Tram One: A Trip To Remember
From boarding at the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace) in Den Haag to alighting at the Delft Station it was a memorable journey
It was something I was aware of, but it had got lost somewhere in the back of the mind. However, when the lady at the tourist office in Den Haag mentioned about the possibility the recollection came in thick and fast.
So without hesitation we bought the tickets and headed to catch Tram 1, the oldest regional tram line in the Netherlands. To those who aren’t aware HTM’s red-beige trams have been running in and around Den Haag for decades. The initial plan was to first board from Centrum to Vredespaleis or the Peace Palace, the administrative building that houses the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library.
However, the main idea was to undertake the return journey from Vredespaleis all the way to Delft. We were aware it was a prettier ride and wanted to experience it first hand.
For the uninitiated the Tram 1 stop right in front of Vredespaleis main gate. After helping a Dutch-Colombian couple by taking their photographs we reached the stop. It was after eight minutes that the tram came along. We had bought the tickets at the tourist office but the tickets can be bought from within the tram as well. We took the seats and began to enjoy the scenic route. It’s pleasing to the eyes, the sights that is.
Tram 1 runs from Zwarte Pad in Den Haag to Tanthof (Abtswoudsepark) in Delft, covers a distance of a little over 20 kms and 39 stations overall. We covered 20 of them. Our favorite stops were Bierkade, Herenstraat and Vlietbrug. The weather was good during the course of the journey, and it made the experience all the more memorable.
Our early plan was to get down at the Prinsenhof stop. However, since it was evening and we wanted to get down close to our favorite coffee shop, we opted to go a stop further, and eventually got down at Delft Station.
Even as we crossed to the other end we stopped to take a few photographs of the iconic tram and the driver patiently waited, greeted us before the tram headed towards Den Haag. And we headed towards the coffee shop, content after ticking off an item from the bucket list.
