After five lovely days in London, visiting museums, singing along to Noah Kahan, and spending more than a few British pounds on JellyCat London plushies, we took an early morning train from St. Pancras International Station to Rotterdam. From there, we took our usual Intercity back to Den Haag where we would spend another five days visiting with family and resting.
I love Den Haag. The more I visit, especially with the kids living there, the more it is starting to feel like a second home. And while we did return to Delft and Gouda on this trip along with a couple more touristy venues, I enjoyed being able to explore more quiet spots and take a more relaxed attitude in a familiar place. One such spot was Clingendael Park, located at the end of the block from where we were staying.
Clingendael Park is a quiet place that probably wouldn’t make it onto many top ten lists, but it is a beautiful walking park located between The Hague and Wassenaar. This park had been a country estate with a long history. It had been a country house and farm from the sixteenth century with additions being made in the centuries that followed. In the nineteenth century, the estate was purchased by the Van Brienen family, who added the canals, the large pond, and many of the trees and walking paths that are present at time of writing in 2025. The last member of the family to live at the park lived there until 1939. During World War II, the Rijkscommissaris Arthur Seyss-Inquart lived in the country house. He was the head civil administrator of the German-occupied Netherlands, and his command bunker was built and disguised as a farmhouse. After the war, in 1954, the estate was sold to the municipality and made accessible to the public.
Today, the park boasts several walking paths, a Dutch garden, a tea room, and a Japanese garden. Unfortunately for us, the Japanese garden is only open about three months of the year- about May/June and the month of October- so we were unable to visit this 6800 square meter portion of the park. However, we were able to see the other pretty parts of the park and traipse over its bridges, which was still really nice.
There were a few people walking on the paths in the early evening, as well as a couple picnicking near the country house. We also saw what looked to be the end of a child’s birthday party near the kids playground. This park seems to be the perfect place for that, especially as the day was cooling off.
We walked by the stately brick country house, which reminded me of an historic manor. Today, the country house is the site of the Clingendael Institute. According to the Clingendael website, the institute is a research organization and international relations think tank. In this current global political climate, I can understand its importance. As stated on their website, ‘Clingendael offers 40 years of top knowledge. Our independent research, training programmes and events inspire and equip governments, businesses, and civil society. Together we contribute to a secure, sustainable and just world.’
As important as this work is, I have to confess what really caught my interest was a brick slab with what looked to be graves under a large tree. On closer inspection, we figured out that this was indeed a cemetery- a pet cemetery. The dates on the head stones indicated that the pets had lived in the early part of the twentieth century, and their epitaphs range from the sweet to the hilarious, as fitting for man’s best friends. This was my favorite:
May the pets rest in peace. I am sure they lived their best lives with their families, who about 100 years later, are also probably gone to the other side of eternity. I hope they found each other across the rainbow bridge in the land of infinite treats and tennis balls.
There really is much to do and see in this lovely park, especially in the spring and mid-fall. It is a perfect place for a picnic or casual playdate. For PokĆ©monGo lovers, there are many PokĆ©Stops and gyms. That said, if what you’re looking for is a quiet walk or place to sit and meditate, Clingendael Park is a perfect place for that as well. In the early evening hours, it was quieter than Haagse Bos, and in my opinion, just as scenic. Just pick a happy walking path and go!
References:
āClingendael.ā Denhaag.Com, 2025, denhaag.com/en/clingendael.
āA Bunker Disguised as a Farm.ā Atlantikwall, atlantikwalldenhaag.nl/en/point-of-interest/seyss-inquartbunker-en.
Clingendael, 2025, http://www.clingendael.org/.
The Cranky Camper 