amsterdam etiquitte - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

theDOC · 11-16-2004, 06:06 PM

Just wondering in the red light parts of Amsterdam, whether you are allowed to take photos and stuff. Or is it the kind of place where you just shuffle through without trying to draw attention to yourself.

Also does anyone have some great places to see, and stay in Amsterdam. Will be going there in May next year.

Thanks guys and gals!

Dave.

**Sijuki** · 11-16-2004, 07:46 PM

As far as I have been told you are not allowed to take pictures in the Red Light District. It is considered against the law because the girls are pretty much working in the windows. Also I don't think you want the extra attention.

Flying Pig is a nice place to stay downtown.

The canals are supposed to be nice to see, as well as the old architecture.

Also if you get a chance check out Haarlem.

**d_fresh** · 11-17-2004, 03:25 AM

...there's really not much to take photos of in the red light district anyway (in my opinion), but yeah, take the "no photos" signs seriously. when I was there, the girls were flipping out on a couple of guys who were taking their pictures and trying to get them on video. not cool.

**omisan** · 11-17-2004, 09:44 AM

Taking photos in the RLD is strictly verboten... You can get away with it during the day, as there are some sights to photograph, but just don't do it when the girls come out to work at night. It's disrespectful of them and the clientele, as rowdy an atmosphere as it may be. At best, you'll get chided or nailed with a squirt gun from an upper window. At worst, you'll have your camera taken and thrown into the ground by a paranoid john.

The RLD's just a tiny part of the 'Dam. Make sure you cozy up in one of the many bruin cafés for a beer. If you like art, hit up the Van Gogh museum. Eat some great Indonesian food. Do the Heineken Experience. Go over to the YellowBike office and do the Dutch Countryside bike tour - it's therapeutic to get away from the city and enjoy the flattest biking route you'll ever take, and atop a dike on the South Sea... so yeah, plenty to do - don't just get lost in the RLD and the coffeeshops. I saw way too many people doing that and they really missed out.

**omisan** · 11-17-2004, 09:51 AM

Oh yeah - it's also bad form to take pictures inside a coffeeshop in general, and more so without the permission of the people in the photo... Just FYI

theDOC · 11-17-2004, 02:27 PM

Yeah as I thought!

Thanks guys for your info, so the motto of the story is JUST USE COMMON SENSE then. THanks for your tips omisan on what other stuff is available to look at.

By the sounds of it, Amsterdam is not as rough and unsafe as I first thought.

I have heard all over these forums that Flying Pig is the place to stay in Amsterdam. Can anyone tell me if it is still the place to be if you dont like a room full of smoke?

Thanks guys!

**omisan** · 11-17-2004, 03:17 PM

All the smoking at Flying Pig goes on in the bar area or in the "Happy Room" downstairs - the rooms themselves are strictly non-smoking, so you'll be alright. Make sure you get a 6-person or smaller room, though, as the bathrooms in the dorm style rooms are not for the faint of heart!

theDOC · 11-17-2004, 03:23 PM

So with these 6 people dorm rooms, is there anywhere to securely put your stuff?

**d_fresh** · 11-17-2004, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by theDOC@Nov 17 2004, 06:57 PM
Yeah as I thought!

Thanks guys for your info, so the motto of the story is JUST USE COMMON SENSE then. THanks for your tips omisan on what other stuff is available to look at.

By the sounds of it, Amsterdam is not as rough and unsafe as I first thought.

I have heard all over these forums that* Flying Pig is the place to stay in Amsterdam. Can anyone tell me if it is still the place to be if you dont like a room full of smoke?

Thanks guys!

before I went all I heard was pickpocket this, mugger that. I never for a second felt unsafe, even walking through a street full of dealers and junkies. use common sense, keep your hands in your pockets in the train station (hell anywhere theres a crowd) and you'll be fine.
common sense is key.

**omisan** · 11-18-2004, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by theDOC@Nov 17 2004, 03:23 PM
So with these 6 people dorm rooms, is there anywhere to securely put your stuff?

Yeah, each bed has a locker underneath it that will hold your backpack and then some - they provide you with a padlock when you check in.

And good advice on the pickpockets - common sense makes them pretty much non-existent. You might have a few pushers & pimps harass you on the street.. "Cocaine.. animal sex.." just ignore them, don't even bother saying no. Move along.

theDOC · 11-18-2004, 02:45 PM

Thanks guys for the hints, I reckon my journey into the world of backpacking will be made a lot safer because of what was said here today!

Thanks again!

**Canadian Dude** · 11-22-2004, 05:02 PM

As its already been said, you will see signs of what you can take photos of. NOw I took pics in the day of closed curtin windows just for my collection, but only one and i was discrete. The ladies of the night, do not need to be treated like zoo animals having tourists taking their pics every 30 secs.