The Hague · Nightlife

A square of terraces and bars behind the Grote Kerk, younger and cheaper than the Plein and open considerably later.

The city's main music venue, with concerts most nights and club nights at the weekend across two halls.

Terraces under the trees beside the parliament complex, full of civil servants from five o'clock on a Thursday. Good for eavesdropping, expensive for drinking.

A line of wooden pavilions on the sand serving lunch, then dinner, then turning into bars until the season ends. Most are taken down for the winter.

The neighbourhood west of the centre, with the independent bars, the small kitchens and none of the government crowd.