Hobby groups, makers and evening classes in The Hague

De Haagse Werkplaats on the Parallelweg describes itself as a public workshop accessible to anyone who wants to build anything, and it sells time in credits: ten for 10 euro, fifty for 50, a hundred for 95, five hundred for 425.

A standard bench costs eight credits an hour.

So roughly eight euro buys you an hour with proper tools, which is the cheapest serious hobby in this city and almost nobody arriving here knows it exists.

Making things

The Haagse Werkplaats, at Parallelweg 35, is open Wednesday to Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00 and is aimed at individuals, the self-employed, hobbyists and companies alike.

A large bench is ten credits an hour, an extra person four, and storage runs at ten credits per square metre per week.

The credit system means you can try it for ten euro rather than committing to a term.

FabLab Den Haag, the CNC and laser-cutting workshop at Van Alphenstraat 63D in Voorburg, is a different proposition and at the time of writing is closed until further notice, with its staff on government projects.

Its published hours were Wednesday to Friday, 10.30 to 17.00, by appointment.

Check before you travel.

Makerspace Haagse Hout, at the Het Kleine Loo shopping centre in Mariahoeve, became an independent foundation in August 2024 as the successor to FabLab Mariahoeve, and runs walk-in hours every Saturday from 11.00 to 17.00 with a supervisor present.

Ceramics, which the city does unusually well

P. Hoeboer Keramiek, with studios on the Joseph Ledelstraat and the Suezkade, runs a fourteen-lesson beginners’ course of one hour forty-five minutes each: 350 euro for daytime classes finishing before 17.00 and 400 euro for evening classes from 18.00.

Courses start in January and September.

A summer week is 320 euro.

MudLab, at Gevers Deynootweg 126 in Scheveningen, works the other way round.

A monthly subscription starts at 85 euro for two, four or six hours a week, including glazes but excluding clay and firing.

A strip card starts at 95 euro for eight, twenty or forty hours over three months.

Clay is 10 euro per ten kilos and firing 5 euro per kilo per firing.

It is open Wednesday and Thursday until 21.00, which suits people who work.

Photography

Fotoschool Den Haag on the Piet Heinplein publishes a full catalogue with prices: a two-session basic course at 130 euro, Basis COMPLEET over four evenings at 249, a private course at 350, and single-subject workshops on flash, portraits, street photography and black and white between 49 and 175 euro.

Class sizes are small, typically capped at six, and the popular evening courses sell out.

IMAGES is the English-language photography club, meeting on the third Wednesday of the month at Concordia, Hoge Zand 42.

One caveat that matters: its own site currently states that it is not accepting new members.

Ask before you plan around it.

The Koorenhuis, which is not what the older guides say

Het Koorenhuis sits at Prinsegracht 27 in a national monument dating from 1663, and it calls itself the cultural hotspot of The Hague.

What it is now, though, is a building that houses independent teachers rather than an art school with one price list.

Its own instruction to visitors is to filter the categories and book directly with the organisation, and that is exactly how it works: you pay each provider, not the building.

Providers there cover singing, guitar, drawing, painting, watercolour, salsa, modern dance and boxing.

Sessions include life drawing on the first Monday of the month and Thursday evenings, painting on Tuesday mornings and several evenings, and an open studio running September to June on Wednesday mornings.

Prices are set individually and most are not published online, so you will need to email.

KOO, the former Koorenhuis foundation, has since 1996 introduced residents to art and now delivers tailored arts education in schools across the city.

CultuurSchakel, in the same building, is the municipal connector between residents and providers, and it also administers financial support for people who cannot pay.

If you do not know where to start, that is the door.

Two things to cross off your list.

The Vrije Academie, founded in The Hague in 1947, closed in December 2015 and no longer exists.

And the Volksuniversiteit Den Haag does still operate, from Zuidlarenstraat 57, but its website has been refusing connections, so its catalogue and prices cannot be checked online.

Singing, playing, acting and chess

The Cecilia International Choir has a history going back fifty years and describes itself as international because it takes both internationals and Dutch members.

It rehearses in English, on Thursday evenings from 19.45 to 21.45 with a coffee break, in the atrium of the Church of our Saviour, entrance Helenastraat 8 in Bezuidenhout.

It holds no auditions and welcomes newcomers of all ages, which makes it one of the lowest-barrier things in this article.

For Dutch-language choirs with published fees, Cantamus Alati charges 32.50 euro a month, twelve months a year, rehearsing Thursdays from 20.00 at De Vrije School on the Abbenbroekweg, after a voice test with the conductor.

Hagasonare charges 25 euro a month and applies the Ooievaarspas discount.

Music schools and lessons in The Hague cover the instrumental side.

The Anglo-American Theatre Group is a membership association bringing English-language amateur theatre to The Hague, explicitly open to all nationalities, adults and children, with or without experience.

It plays at theatres in The Hague including Theater aan het Spui and Theater Warenar, and it has a British pantomime in the diary for early December.

Its membership fee is not published, so ask.

Schaakcombinatie HTV plays every Thursday evening in the Vruchtenbuurt and has around 120 members between the ages of six and ninety.

WeLove2Dance, at Nieuwersluisstraat 36, charges 418 euro a year, 209 for half a year or 38 a month for a weekly hour, plus a one-off 10 euro joining fee, and gives a free trial lesson.

Its adult programme covers salsa and bachata, Zumba and modern jazz.

If you want a garden rather than a room, the Haagse Bond runs the central allotment waiting list, and registration for some gardens has been suspended because the list grew too long.

Current plot costs are not published anywhere reliable, so treat any figure you find with suspicion.

The library, which is about to get much cheaper

Bibliotheek Den Haag’s current prices are a Basispas at 40 euro a year, a Pluspas at 50, a Sterpas at 72, 28 euro for over-65s and for 18 to 26 year olds who are not studying, 10 euro for students, 19 for a Kleine pas and 5 for a PC pass.

Under-18s are free, and so is anyone with an Ooievaarspas, which needs only the pass and ID taken to a branch.

Fines run at 20 cents a day on books up to a maximum of 12 euro.

That is about to change substantially.

From 4 January 2027, according to reports in the regional press, every resident will be able to join free and borrow up to five books a year on that free membership, with paid tiers at 4 and 6 euro a month, and fines for late returns abolished altogether.

The library’s own site still shows the 2026 prices, so treat the detail as reported rather than confirmed.

What is already free at the library is the more interesting part: the Taalhuis for anyone struggling with reading and writing, the Taal in de Bibliotheek conversation groups in 22 locations, the Informatiepunt Digitale Overheid for help with government websites, computer lessons, homework support for everyone between 12 and 18, and the WiFi.

Branch programmes include things like Saturday chess afternoons in Loosduinen.

Libraries in The Hague are the single best-value institution in the city and most internationals never set foot in one.

Choosing, if you are doing this to meet people

Pick the thing with a fixed group and a term.

A ten-week ceramics course with the same eight people beats a drop-in workshop every time, for the same reason a sports club beats a gym, which is the argument in sports clubs and how joining one works here.

The underlying problem is set out in how to actually make friends in The Hague.

Pick something that runs in English if your Dutch is not yet there, and be realistic that this narrows the field to the choir, the theatre group, the photography club and the makerspaces.

Everything else will be in Dutch, which is a decent argument for learning Dutch in The Hague sooner rather than later.

And if what you actually want is a desk and other humans rather than a hobby, Het Nutshuis on the Riviervismarkt charges 25 euro a day including VAT, coffee and tea, with bundles down to about 19 euro a day, in a set of historic buildings shared with a clutch of NGOs.

Other coworking spaces in The Hague price similarly, and the running costs of all of this sit in the cost of living in The Hague.

For materials and second-hand kit, the kringloop and vintage shops will save you a great deal, and art supplies and craft shops in The Hague cover the rest.

The other two routes into a room full of regulars are volunteering in The Hague and, if you would rather pay for a ready-made list of people, the international networks.

Sources

• De Haagse Werkplaats (haagsewerkplaats.nl), Parallelweg 35, 2525 NB: “The Haagse Werkplaats is a public workshop that is accessible to anyone who wants to build anything”; “individuals, self-employed people, hobbyists and companies can come here”; open Wednesday to Saturday 09.00 to 17.00; “At the Haagse Werkplaats we work with a credit system…The higher the purchase, the cheaper the Credits”; 10 credits for 10.00 euro, 50 for 50.00, 100 for 95.00, 200 for 180.00 and 500 for 425.00; hourly rates of 8 credits for a standard workplace, 10 for a large one, 4 for an extra person and 10 per square metre per week for storage
• FabLab Den Haag (cabfablab.nl), Van Alphenstraat 63D, 2274 NC Voorburg: published hours Wednesday to Friday 10.30 to 17.00 by appointment, telephone 070 38 33 188; the site states it is closed until further notice with staff on government projects
• Makerspace Haagse Hout (spacehh.nl), at shopping centre Het Kleine Loo: an independent foundation since August 2024, continuing FabLab Mariahoeve, with walk-in hours every Saturday from 11.00 to 17.00 and a supervisor present
• P. Hoeboer Keramiek (phoeboer.nl), Joseph Ledelstraat 52 and Suezkade 1: “Beginnerscursus 14 lessen overdag (tot 17:00) 350,-” and “Beginnerscursus 14 lessen ‘s avonds (vanaf 18:00) 400,-“, lessons of 1 hour 45 minutes, courses starting January and September; “Een zomerweek kost 320,-“
• MudLab (mudlab.nl), Gevers Deynootweg 126 C-E, 2586 BP: subscription “Vanaf 85,-” per month for 2, 4 or 6 hours weekly, “Inclusief gebruik glazuren”, “Exclusief klei en stook”; strip card “Vanaf 95,-” for 8, 20 or 40 hours over three months; clay “10,- per 10 kg” and firing “5,- per kg per stookbeurt”; open Wednesday and Thursday 10.00 to 21.00, Friday 10.00 to 18.00, Saturday and Sunday 10.00 to 17.00
• Fotoschool Den Haag (fotoschooldenhaag.nl), Piet Heinplein 50: Basiscursus two sessions 130.00 euro, Basis COMPLEET four sessions 249.00, private course 350.00, Betere vakantiefoto’s 59.00, flash course 130.00, portrait 130.00, street photography 130.00, black and white 59.00, Anders Kijken 175.00; Basis COMPLEET running four evenings 19.00 to 22.00 with “Max. 6 deelnemers”
• IMAGES International Photography Club (imagesphotoclub.com): “IMAGES is an English speaking photography club based in The Hague”; “Images meetings are this season held on the third Wednesday of every month (excluding July and August)” in “a room in Concordia, Hoge Zand 42, The Hague”; and “Please be advised that we are not accepting new members at this moment”
• Het Koorenhuis (hetkoorenhuis.nl), Prinsegracht 27, 2512 EW: “De culturele hotspot van Den Haag”; “Een Rijksmonument uit 1663 met een rijke geschiedenis”; “Filter de categorieen om te vinden wat jij zoekt en reserveer direct bij de organisatie”; KOO: “Sinds 1996 laat KOO inwoners van de stad kennismaken met kunst” and “KOO verzorgt kunstonderwijs op maat voor scholen door heel Den Haag”. CultuurSchakel (cultuurschakel.nl), same address, connecting residents to providers and running financial support. The former koorenhuis.nl domain no longer serves a valid certificate
• Dutch Wikipedia, Vrije Academie: founded in The Hague on 1 November 1947 by Livinus van de Bundt; its GEMAK space “heeft op 4 december 2015 de deuren moeten sluiten. Daarmee kwam ook een eind aan Stichting De Vrije Academie”. Volksuniversiteit Den Haag is listed at Zuidlarenstraat 57, 2545 VP in the national directory; its own site returned HTTP 403 on every attempt
• Cecilia International Choir (cecilia-choir.com): “The Cecilia International Choir has a history going back 50 years. We are ‘international’ because we embrace both expatriates and Dutch members”; “Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings…from 19:45 until 21:45, with a coffee break”; in the atrium of the Church of our Saviour, entrance Helenastraat 8; “We…do not hold auditions and welcome newcomers of all ages”. Cantamus Alati (cantamusalati.nl): “De contributie is 32,50 per maand, 12 maanden per jaar”, Thursdays 20.00 to 22.00 at De Vrije School, Abbenbroekweg 7. Hagasonare (hagasonare.nl): “De contributie bedraagt 25,- per maand; korting Ooievaarspas is van toepassing”
• Anglo-American Theatre Group (aatg.nl): “The AATG is a membership association – our aim is to bring English-language amateur theatre to The Hague and its surroundings”; “We are inclusive – anyone can join us! We’re open to all nationalities, adults and children alike, with or without theatre skills or experience”; venues used include Theater Warenar, Theater aan het Spui, De Kunsthut and The Warehouse; membership fee not published
• Schaakcombinatie HTV (schaakcombinatiehtv.nl): “Deze gezellige Haagse schaakvereniging speelt elke donderdagavond in de Vruchtenbuurt”, around 120 members aged 6 to 90. WeLove2Dance (welove2dance.nl), Nieuwersluisstraat 36, 2546 RX: season 2026-2027 at 418 euro a year, 209 a half year or 38 a month for 60 minutes a week, “Inschrijfgeld bedraagt eenmalig 10 euro”, free trial lesson. Haagse Bond (haagsebond.nl): “Voor enkele tuinen is de inschrijving tijdelijk opgeschort omdat de wachtlijst te lang werd”; current plot costs not published
• Bibliotheek Den Haag (bibliotheekdenhaag.nl): Basispas “40 euro per jaar”, Pluspas “50 euro per jaar”, Sterpas “72 euro per jaar”, Jeugdpas under 18 “Gratis”, Ooievaarspas holders “Gratis”, over-65s “28 euro per jaar”, 18 to 26 non-students “28 euro”, students “10 euro”, Kleine pas “19 euro per jaar”, PC-pas “5 euro”; fines 0.20 euro a day on books to a maximum of 12.00 euro and 0.30 a day on DVDs and games to a maximum of 18.00; free Taalhuis, Taal in de Bibliotheek, Informatiepunt Digitale Overheid, computer help, homework support for 12 to 18 year olds and WiFi
• Rodi.nl and Omroep West, reporting a change from 4 January 2027: “Alle inwoners kunnen vanaf 4 januari 2027 gratis lid worden en met dit lidmaatschap tot vijf boeken per jaar lenen”, with paid tiers at 4 and 6 euro a month and “Voor alle lidmaatschappen worden boetes bij te lang lenen nu officieel afgeschaft”. The library’s own site still publishes the 2026 prices
• Het Nutshuis (hetnutshuis.nl), Riviervismarkt 5, 2513 AM: coworking at “25,- per dag, inclusief btw, koffie en thee”, open “maandag t/m vrijdag van 8.30 tot 17.00 uur”, with bundles of 5 days for 110 euro, 10 for 210, 15 for 300 and 20 for 375; the building housing Fonds 1818, Justice and Peace, the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and the European Climate Foundation