Amsterdam may be the capital city of the Netherlands but The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch) was the country's original first city and is still the royal residence (presently home to Queen Beatrix), the seat of the Dutch parliament and most famously the home of several international organisations devoted to peace and justice, including the UN War Crimes Tribunal.

Yet for all its pomp and international importance, The Hague has the comfortable feel of a small town. This is due in no small part to the engaging Dutch traits of informality and equality. As in most Dutch towns the bicycle is the ubiquitous form of personal transport, used as much by the city's lawyers and royal courtiers as by office and shop workers.

The Hague is also a surprisingly green city with one third of its area preserved as woodlands and parks. Take the tram north and within five minutes of the royal palace and parliament, neatly trimmed grass grows between the tracks.

By contrast if you arrive by train first impressions are of a brave new world with a strident 21st-century glass-and-metal skyline. Just behind this, however, the Binnenstadt (Inner Town) with its picturesque lake and turreted parliament buildings have hardly changed since the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. Off here elegant streets and alleys mix old-world Holland with post-war buildings and a good smattering of Jugendstil (art nouveau) architecture.

Both the quantity and quality of shopping and dining options is witness to how affluent and cosmopolitan the city is. And it is a bonus to find that the pretty little town of Delft and the Netherlands' most popular seaside resort, Scheveningen, are each within a 10-20 minute tram ride of the centre of The Hague.