, you start from the address.

If your children will go to a Dutch school

Dutch state schools have routes for children who do not yet speak Dutch. From the age of 12, an international transition class, known as ISK,
teaches Dutch intensively for one or two years before pupils move into regular classes.

Primary pupils aged 11 to 12 whose Dutch is not yet strong enough can follow a transition class called a kopklas.

Bilingual education, tweetalig onderwijs, teaches part of the curriculum in English, but final exams are in Dutch and a solid grounding in Dutch is needed to enrol.

Choosing a Dutch school also removes the fixed point from your search: most neighbourhoods have a primary school nearby, so the choice of area can follow your other priorities.

Some schools pull you to the edge of the city

The International School of The Hague, one of the largest international schools in the country, is in Kijkduin on the southwest side of the city, close to the dunes.

Families there usually look at Waldeck-Noord, the Bloemenbuurt, Bohemen and Loosduinen: residential areas near the school, rather than the better-known neighbourhoods close to the centre.

The British School in the Netherlands has its main junior and senior campus in Leidschenveen, on the outskirts of The Hague.

Families at that campus tend to look at Nootdorp, Ypenburg and De Lanen, which put the school within easy reach.
The school also has a junior campus at Vlaskamp in Mariahoeve and a senior school in Voorschoten, just outside the city.

The American School of The Hague is not in The Hague but in Wassenaar, and families at the school usually look for a home there too.

Wassenaar is a separate municipality and outside the area we cover. If the American School is your fixed point, Wassenaar is where to start, and the northeast of The Hague is the closest part of the city itself.

If you are moving without school-age children

Start from where you will spend your working days. The Hague is compact enough to cross by bike, so the question is less which neighbourhood is closest than which side of the city your work is on.

Den Haag Centraal and Hollands Spoor handle the train connections to Rotterdam, Leiden and Amsterdam, which matters if your office is elsewhere in the region.

Sea, centre or green

Once you know which part of the city you are aiming for, the neighbourhoods fall into three broad kinds.

The groups are a starting point rather than a verdict, and several areas sit between two of them.

Each name links to our page on that neighbourhood, with more on the area and the kind of homes you will find there. If you are weighing two of them, that is the place to compare.

By the sea

• Scheveningen, on the coast itself, from the harbour to the beach
• Belgisch Park, just behind the beach and the dunes at Scheveningen
• Statenkwartier, strategically located between the city and the sea

Close to the centre

• Zeeheldenkwartier, just west of the city centre
• Archipelbuurt, just north of the centre
• Duinoord, between the Zeeheldenkwartier and the Statenkwartier
• Regentessekwartier, west of the city centre
• Valkenboskwartier, a bit further west, beyond the Regentessekwartier

Green and residential

• Benoordenhout, on the east side, by the Haagse Bos and Clingendael
• Bezuidenhout, east of the centre, next to the Haagse Bos
• Bomenbuurt, a quiet residential area on the west side
• Vruchtenbuurt, a family neighbourhood on the southwest side

You can also browse all the neighbourhoods we cover in one place.

Start by renting, or buy straight away

Renting first is a common route for internationals, especially on a posting of one to five years: it lets you test a neighbourhood against the school run and your commute before you commit.

If you are planning to buy from the start, our guide to buying a house in the Netherlands as a foreigner explains the process, the costs involved and the ways to get a mortgage.

Choosing an area before you arrive

You do not have to be in The Hague to start. A first conversation can take place at our office here, but also by video call.

Bring the name of the school and your work address, because with those two, most of the choices in this guide can be narrowed down to a handful of streets before you ever travel over for a viewing.

If you want to see what is available now, start with the homes we currently have for sale.

If you would rather have someone handle the search, the viewings and the bidding for you, this is what working with us on a purchase involves.

Either way, the school and the work address are the two things to have ready.

Frequently asked questions

Which neighbourhoods are popular with international families in The Hague?

It depends on the school more than on the neighbourhood. Families at the International School of The Hague tend to look around Kijkduin, at HSV around the centre and Benoordenhout, and at the International Waldorf School around Scheveningen and the Statenkwartier. American School families usually live in Wassenaar, and British School families at Leidschenveen in Nootdorp or Ypenburg.

Where do families at the International School of The Hague live?

Most start with the residential areas close to the school in Kijkduin, on the southwest side of the city: Waldeck-Noord, the Bloemenbuurt, Bohemen and Loosduinen. Living closer to the centre is possible, but the daily journey out to the dunes then becomes the main thing to weigh against whatever the neighbourhood itself offers.

Can we live in The Hague and send our children to the American School?

You can, but most families at the American School live in Wassenaar, where the school is. Living in The Hague is possible, and the northeast of the city is the closest part, but the daily journey is the factor to test before you commit to an address. Try the route at school time before you sign anything, not on a quiet weekend afternoon.

Is it better to rent first when moving to The Hague?

For many internationals, yes. Renting for the first year lets you test a neighbourhood against the school run and your commute before you commit, and it avoids buying costs on a stay that may turn out shorter than planned. If you already know you are staying longer, buying straight away can make sense, and the costs are easier to justify.

Can I choose a neighbourhood before I move?

Yes. Start from the school and your work address, narrow the city down to three or four neighbourhoods, and view homes in a single trip once you have a shortlist. A first conversation with us can take place by video call, so the groundwork can be done well before you arrive and the trip itself can be spent on viewings.

Sources

• International pupils in The Hague: Gemeente Den Haag, International education in The Hague
• Government-funded and independent schools, fees, admission and Dutch school routes: The Hague International Centre
• School locations and curricula: The Hague International Centre and the schools' own websites
• Where families look: HAYMAN Real Estate, from practice

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