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Original poster

To not want to go to the red light district

89 replies

Filletsteak · 08/07/2024 13:29

Going to Amsterdam next week with my partner. We've both said we have no interest in going to the red light district. Told friends this and they laughed and said we were being daft as it's a tourist attraction. Also they said it's pretty unavoidable, is this true?

I personally don't see prostitutes stood in windows as an attraction I need to tick off. Am I being silly? Surely there's plenty in Amsterdam to see and do that doesn't include that. Just don't understand why it's seen as socially acceptable to visit?

OP posts:
Original poster
Filletsteak · 08/07/2024 13:44

Thank you everyone for your helpful tips and advise. I'm no prude but it's just something I have no desire to see.
It's reassuring I can avoid the area.

Canal cruise and museums are top of my agenda!

OP posts:
Allthatwegotisthispalebluedot · 08/07/2024 13:44

I mean, it exists and it is there. I believe you should travel to see the world as it is, rather than how you wish it was. I would go and see it because it’s a part of the city.

Amsterdam is a great city over all though. Loads to see and do. I wouldn’t write off a whole area though!

OneTC · 08/07/2024 13:43

Easily avoided just check. There's more than one area so do a bit of research before you book your hotel

CornflakesOnTheSolesOfHerShoes · 08/07/2024 13:41

JudgeBurrito · 08/07/2024 13:32

Well don't go then. No it's not unavoidable at all. It's also probably nowhere near as seedy as you're imagining. It seems odd to have a moral objection to the red light district but choose to holiday in a country where it's legal.

Why is this odd?! The Netherlands is one of our nearest neighbours and has hugely rich cultural history. I’d love to go to Amsterdam for the art, the museums, the architecture. I’m hugely uncomfortable with the approach to drugs and prostitution, but would find the suggestion that I couldn’t go to see the Vermeers without simultaneously endorsing the idea of the legal purchase of women’s bodies very weird…

GrandHighPoohbah · 08/07/2024 13:40

I went to Amsterdam with my teenage sons, and it was very easy to avoid the red light district. There are much nicer areas and attractions that would easily fill your time - the museum quarter, canal cruise, Anne Frank House, the new and modern northern zone with the A'dam tower.

beguilingeyes · 08/07/2024 13:38

I've lost count of the number of times I've been to Amsterdam, usually for gigs and I've never seen the red light district.

FanofLeaves · 08/07/2024 13:38

Well I think it’s really insulting of the women working to go and gawp at them in their windows with no intention of paying for their services, so no I wouldn’t go to do that. It is actually quite an interesting part of the city though if you take a tour, very informative. If you want to avoid it completely though it is easy to do so.

SeismicSalad · 08/07/2024 13:37

I don’t agree that you should consider it a tourist attraction, but I wouldn’t purposefully avoid a whole area of central Amsterdam either. I still find it a nice area to walk around.

DeltaAlphaDelta79 · 08/07/2024 13:36

We completely avoided it easily enough when we went earlier this year, so it's easy to do. My mum went on a guided tour of the red light district and found the history of it all very interesting. It is more than just prostitutes in windows.

Screamingabdabz · 08/07/2024 13:36

JudgeBurrito · 08/07/2024 13:32

Well don't go then. No it's not unavoidable at all. It's also probably nowhere near as seedy as you're imagining. It seems odd to have a moral objection to the red light district but choose to holiday in a country where it's legal.

Morality and legality are two separate issues no? Prostitution is the very definition of seedy and I would not be interested in it either. YANBU op.

Whatevershallidowithmylife · 08/07/2024 13:35

We apparently walked down one of the streets but it was so busy I didn’t actually notice. We went because we got super cheap flights, not for rld not cannabis. Amsterdam has way more to offer.

Ohthatsjustalotofeffort · 08/07/2024 13:34

You can avoid it. It’s not weird though, or anything like that. There’s bars and restaurants in the areas. You can’t stare in at the Windows or take photos ( that would be weird) but you walk through it and it’s very normal. I’ve taken my kids round there- it’s just an area like anywhere else

socks1107 · 08/07/2024 13:34

It's easy to avoid and if you don't want to go that's fine. Not their choice or holiday.
You just do what you want

JudgeBurrito · 08/07/2024 13:32

Well don't go then. No it's not unavoidable at all. It's also probably nowhere near as seedy as you're imagining. It seems odd to have a moral objection to the red light district but choose to holiday in a country where it's legal.