The Red light district in Amsterdam is at the same time the place of all fantasies and of all excesses and the oldest part of the city.
Which means that next to the many sex-shops, next to the sports bars, the loud coffeeshops and the slightly seedy windows (which we can’t film by respect to the prostitutes), you can find some stunning monuments on very beautiful canals.
A bit of a big gap that the local council is trying to reduce by changing the red light district into a more polished district.
Vanupied is taking you on a stroll in the seedy red light district.
The starting point is the Central station. Behind the train station, free ferries will take you to discover the industrial past in the north of Amsterdam. It is one of the many aspects of Amsterdam that must be discovered.
In front of the train station, you will find Damrak, the avenue that will take you to Dam Square. The map centre of Amsterdam. Beautiful buildings, a lot of people, and some poor quality shops which spoil the fun a bit: souvenir shops, casinos, currency exchanges, fast-food shops… everything that the city would like to see disappear anywhere else.
Dam Square may not be very charming but it is historically of prime importance. It is there that a dam on the Amstel River gave birth to Amsterdam in 1275. From there, a port, warehouses, a market, a public scale, pubs, churches, brothels. The birth of a city.
The massive gloomy building is the Royal Palace. Built in 1665, it was then the most modern building of the era. It stands on 13,659 wooden piles. All the kids in the Netherlands learn that fact by heart. The 17th century is the Dutch Golden age and the whole world envies the Netherlands’ Amsterdam.
Dam Square is home to street artists, various rallies, hot-dogs sellers, pigeons tired from flying, and tourists looking for the red light district.
In the 60s, 70, and 80s, the middle classes leave the run-down Old Town. Rats, dirty canals, criminality. Heroine wreaks havoc. On every bridge, there is a dealer waiting to sell drugs. The historic heart of Amsterdam is the worst place to go for a family holiday.
It is also there that the resistance gets organised to avoid the destruction of the city centre wanted by the council. There that the anarchists fight so that cars don’t replace bikes. There that squats see emerge the ideas of pooling, mutual assistance and sharing that still make the spirit of Amsterdam today.
The Red light district of today is a bit like the child of the Amsterdam of yesterday. Less trashy and less militant. What is left is the coffeeshops, many of them and some of the less interesting in Amsterdam, pubs where the English go to get drunk, Made in China souvenir shops and also many dildos in the window shops here and there.
Thankfully, there are other things to visit. Oudewerk is the most surprising church in the city. An hall church with strange proverbs engraved in the wooden mercy seats. It is possible to get to the top of the bell tower for a panoramic view of the district.
Keep on walking until you get to the most central microbrewery in Amsterdam: De Prael. Good beers and a social reintegration company. How to mix business with pleasure, basically.
The red light district also has at least 2 religious buildings full of surprises.
First of all, there is Amstelkring, a Catholic church in hiding when the protestants banned the public worship of the “Roman cult”.
There is also a big buddhist temple in the China Town part of the red light district.
It is also here that you will find many cheap and delicious Chinese and Asian restaurants.
Nieuwmarkt is one of the most beautiful squares in Amsterdam and is located at the limit of the red light district. Ideal to sit outside and make the most of some open space, which is rather rare in the old Amsterdam.
De Waag, where you can see a bit of the old fortification. It was also, in no particular order, the guilds headquarters, a public scale, a furniture store, a fire station and a prison, and now a posh restaurant.
You can find on this square the pleasant coffeeshop Jolly Joker and the former tram stop that became a brown cafe: Lokaal ‘t Loosje. There is also a market here every Saturday morning. The opportunity to sample some Dutch herrings. A must go if you like sushi, even one has nothing to do with the other.
// Amsterdam travelguide : http://bit.ly/Visiter-Amsterdam
// Itinerary for a weekend : http://bit.ly/Itineraires-Amsterdam
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