Amsterdam has three different Red Light Districts but the most famous and the most attractive is the one located inside the city center.
Amsterdam prides itself on its liberal and tolerant attitude. Embracing the fact that people may be into prostitution, soft drugs and pornography. And that it is only human. So instead of criminalizing everything, they enjoy the honesty of it.
Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, but not on the streets. That’s why prostitutes in Amsterdam stand up behind a window and have their own room. The name of “Red Light District” comes from the red neon lights that highlight the 300 windows where women are working.
On my recent trip to Amsterdam, curiousity about the Red light district made me walk to look at what it was all about. I went there on King’s day which was probably good as there were huge crowds on the streets everywhere. There were lot of women tourists too, so I felt more safe😅
I was apprehensive about visiting it alone in the night, but then it was very safe and nobody behaved badly with me though as I was a single female out in the region. All other women were with either males or in a group. I was the only single female walking around. The experience was almost surreal and though it was distressing to see the whole place and what was going on, I must say it was much more dignified than red light areas in India.
Here these prostitutes are looked upon as working professionals and we are not allowed to take their pics, which I felt was good as respect to the ladies. If they saw tourists taking pics they would give them the finger 😃 n rightfully so.
The area is situated near the church and on both sides of the canal. From prostitution to erotic shops to museums. Amsterdam Red Light District has it all. Lot of the windows explicitly stated the sevices offered, from the straight to the kinky and everything in between…..
I did not have the desire to go back n see it in daylight as in the day the more sordid aspects reveal themselves in natural daylight. The night imparts a more mysterious aura to it and it all seems less grotesque and tolerable to observe.
Although there are women forever tapping on the windows even during the light hours, most of the action takes place around 11pm , when the district is swarming with crowds and the red neon lights illuminate the inky canals. The atmosphere pretty much thrives until around 2 or 3am when the crowds die down and businesses shut up shop.
You can find a great variety of sex shops, peep shows, strip clubs, sex theaters and typical Dutch brown cafes. Furthermore, you have a few cultural activities such as the Museum of Prostitution, the Museum of Erotism or the Museum of Cannabis.
