I’m sure there are several places for day time tourists to visit in Amsterdam, but those are not the things that Amsterdam is famous for... yah I know everyone knows that... well still, I’ve been there and I’m writing about it from 1st hand experience so pay attention.
To begin with, you’ll have to reach the city via the train from the airport to the Centraal station. There are plenty of hotels within 5 minutes walking distance of the station, and for most of them you can book a room online. If you are just visiting for a day, check in most of your luggage at a locker in the station and carry a small handbag only with you, which will keep you mobile and you wont need to worry about your stuff getting stolen from any low priced hotel or hostel depending on your budget.
During the day Amsterdam is literally dead, hardly and people about and not much happening. After it becomes dark you realise why. Most of the area around the Centraal station is dedicated to strip shows (highly recommended) and paid sex. The place seriously wakes up after 10pm and is all lit up and lively and bussling till late into the night, there are lots of young people, mostly college crowd with equal number of girls if not more taking in the sights as well.
If anyone has any doubts as to why the place is called a red light area, these will be soon done away with since the prostitutes actually stand in front of glass doors all along the streets and each door has a red light above it... just to make sure that a prospective client does not mistake the female standing in her underwear and fondling herself as someone who forgot to draw the curtains while changing. Its pretty enlightenning just to walk about the place looking at all the women busy at work :)
When you get bored of that, you can then go for one of the live shows, there are several of them, with more or less the same routines. They have several outlets all over the place selling the tickets, but the show is held at one central place. The show generally will start will a gorgeous babe stripping to some catchty tune, the show I saw there was an absolutely drop dead ood looking red head who stripped to Shania Twain’s ’’Man! I feel like a woman’’
After that there was another babe who stripped, just this time she got a guy from the audience to get on the stage while she literally took her clothes of inches away from his face, but he was warned not to try and touch her during the whole act.
After that there was a large black female who had someone eat a banana outa her... not exactly my idea of entertainment but there are some people who like that.
Finally they end with a couple dressed up like Zorro and whoever the babe is suppose to be known as having sex...
All in all pretty good worth for you money(50 guilders with drinsk 35 without, the day shows are cheaper), but a little too hyped, its something you can watch once in your life but not more than that.
Besides that you have your shops selling porn and your bars and koffee shops selling dope... Fardeen Khan will probably be able to go into more details about that if we can get him to write a review on this site. I believe he is takingpermission from the court to go to Amsterdam... now you all know why.
Well thats the end of the review.... If you do ever visit Amsterdam make sure you don’t miss the night life.