Amsterdam City Walk: Red Light District
Amsterdam’s Red Light District is the district around the Oude Kerk or Old Church. Canals and narrow alleys criss-cross this part of the city. The Red Light District’s outer boundaries are Kloveniersburgwal, Zeedijk and Warmoesstraat, Amsterdam’s oldest street. This part of the city is peppered with bars, sex shops and coffee shops aka hash bars.
Explore the Red Light District by day and notice beautiful old buildings, kinky shops, a secret church and a museum without art.
Start of the walk: Damrak, in front of Beurs van Berlage (map)
tram 4, 9, 16, 20, 24 and 25
Finish: Nieuwmarkt, metro Nieuwmarkt
Route: Damrak, Oude Brugsteeg, turn right Warmoesstraat, first left Enge Kerksteeg, turn left and keep canal on your right Oudezijds Voorburgwal, turn right at end Zeedijk, turn right after He Hua Temple into Molensteeg, Oude kennissteeg, cross canal turn left then right Trompetterssteeg, Bethlehemsteeg, Oude Hoogstraat, turn left Kloveniersburgwal, Nieuwmarkt.
WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO SEE
QUIRKY SHOPS IN WARMOESSTRAAT
A street filled with bars, coffee shops, sex shops and tourists. Erotic toys rub shoulders with tulip decorated fridge magnets.
ENLIGHTENMENT IN AMSTERDAM’S CHINESE TEMPLE
Amsterdam’s Chinatown complete with a Buddhist temple brims with Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food treats.
TROMPETTERSSTEEG
Amsterdam’s narrowest alley, only one metre wide, where women in lace-trimmed lingerie sit behind windows.
AMSTERDAM’S SECRET CHURCH
A charming museum and Amsterdam’s best kept secret, an attic converted into a secret church recalling the days when Catholics were not allowed to practice their religion freely.
OUDE KERK AMSTERDAM’S OLDEST CHURCH
Stroll across the tombstones, look up at the gilded ceiling, brocaded pillars and stained-glass windows.
CANNABIS COLLEGE, LEARNING FOR PLEASURE
Informal information centre on everything from the uses of medicinal marihuana to creative applications of industrial hemp, visit the grow room and learn how to grow your own cannabis plants.
EAT IN THE WAAG AND GET A FREE LESSON IN HISTORY
Large, open square dominated by the Waag, Amsterdam’s oldest city gate, later weighing house now restaurant.
BEURS VAN BERLAGE, MORE THAN A PILE OF BRICKS
Wine-red brick building once commodities and stock exchange, now conference centre, café-restaurant, concert and exhibition hall.
Related articles
Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s Oldest Church
Quirky Shops in Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s Secret Church
Enlightenment in Amsterdam’s Chinese Temple
Beurs van Berlage, More than a Pile of Bricks
Eat in de Waag and Get a Free Lesson in History
Stroll through Amsterdam’s Red Light District by Day
Cannabis College: Learning for Pleasure
photo credit: personal collection
