Cycling in Den Haag: What Nobody Tells You Before You Get on a Bike

I came from Warsaw, where cycling is an act of controlled aggression. Den Haag surprised me completely. The infrastructure is real. The culture is real. The unwritten rules are also very real, and nobody will explain them to you until you’ve broken several.

The Infrastructure

Den Haag has proper segregated cycling lanes across most of the city. Not the painted-line-on-the-road kind you get in cities that are trying. Actual separate paths, often with their own traffic lights. The route from Laakhaven to the Centrum is almost entirely separated from car traffic. The coastal route to Scheveningen is excellent. The canal routes through the older parts of the city are beautiful and largely car-free.

The main exception: the city centre around the Binnenhof and Grote Markt. Narrow historic streets, mixed traffic, tram tracks. The tram tracks are the thing to watch. If your wheel catches a tram track at the wrong angle, you will fall. This has happened to me twice. It will probably happen to you once.

The Unwritten Rules

Dutch cyclists do not slow down for pedestrians who step into the cycle lane without looking. This is not aggression. It is the assumption that public space has rules and that everyone follows them. The cycle lane is the cycle lane. If you are in it and not cycling, you will be beeped at, and it will not be a polite beep.

Indicating: Dutch cyclists indicate with their arm before turning or changing lanes. Do this. It is considered basic courtesy and its absence marks you as someone who doesn’t know the rules.

Bells: the bell is for pedestrians who have wandered into the cycle lane, not for other cyclists. Using it at another cyclist is considered mildly aggressive.

Speed: the default cycling pace here is faster than in most cities. If you’re going slowly on a main cycling route, stay to the right.

Where to Rent

OV-fiets is the national bike rental system. You need a personal OV-chipkaart and to register at ov-fiets.nl. Then you can rent a bike from any NS station for €4.25 for 24 hours. The bikes are heavy and the gears are limited to three speeds, but for getting around the city they work fine.

For something better: Swapfiets operates in Den Haag and rents decent bikes by the month (€19.50/month for the basic model). Worth it if you’re here for more than two weeks.

My Route

The ride I do most weeks: from the Laakhaven studio, along the canal to the Bierkade, through the Centrum past the Hofvijver, and out along the coastal route to Kijkduin. It takes about 45 minutes each way and passes through almost every different texture the city has. I’ve been doing it for three years and I still notice something different each time.

The light on the Hofvijver at around 7am in spring is worth getting up early for. I’m not usually someone who says things like that, but it’s true.

Parking

Never leave your bike unlocked, not even for a minute. The bike theft rate in Den Haag is real. Use a good lock (a folding lock or a proper D-lock, not a cable). Lock to something fixed. The official bike parking facilities at Centraal and HS are secure and free for 24 hours, then €0.60 per day. For the rest of the city, any fixed point works as long as you’re not blocking a doorway or cycle lane.