The Golden Age in one small palace
The Mauritshuis is not a big museum, which makes it ideal for a guided hour. The seventeenth-century town palace next to the Binnenhof holds one of the finest collections of Dutch and Flemish Golden Age painting anywhere.
Your guide shows you the paintings the museum is famous for, by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Rubens and Paulus Potter, and explains what you are looking at and why it matters.
The tour is private and adjusted to your interests. Want to focus on one painter, on portraits or still lifes, or on the stories behind the pictures? Tell us when you book and your guide plans the hour around it.
The Mauritshuis fits easily into a day in The Hague, and Delft is ten minutes away by train.
What you'll see on this tour
What our guests say about The Hague
Real reviews from guests on tours that took in The Hague, left on Google, Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide.
“Me and my husband booked this tour in early January of 2026. Despite the cold weather, we enjoyed it very much! What a lovely and interesting city The Hague is. And the Mauritshuis really blew us away. Thanks for organizing this!”
“Elena Romanelli gave an incredibly lively and fun tour. She was accommodating and helpful as well as deeply knowledgeable of the subjects she was covering. We came with a group of curious history buffs and she was prepared to answer any and all questions we brought her way. She presented herself as joyous, patient and professional for the full afternoon.”
“We loved our private tour in Delft that focused on Vermeer! Our tour guide, Roos, was lovely and very knowledgeable about Vermeer. Roos studied art and is a painter. She also knows her history! Please do not hesitate to book! You also receive an entrance ticket to the Vermeer Centrum. Tomorrow we will see the actual Girl With the Pearl Earring in The Hague.”
Google · May 2026What's included
Included
- Knowledgeable private guide for your group only
- 1-hour private guided tour inside the Mauritshuis
Not included
- Museum entry tickets, which you can add at checkout at the museum's own price
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities for the guide (optional)
What to expect
Meeting at the reception
Your guide meets you at the reception inside the Mauritshuis. You enter on the Plein side of the building and go down into the foyer. Arrive ten minutes early to leave coats and bags in the lockers.
Meeting point: At the reception inside the Mauritshuis, Plein 29, The Hague. You can also choose a custom starting location. Just add it as a comment when you book.
The highlights
Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Goldfinch, Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp and other works the museum is known for, chosen together with your group.
The stories behind the paintings
Who painted them, who paid for them and what they tell about life in the Dutch Republic, explained in front of the works themselves.
Shaped around your group
One painter, one theme or a broad overview: tell us when you book and your guide adjusts the selection.
After the tour
The tour ends inside the museum and you can stay as long as you like. The Binnenhof is next door, and Delft is ten minutes away by train.
Highlights
The Golden Age masterpieces explained, not just photographed
Your own guide, so the hour follows your group's interests
Easy to combine with The Hague's government quarter or a trip to Delft
Frequently asked questions
Are museum tickets included?
Not in the €199, but you can add them when you book. We charge the museum's own prices, €21 per adult and €13.50 for students, and book them for your tour time. Everyone aged 18 and under goes free; enter how many are coming at checkout and we book their free tickets too. If you already have tickets or a Museumkaart, simply leave them off.
What times can the tour start?
The Mauritshuis lets guided groups in at fixed times: 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30. On Mondays the museum opens later, so the first tour starts at 13:30. The checkout only offers the times the museum accepts.
How many people can join?
Up to fifteen guests with one guide. Bigger groups get a second guide, and the checkout works that out for you when you enter the number of people.
Is Girl with a Pearl Earring on display right now?
Yes. She is back in the Mauritshuis since early October 2026, after a loan to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka. From 15 October 2026 to mid-January 2027 the Mauritshuis exchanges 25 works with the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid: View of Delft and some other paintings are in Madrid, and 25 masterpieces from the Thyssen-Bornemisza hang in The Hague instead. The museum announces trips by its six best-known masterpieces at least three months ahead. Checked October 2026.
Can we combine the Mauritshuis with Delft?
Yes, and it is a good pairing: Delft is ten minutes from The Hague by train, and seeing View of Delft in the morning and the town itself in the afternoon works well. Book this tour and our private Delft walking tour on the same day, or ask us for a combined day.
Is one hour enough for the Mauritshuis?
For a guided visit, yes. The museum is a former town palace rather than a vast gallery, and an hour covers the paintings most people come for with time to stop and ask questions. You keep your ticket afterwards and can stay on as long as you like.
Can we leave our bags?
Yes, there are lockers and a cloakroom in the foyer downstairs. Leave large bags there before you meet your guide, so the hour in the galleries is spent on the paintings.
More about The Hague
What else there is to see, how to get there, and when to come.
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