These streets are the main areas where the window girls hang out with many smaller, very narrow alleys shooting off from:- Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Oudekerksplein, Oudezijds Voorburgwal. In my opinion visiting a window girl in A'dam is not worth it. They charge around 50 Euros for about 15 to 20 minutes. Of course, this is a generalisation but seems to be the norm. Some girls are extremely hot and some fat and ugly. Some are transsexuals (look for the adams apple if in doubt). There are more girls nearer the weekends and in my opinion there are just as many in the summer months as winter. If visiting a girl is your thing just make sure you discuss absolutely everything before hand and I mean everything you want to do, they've heard it all before and you will not embarrass them, otherwise it's all too easy for her to keep charging more which they will do. Alternatively there are private houses (brothels) that charge much more but not located in the Centrum (main city centre), usually you will be able to sit down and have a drink and talk to the girls in an informal bar/pub set up before making your choice. Most window girls have normal lives and normal day jobs and you will find many nationalities not just Dutch. Contrary to what some might think, the girls are very clean and very safe, almost too clean as you will not be allowed to do much touching as such. You can imagine how many blokes are wandering around eating take away food and smoking joints, etc, then wanting to visit a girl, so they don't allow this. Safe sex is mandatory and don't even think about taking photos of the girls from the pavements otherwise you will probably find a big geazer behind you trying to throw your camera in the canal, this goes for peep shows as well which you will find 2 located in the centrum charging 2 Euros for about a minute or so of a girl on her own or if your lucky live sex, it's all luck of the draw. The only bad case I've heard about a window girl in the Centrum is that while your busy with the girl her boyfriend or pimp enters through another door and steals your wallet from your trousers hanging over the chair, so leave your wallet in the hotel or with your mates. They are all friendly enough but eager to finish as quick as possible so she can wheel in her next victim and if you really want to visit one make sure you agree on the exact time to avoid hastle. All in all it's quite safe wandering the RLD even at night for a single girl but can get a bit dodgy when the Centrum closes around 2am. It's an eye opening experience regardless if you intend visting a girl or not.
I'd like to add: If you don't want to visit a girl or are interested in the whole window-prostitution thingie, than it's still worth to go to that area because of the buildings. It's a very old part of Amsterdam (the oldest?) and it's just plain beautiful. The typical houses, the small canals, extremely small alleys, a very nice church (Oude Kerk, which usually has some kind of art-expo that you can visit). If you want to avoid the prostitution-traffic.. make sure you go there in the morning, especially in summer, the early morning is a great place to walk around and see the whole area wake up. It's a beautiful part of Amsterdam.. the RLD is very close to the small 'China Town' (with lots of chinese restaurants, shops and even a temple).. the 'Nieuwmarkt' is located in that area as well, with in the middle of it a building called 'De Waag' that is very beautiful and has a nice café in it for some refreshment. I could tell soooo much more, just about that area.. but I'll keep it at this.. if anyone wants to know more then just ask! Enjoy!
You are quite right Velvet. Visiting the RLD first thing in the morning is a great time to see it and in my opinion it was a great relief to see it like this for me, before the Centrum starts to fully wake up, avoiding all the hustle and bustle, etc. Most people are philistines when it comes to canals, buildings, churches and general ambience of the RLD and would therefore recommend waking up early to have a casual stroll around like I always do. Thanks for pointing this out. NEMISIS
Just another point. While you are walking through these ultra narrow alleys make sure you secure your wallet as it's all too easy for pickpockets preying on tourists busy looking at the girls, especially if your stoned and/or pissed. Also in this area you will be approached many times by street dealers trying to flog you class A drugs amongst other things. It will usually start with a ''Psst - want - coke - ecstasy - girls'', etc. Just keep walking, head held high and say no. Do not get into any sort of conversation with them because as soon as they find out you speak English you automatically become a vulnerable tourist and easy prey. Most are harmless but certain areas they can congregate in large organised groups and can be a little intimidating at times. Without being racist most are usually dark in complexion and all I do is shake my head without making eye contact or uttering a word, which is by far the easiest way to avoid hastle. You will also find a great deal of beggars asking just for money around the RLD and are harmless enough but I do wonder just how much they can actually make in a day and what they spend it on. Having a pint of lager in this area is extortionate and would advise to always ask the price before ordering. There are hundreds of other pubs dotted around the city that are cheaper. Draught Heineken lager seems to have the monopoly in the RLD with not many alternatives and to avoid looking like a tourist don't drink out of the extra large heavy glasses. Order a normal pint instead but unlike the UK where they fill it to the brim with no head, in A'dam you will typically find itleat an inch or more of froth then using a spatula to level it off and is like this wherever you go in the city. That took a lot of getting used to for me.
Nemisis, although I agree with what you said above ^^^^ from my own personal experience with the pssst guys is to totally ignore them dont even say NO to them this only encourages them as they know you speak English, one way I have been told to work 100% is to say Niet(SP?) as in no in russian as none of these pssst guys speak russian they wont bother you.. Jon..
Heheh.. 'niet' is Dutch for 'not' (no in Dutch is 'nee', pronounce it as 'ney', like 'hey').. 'njet' is 'no' in Russian For me it usually works to talk back, because I can fake a pretty strong Amsterdam accent which is a hint to them that I'm a local (which I'm not, but I do know the place). For tourists.. I dunno.. if it's a homeless guy that asks you very nicely (some are extremely polite) then maybe give something or say 'no, I'm sorry' or sth.. but treat them with respect. If it's a dealer or a very pushy beggar, just shake your head and don't pay any attention... my two cents
I think someone has bought the ''Smokers Guide'' or the ''Under ground guide to Amsterdam'' booklets. As all this is in there and has been for ages therefore it has now become dated and well known to these dealers. My advice is to say nothing like I do and keep walking. It's all very fundamental.
Oops - Thanks for the correction Velvet my Russian is as bad as my Dutch (LOL), if Like you said a homeless person was asking for something I'd more than help him, when I was in Amsterdam in May, I had some guy come up to me with a story about feeding the homeless so I gave him some €'s its just the pssst guys that annoy me these are the people I ignore (after learning the hard way a couple of years ago - I had one threaten me!) Jon
My buddy got himself a pretty asian girl, told her it was his first time, which it was, and was treated with much respect and dignity and was not rushed as such. As it was his first time, his desire and courage were not equal beings and he needed extra help to work up a good 'amsterdammetje' and she was kind enough to put him at ease. Heres what she told him: Next time have a drink or two BUT DONT SMOKE HASH! (she was very adamant about this last tip). He asked if he could take her picture but she politely refused. I like the red light district. One scam i think they tried to pull on me was that i was walking down one of the long streets, looking up at the hookers, when i bumped into some dude. It was a solid bump and i see him sort of drop a pipe on the street. So i kept on walking but the guy followed me, trying to get my attention and when i stopped he started going on about how i made him drop 50 euro of his heroin. So i figure he was going to try to extort some cash from me becuase i would be intimidated by a heroin user or something. He kept on talking about his dealer and this and the other. As we argued, eventually his backup arrived. And this is where it gets funny. His backup was mini-me. Swear to god a four foot junkie shows up to help his friend in intimidating the tourists. Crackheads smoke up in the lobby of my building. Street kids put dogs to fight out on the street and throw bottles at junkies or chinese delivery guys at night in front of my building. Needless to say the belgian junkie and his midget bodyguard failed to scare me so they left. No violence needed. Now what i want to know is i see these aryan looking boys with close cropped hair and pitbulls standing about. Are these the red light security 'squad' and would they have been upset if i had punched the junkie. i honestly was afraid to escalate the issue with the kid to the point of fists becuase i wondered if these aryan boys would just come in swinging bicycle chains not giving a shit who's a tourist and whose a junkie. Velvet? Do we have your permission to throw belgian heroin junkies into the canal?
No this info came of a Russian friend of mine who visits Amsterdam a couple of times a year, personally I ignore the pssst guys but I like to share any info I have on Amsterdam Jon..
(second try to post a reply.. the power keeps failing here.. grr) Hehe.. since when is my opinion important?
Hm.. you think you're being hacked? I wish I had the SkIlLzz to do that *grin* No, seriously.. can you track the IP? Oh, by the way.. I know the cause of the power failures.. some dude in my building that had a coffeemaker that kept causing a short circuit. Bit of a weird guy, but that's a whole different story.
Yes, I can track the IP. It came from San Jose USA, although to be honest it may or may not have anything to do with this web site, it was just a bit odd that when I logged onto this thread I was attacked about 10 times.
Probably the best piece of luggage you can take with you is good walking shoes to tour the entire RLD. You will probably walk it all in the day only to find yourself doing it again at night. There are alot of uneven pavements and cobbled stone about so you need them. You can hire a bike and the only place to do this is 'Fredericks Bike Hire'. Here you will not have to ride around with stupid advertisements plastered all over them and to avoid looking like a tourist, hire a typical Dutch bike. You do not need a 15 speed mountain bike for obvious reasons (everywhere is flat). Just remember 'red pavements' = bike lanes, and don't stand in them. The Dutch get very pissed off with tourists who step into them without looking or simply looking at the architecture. I see it all the time, and I will guarantee you will get in the way of one itleast once. Bikes are in abundance in A'dam central.
amsterdam is a safe place to be in. i have been in the dam 3 times this year and going back on monday the11 oct . gust be your self .let the druggies do thear own thing .life is not easy for them .we all have ower own turn on.
