The Hague Market: the vibrant open market of the Netherlands

Storytime! This is how and where I found The Hague Market — a.k.a. the biggest open street market in Europe.

When I first moved to The Hague from my home in Mexico, I thought I would have to say goodbye to one of God’s most beautiful and green creations: guacamole. 🥑

Thanks to The Hague Market, however, that was not the case.

What is The Hague Market?

Surprisingly, I did not have to concede much in the exotic fruit department when moving to the Netherlands.

Besides having a couple of really good Mexican restaurants, the lovely political capital of The Netherlands is also home to one of the biggest open markets in Europe: De Haagse Markt.

The Hague Market in English (or the “Open Market” as called by the locals) is one of the biggest multicultural markets in Europe.

During one of its four opening days, it has been known to host around 35,000 shoppers! The reasons why so many people visit the market vary.

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Three of them are fairly obvious when you spend a grey Saturday morning in this colourful corner of The Hague.

What’s there to buy?

Exotic fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, and freshly made stroopwafels are just some of the wonderful things you can add to your grocery bag at The Hague Market.

And I mean, if for some strange reason the “freshly made stroopwafels” part didn’t do it for you… sorry, then I don’t know what will. 😜

Fresh fruit and veggies

Seriously though, the market has a wide variety of exotic fruits, vegetables and snacks that many people find attractive. It’s one of the few places in The Hague where I can find fresh, ripe, and cheap (!) avocados — we’re talking €1 per kilo, here. 🙌

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So, you see why The Hague Market is a godsend when making my world-famous, critically acclaimed guacamole.

You can also find Yucca, Dutch cheese, mangos, and Greek olives at cheap prices.

Delicious meat and fish

If you’re more of a meat eater, you’ll be happy to find a lot of fresh butcher shops and fresh fish stores. As a man who works at one of the seafood shops puts it:

“On Tuesday, we buy fish for Wednesday, and on Thursday, we buy fish for Friday and Saturday. (…) Everything is fresh.”

Snacks galore

If you prefer the snack scene, head to the market and delight yourself with a wide variety of snack shops: Dutch haring, fresh stroopwafels, corn in a cup, Turkish gözelme, and baklava — you name it!

Home decor, jewellery, perfumes, clothes, you name it

Besides being a great and cheap place to do your groceries, the Open Market is home to all sorts of stores.

Shops that sell: curtains, carpets, men’s and women’s clothing, flowers, cosmetics, candy, home utensils, antiques, bike replacement parts, electronics, phone accessories… the list of shops goes on!

The Hague Market experience: what’s happening there?

In the words of a good Dutch colleague of mine: “It feels like I’m in one of those exotic, vibrant markets that I used to find in Peru. It doesn’t feel like I’m in The Netherlands.”

And right, he is.

When you step into De Haagse Markt on a busy Saturday, you’re quickly surrounded by bright colours, exotic smells of fruits and flowers, talking crowds, the calls of salespersons, and all of the life in the market.

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It provides a very different experience than your typical Albert Heijn or Jumbo grocery trip.

So if you’re up for a different grocery trip, visit one of Europe’s biggest multicultural, open markets from 9 AM to 5 PM every Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. And be sure to keep an eye out for those rare but always welcomed Open Sundays!

Have you been to The Hague Market? Tell us what you think in the comments below!