Park Clingendael is one of the most beautiful green areas in The Hague. The park is part of an old estate, dating from the 17th century. At the entrance of the park you will find the old driveway and the original manor house. The house was home to several aristocratic families, before it was sold to the city of The Hague in 1953. During WWII the house was seized by the German occupiers and became the home of Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart. Nowadays, the manor is home to the Institute Clingendael, a scientific institute for foreign relations.

The park around the manor house is beautifully designed and enormous. There’s a fantastic playground, a tea room and a gorgeous Japanese garden that’s so delicate that it only opens for 10 weeks a year. The park even has its own beekeeper, who sells his honey to the visitors. The open spaces of Clingendael, like the lawn directly behind the manor, are the perfect place for a picnic on a hot summer day. Before you sit down, take a stroll past the little pet cemetery under the huge tree.

The former owners of the estate used to bury their beloved pets here. It’s pretty special to read the names on the stones and the loving words the owners wrote about their companions. The gravestones used to be upright, but in the war the Germans ordered them to be flattened. The reason? The Reichskommissar was afraid snipers would hide behind the stones…