Fries from the sky, brewery by boat, Japanese gardens, and tunnels galore: Why the Hague, Netherlands, is a kayaking oasis.

Huddled in a corner of the canal, hungrily eating our fries. Bonnie was impressed by mayo:fries ratio.

How is it possible? How did I live in Delft for a year and never discover the wonderful kayaking oasis of The Hague? The horn you toot to request a kayak rental, free candy thrown at you by a friendly (?) passerby, fries that are lowered down to you by rope and pulley, gorgeous parks, a local brewery stop, and much more. 

I'm trying a different style post today, with the photos interspersed throughout, rather than in an album at the bottom. I think it makes the post a bit more engaging - let me know what you think. :) 

The rental shop

I made reservations at Kanoverhuur Den Haag through their website and got a prompt response. Single kayaks cost 30 euros for the full day (not the cheapest I've found in the Netherlands, but totally worth it). We arrived a few minutes before our reservation time, and noticed that there was no "shop" - only a dock and a pile of boats. We noticed a horn tied to a nearby lamp post, which instructed us to squeeze for kayak rental. We sounded the horn once and waited. As we were waiting, we noticed an old lady beckoning from across the street. Thinking she might know something about the kayak rentals, we waved. She nodded vigorously, and promptly threw a candy at us. Elizabeth picked it up and looked confused. Apparently I looked jealous, because the lady immediately launched one at me. After throwing a candy at each of us, she looked satisfied and hobbled off. Henk was convinced that the candy had been opened/poisoned. None of us had much of an appetite for chocolate... 

The horn you squeeze to notify the owners (who live in the adjacent houseboat) that you'd like to rent a kayak.

View of the canal and houseboat from the rental location.

After recovering from that initial debacle, we tooted the horn again, more vigorously this time. I decided to call the number posted on the sign, and a woman immediately picked up and arrived 3 minutes later. She spoke perfect British English (I was convinced she was an expat, but Henk assured me she was Dutch) and provided excellent service. She gave great instructions for getting into the kayaks and provided us with PFDs even though most people usually don't use them. No extra charge for a waterproof container. Nice map of the kayaking route. Henk and I took single kayaks, and Bonnie and Elizabeth went for a tandem. 

Launching in the center of the Hague.

View from the launch site.

The Hague Downtown

​Like many cities in the Netherlands, the Hague is encircled by a canal. Our day trip involved following the canal in a counterclockwise direction, with a few long offshoots. We headed east from the kayaking shop.

Paddling east, away from the rental location.

Paddling away from the rental shop and towards Haagse Bos.

​The southeast corner of the canal route is marked by some of the most recognizable buildings in the Hague skyline - the central train station and the tall red nordic(?) style buildings with green roofs across from it. 

Big buildings across from the central train station. I think this is the tallest building I've ever kayaked past!

The Hague Central Station (Den Haag Centraal Station)

Looking back towards the central station from next to Malieveld.

Haagse Bos

As you paddle away from the tall buildings, Malieveld appears on the right. It's a big open field where festivals and other events often take place, and it's adjacent to the city's largest park, Haagse Bos.

Bonnie soon exclaimed, "Kayaking in the Netherlands is much easier than kayaking in San Diego!" She sometimes trades biking to work for kayaking (jelly!). The Pacific Ocean, it's waves/winds/ currents, and the very inefficient sit-on-top that she uses in California appear to be the culprits. 

We paddled along the north edge of the park, and quickly encountered the thick duckweed that the not-British lady had warned us about (is it still easier than San Diego, Bonnie?!). In some places it went multiple centimeters deep. But we also encountered large patches of picturesque lily pads like the ones on the right.

The royal palace sits in the far east end of Haagse Bos, and we decided to go for a visit. As we approached, we were soon intimidated by the high fences and security cameras, and decided to turn around and head for Clingendael Park instead. 


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Paddling along the north side of Haagse Bos.

Stopped on the east end of Haagse Bos by intimidating security cameras and fences. The royal palace is near the end of the channel in the distance.

All smiles as we navigate through thick duckweed.

Duckweed, or eendenkroos in Dutch.

Clingendael Park and the Japanese Gardens

I'll preface this section by saying this was my favorite part of the paddle (if we remove delicious food and drink from the equation). The Clingendael park is full of beautiful old (by Dutch standards) shade trees, dense gardens, and quaint bridges. At the center of the park sits the Clingendael mansion, which you can paddle underneath! We stopped for lunch in a grassy open field (see map at the bottom of this post). There's also a little cafe here, in case you forgot your lunch!

Arriving in Clingendael. We stopped for lunch in the park on the right.

Bonnie, Henk, and Nena having a lunch break in the park, just across the canal from the Japanese gardens. A dog training session in the background. Photo by Elizabeth.

A little view of the Japanese gardens from the canal. It's only open for short periods each year to visitors. The garden was started in the early 1900s by a Lady Daisy who went to Japan a number of times by ship, bringing back various plants and decorations.

Clingendael, a 17th century manor house surrounded by beautiful parks (including the Japanese garden). See Henk paddling through the little tunnel under the house!

Appearing on the other end of the tunnel under the Clingendael mansion.

This was one of my favorite sections of the paddle. It's the canal furthest northwest in the Clingendael park. Super peaceful and lined with beautiful trees.

Can't forget the paddling selfie!

Elizabeth and Bonnie paddling down an adorable little canal under flowered bridges.

Take-out by kayak: fries, coffee, and more

After completing the "nature" portion of the trip, we headed back towards the city center, in search of the famous fries the non-British lady had pointed out on the map. But first we paddled around the half of the city.

Typical dutch canal with pretty houses and tree-lined streets. :)

On the main channel around the city center, approaching a monestary (Heilige Joannes de Doper)

Last year Elizabeth and I discovered the kayak mirror selfie, and we decided to give it another try.

We found the a cafe on the water, where you can ring a bell for beverage service in your boat. We decided to bypass this option and continue on in search of the elusive fries. 

A bell you can ring to get coffee, tea, and other beverages!

View of the Grote Kerk (big church) in the distance.

When we finally found the fries, it was more impressive than expected. The canal walls here are much higher than anywhere else in the city, so the need for a rope/pulley system finally made sense. We approached the dangling basket and noticed a doorbell, which seemed to be broken (no response after pushing it a few times). Elizabeth pulled out her phone and dialed the phone number written in big letters on the basket. "4 orders of fries please!" We basked in the sun (okay, at this point we were frying, no pun intended) for a few minutes before a friendly lady appeared above us. Elizabeth put some money in her paddling glove so it wouldn't blow away, and up it went! Then down came a big paper bag full of little french fry packages. We hurriedly paddled to the first shady spot further down the canal, and scarfed down our individual portions. 

Getting our french fries from the sky!

Elizabeth posing with the delivery basket.

The lady from the fry shop taking our money and filling the delivery basket.

Pure bliss.

Visiting a local brewery: Kompaan

At this point we'd been paddling for about 5 hours, and we were entering food/sun coma. We decided to paddle back past the launch site and decide whether to continue on to the local brewery (a couple kilometers outside the city). The weather was gorgeous, morale was high, and we still had 3 hours left before we had to return the kayaks. It was a go!

Houseboats just outside the main city center on the way to the brewery.

Outside the city center the canal widened, and there was a nice breeze. The surrounding development becomes a bit more industrial. We initially had some trouble finding the brewery, since the location was marked incorrectly on the paper maps. After a quick check of google maps, we found Kompaan Beer Bar. From what I can tell, the brewery has existed for a few years, but just moved to this new location (and opened the bar) in mid 2015.

Tying off our kayaks outside Kompaan Brewery

There were quite a few boats tied up outside the bar - that seems to be a popular mode of transport. ​A group of soaked/cheerful people in bathing suits arrived on inner tubes, and walked, dripping, inside to buy some beers and food. We did the same in slightly drier, but still bare-footed, fashion. It's a super hip place. A band was getting ready to play, a happy dude was  flipping burgers outside, and there were few non-beared faces. We grabbed a picnic table and ordered some beers. We also caved and shared a couple tasty burgers. Bonnie pointed out that the IPAs left much to be desired (she hails from San Diego, the IPA center of the world), and in general the beer wasn't anything to write home about, but I still highly recommend it as a fun kayaking destination! How often can you kayak to a brewery? I'm a fan :)

Elizabeth, Bonnie, and Henk chilling outside Kompaan.

Factory on the other side of the canal.

The end of an epic trip

After the brewery, we paddled back to the launch site - it took us a little over a half hour. We chit-chatted along the way about differences between the Netherlands and the US - Bonnie had just arrived in Delft a week earlier. Elizabeth and I have been here for 2 years now (and I haven't set foot in the US since), and I've started forgetting the differences. 

9 hours of kayaking left us quite pooped! We made the short walk back to Den Haag HS station, and grabbed the next trains back to Delft and Dordrecht.

Returning to the launch around 8pm.

Henk and Bonnie tying off the kayaks. Photo by Elizabeth.

Photo by Elizabeth.

Date: Saturday, August 6th, 2016
Distance: 20.5 km (12.7 miles)
Duration: 9 hours :) including stops for lunch, fries, and beer/dinner
Weather: Warm and sunny!