Amsterdam Red Light District

Nightlife Entertainment in Amsterdam

The Red Light District

amsterdam girlsOnce you found the Red Light District, you don't need to look further for nightlife entertainment in amsterdam. For most people, walking through the Red Light District is entertainment in itself. Here window shopping gets a totally different meaning.

Beautiful girls, dressed in sexy lingerie, behind red lit windows, create an exciting atmosphere. So window shopping is one of the main forms of entertainment for men as well as women.

Since this is one of the oldest parts of the city and left relatively unchanged, it gives a special atmosphere. Especially at night when the old buildings and narrow streets along the canals are bathing in red light. And the night is the most busy time of day in this area.

Theater Casa Rosso


erotic theater casa rosso


When your feet get tired from window shopping you can go to see a erotic show in one of the theaters.

The oldest theater which has also the best shows is "Casa Rosso" (address:Oudezijds Achterburgwal 106-108).

There are live shows every night, and often the audience is asked to participate (which is good fun!). The show is a pleasure to see, almost ‘family entertainment’, it's quite unique.


The Banana Bar


banana barAn other fun place to go is the "Bananenbar" (address: Oudezijds Achterburgwal 78). The Banana Bar enjoys great international popularity and is already part of nightlife entertainment in amsterdam for a long time. The bar is open seven days a week.

Scarcely dressed girls act as barmaids and sit on a specially designed bar where they perform erotic tricks with .... bananas. The girls pour the drinks and turn a variety of sexy tricks on request. Visitors can tell what their special wishes are...

banana bar Entrance is 40 euros for an hour and includes all your drinks. If you ask the girls to preform their tricks for you, you have to pay extra though.

It is best to go when the place is busy as there is more going on then. Although the majority of visitors are men, women are made to feel very welcome as well.


Erotic Museum Red Light District


erotic museum Situated in the middle of the red light district, the Erotic Museum covers five floors with erotic art of all kinds. At the entrance is a model of a young lady on a bicycle in a seductive outfit.

The most popular attraction seems to be the television room decorated as a 'grotto', with toadstools for chairs and cartoons around the walls. It plays cartoons constantly, the usual fairy stories normally associated with Disney, but purely erotic.

The museum also has drawings done by John Lennon, given to Yoko Ono as a wedding present. Although you can visit this museum during the day, it is also part of the nightlife entertainment in Amsterdam.


Venus Tempel Sex Museum


amsterdam sexmuseumThe Venus Tempel Sex Museum is located on Dam street, near Central Station. This is Amsterdam's 'official' sex museum. It was opened in 1985 and attracts over 500,000 visitors annually. Open every day from 10am until 11.30pm visitors are greeted at the entrance by a limbless Satyr (definitely aroused). The sexual history of the world lies inside, mostly from the 18th and 19th Century.

Once paid and inside the exhibits start straight away with a cabinet full of satyrs and representations of the devil. On the other side of the hall is an exhibit as an advert for a fetish club, and then a model of a young man and a lady behind a screen engaging in a sexual act. This sort of moving exhibit appears on all three of the floors in the museum, mingling with the lingerie, art, literature and photographs.

The exhibits range from educational and informative, through ritual and decorative, to obscene. It shows sex in popular culture, art, and the evolution of movies, and posseses an enormous range of artifacts from around the world.

Most of the exhibits are very tame, but towards the end of the museum at the bottom of the back stairs is a side room with a warning. 'Warning: Some things in this exhibit my be considered offensive. Enter at your own risk. No complaints please.' The sign is accompanied by a skull and crossbones to make sure you pay attention. The sign is not lying, the room is full of photographs that will shock many people in one way or another.

Fetish shop Absolute Danny


fetish shop absolute dannyAbsolute Danny is a sex shop run by a woman. You won't have any trouble finding a sex shop in this area, but Danny's deserves a special mention. It is quite different from other sex shops and worth a visit if you are in for this type of shopping. The atmospere here is distinctly different from your basic shop.

It sells corsets and lingerie in rubber, pvc, see-through and leather, books, videos, erotic art and of course the traditional sex articles. According to the Dutch Playboy magazine this is one of the classiest erotic and fetish establishments in Holland, and it's definitely worth a visit. It is open from 11.00am to midnight (Oudezijds Achterburgwal 78).


fetish shop absolute danny

 

It is ok to take pictures but not of the girls. Most girls hate it when people take photo's of them.

Don't be surprised if they come after you (or their pimps) and you will not be the first whose camera ends up in the canal after attempting to take pictures of the girls.

In and around Amsterdam are a few swinger clubs but not in the red light district. Two well known swinger clubs are Fata Morgana and Paradise .

The average price is 50 euro for about 15-20 minutes of sex. If you want special things of more time the price goes up. Make sure you agree on the price before you start. During the "act" you don't have much of a negotiating position anymore. If sex is offered for less than 50 euro start to worry what is wrong. For the rest... enjoy the ride.

Yes, there are transsexual prostitutes as well in the Red Light District. They can be found in and around the "Bloedstraat"

The red light area in the center of Amsterdam, where shemales can be found.

shemale prostitutes in amsterdam

If you would like to start as a sexworker in Amsterdam you need to be at least 18 years old. You can find usefull information on the website of the union for sexworkers "De Rode Draad"

In the red light district, the girls have sex with man. If you, as a woman, want to have sex with a girl then the best is to invite an escort girl to your hotel.

The Red Light district is pretty safe as long as you're not stupid and venture into unlit areas or away from the obvious walkways. Stay with the other tourists, don't wear jewellery, don't use shoulder bags, don't put wallets in your back pockets and don't do anything that will make you stand out in a crowd. All things you would tell someone if it was their first trip to London, Paris etc. Careful of pickpockets around the train station, Dam Square especially but basically anywhere. And be careful with taking pictures. If you insist on taking photos in the Red Light District then do it discretely and don't take photo's of the working girls directly, they don't appreciate it.

Testing for STD/Aids is voluntary. So, although it is not common, you cannot be sure the girls are free of STD's. So for your own protection make sure you use a condom and practice safe sex. It is common practice that the girls provide and use condoms.

male prostituteIt is tried out a few times to have male prostitutes alongside the girls but it wasn't a succes. They got a lot of attention but no customers so the experiment was stopped. There are male prostitutes working for escort agencies though.

The entertainment in the red light district is male oriented. You can go to theater Casa Rosso where they preform sex on stage but there is not a place with male strippers performing just for women. You can order a male stripper to come to your hotel though (call an escort agency).

Well, as long as men are willing to pay for the services of the girls, sex will not be for free. And then again, there is nothing against them enjoying their work. It increases the fun for the guys as well.

amsterdam prostitute in red light districtBecause you want to have seen this. A major tourist attraction tucked away in the heart of Amsterdam, it's essentially a series of tiny alleys criss-crossed by canals in the oldest part of Amsterdam, with around 300 tiny booths or cabins lining the streets, each with at least one prosititute a piece.

Because it is legal. Yes sir it is sir, with both prostitution and owning a brothel being allowed by the government – so nothing to worry about. Legally, that is...

Because it is special. That'll be the ability to buy sexual services and smoke marijuana, sir. Besides your regular sex shops, theatres and peep shows, there's also a cannabis museum. And sex museum too, if you're interested – which, if you're wondering around De Wallen, you probably are.

An infamous location worth visiting: Cassa Rosso on the Achterburgwal is well worth a visit (look out for its logo, a giant pink elephant standing up wearing a tie). For €50 you can look forward to a 'couple show', a

The minimum age for entering a coffee shop where they sell soft drugs is 18.

There is no age restriction. It is up to the girls if they accept you as a cliënt or not. They will not accept kids though.

It is easy to get from the airport to the Red Light District. From the airport terminal building trains to Amsterdam Central Station are leaving every 10 minutes. The train ride takes about 25 minutes and this is faster than a taxi (and much less expensive). From Amsterdam Central Station it is 5 minutes walking to the Red Light District. For detailed directions see the map below.

(A)=Central Train Station (B)=Red Light District

Show big map

Girls in the red light district will not come to your hotel however you can invite an escort girl to come to you hotel.

There are many hotels in and around the red light district. To help you find a hotel you like with rooms available here is a list of hotels around the landmark "Old Church", in the centre of the red light district. The information includes the distance to the red light district.
For erotic entertainment you can go to the Banana Bar in the middle of the red light district. They offer erotic entertainment but no sex. A lot of stag parties go there. You can also go to the erotic bar "La vie en proost " for lap dance and topless waitresses. And of cause it is fun to walk around in the red light district and do some window shopping.

During the day, riding a beerbike with your friends is good fun.

A good place to eat with a group is Haesje Claes, 10 minutes walking from the red light district.


You will see policemen patrolling the streets in the Red Light District and they are there for your protection. They will not bother you because it is legal to go to prostitutes in the Netherlands.

police in the red light district of amsterdam

The Amsterdam police helping a tourist in the Red Light District.

If you had a good time with the girl you can give a tip but it is not necessary. The finances are settled before the "act" and once you paid, you don't have to worry about money anymore and can just enjoy. That is unless you change your mind about the service you want (more time, more positions ect.). You then have to pay extra in between.

The things most people who come to the Red Light District like to do is "window shopping" (walking thru the area and looking at all the girls), visiting the theater Casa Rosso to see an erotic show, going to a coffee shop to smoke a joint or to eat space cake and off cause most men like to visit one of the window brothel girls.

The girls start working around 10 am. There will be girls available as long as there are customers. Around 2 or 3 am it starts to quiet down (later during the weekend).