De Wallen: The Red Light DIstrict of Amsterdam

Just a little forewarning: this article does discuss mature topics!

No doubt you’ve heard of Amsterdam’s Red Light District, also known as De Wallen. If you’re anything like me you learned about it as a teenager, likely from your more worldly friends while they rolled their eyes at you for your ignorance.

If you haven’t heard of it, allow me to enlighten you. The Red Light District is a stretch of about two or three streets which used to make up the medieval walled in city of Amsterdam. This space is occupied by restaurants, coffee shops, bars, souvenir shops, and most notably, brothels. It’s known as the red light district because of the red lanterns that once hung over the brothels to advertise what they were selling. Today the lights are neon, but it’s still bustling with people!

Obviously I wouldn’t recommend taking children there, but for those of us who are of legal age it can be really interesting place to have a look around. The area immediately surrounding the streets are filled with shops that sell souvenirs, low level drugs which are perfectly legal in the Netherlands, and also restaurants. These can range from Chinese food to snack bars, but the common theme is that they stay open into the night to cater to the Red Light crowd; and a crowd indeed it is.

I suggest arriving sometime around dusk, when the neon lights begin to really shine, and the crowd isn’t too big yet. I also suggest you leave your camera at home and your phone in your pocket. There’s an unwritten rule in Amsterdam that one does not take pictures of the sex workers. Why? It’s rude!

Simply put, they’re not there as models for your photos. They stand, and sometimes dance, in windows to attract customers inside. You are perfectly welcome to watch as long as you stand out of their way, but since they are inside a building trying to do their job, it’s considered an invasion of privacy to take their picture. It’s also unlikely you’ve asked their permission or gotten consent to take their photo, which in itself isn’t just rude, it’s creepy too!

Make sure when you do stop to appreciate one of the workers that you stand away from their windows, and out of the flow of foot traffic. You also need to remember that what you are appreciating is a human being. That means that no matter what they are doing with their bodies, or what you may think of it, they are deserving of your respect and consideration. Be kind!

The same respect goes for the street where they work. It is in fact a residential street, so even though you’re having a good time, try to keep the noise down, and don’t litter, out of respect for people who live there.

There’s another unwritten rule that discourages visitors from buying harder drugs, which are illegal, from vendors on the street. For many, many reasons, it’s a bad idea. If you want a high there are plenty of legal options to be had. Do your research beforehand to see what’s legal, then head to a legitimate brick and mortar store. Trust me there are plenty out there.

Take the same precautions you would anywhere when travelling; go in groups if you can, stay vigilant for pickpockets, and trust your instincts to keep you safe. It’s not recommended that you stay past midnight if you’re a tourist, but the Netherlands in general is a very safe country. Having wandered the streets of Dublin and London around those hours, I can say that I would take Amsterdam over all of them. I would even take it over the little town of Inverness in terms of safety.

Go ahead and stroll after dark, enjoy a drink at a local bar, maybe get a waffle cone or something, have a look through the windows, and take a glance at the neon lights reflecting off the black waters of the canal. It’s an amazing place to explore, so if you’ve got an open mind and are looking for something a bit different, head to Amsterdam’s Red Light District!