Louwman Museum

The Louwman Museum is the national automobile museum of the Netherlands, housed in a purpose-built building on Leidsestraatweg on the edge of The Hague's green belt. The collection of historic automobiles runs to more than 275 cars and is arranged to show how the motor car developed over time, from the first experimental vehicles through the elegant coachbuilt era to modern supercars. Highlights include the Aston Martin DB5 associated with James Bond and the first Toyota ever built. Alongside the vehicles, the museum holds what it describes as the world's largest collection of automotive-related art, including engravings and drawings by Frederick Gordon-Crosby, posters, sculptures, miniatures and memorabilia, which gives the cars a cultural context and makes the museum more than a showroom. Temporary exhibitions are a regular feature, with themes such as Formula 1 legends and supercars, so the museum is worth revisiting for car enthusiasts. For other visitors the permanent displays do the heavy lifting: the cars are lit and presented like sculpture, the narrative is easy to follow, and you do not need to know anything about engines to enjoy the shapes, colours and stories behind them. It is a spacious, well-organised museum with lifts to all floors and adapted facilities, which makes it comfortable for families, older visitors and anyone who prefers a slower pace.

The best way to see the museum is to follow the chronological route first and then circle back to anything that caught your eye. Early vehicles are fascinating because they look so unlike what we expect a car to be, and the later rooms show how fast design changed through the twentieth century. The art collection is easy to skip and shouldn't be: the posters and drawings capture the glamour and danger of early motor racing in a way a car on its own cannot.

If you are visiting with children, an audio tour is available free in six languages on Spotify, with episode numbers posted next to the exhibits, so you can pick the cars that interest you and ignore the rest.

Guided tours of 60 to 90 minutes are offered in Dutch, English and German, and they are worth considering if you want the stories behind the cars rather than the labels alone. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays, with changed hours on some public holidays, so check the museum's website before you go.

Tickets can be bought online, and booking ahead is sensible at weekends and during school holidays. Allow two to three hours for a relaxed visit, more if you enjoy reading every label or taking a tour.

Getting there is straightforward. From The Hague Central Station, bus 90 toward Lisse (stop Louwman Museum) or Qliner 386 toward Oegstgeest both take about ten minutes. Drivers will find a private car park with 170 spaces, charged by the hour with a daily maximum, and cars over forty years old park free at the main entrance, a nice touch for classic-car owners.

The museum is a little way out of the central museum quarter, so it pairs better with a relaxed afternoon than with a rushed Mauritshuis-plus-Escher day. If the weather is poor and you have already seen the headline art museums, it is one of the best remaining options in the city.