5 Amsterdam videos that will help you get a sense of the place

If you’ve not yet been to Amsterdam, or you haven’t made a trip in a while, I’ve collected up some videos that I think do a good job at capturing the unique charms of this city. I’ve left no cliché out in these choices. You’ll find a secret tour of the Red Light District, an entrance and weed purchase at one of the city’s famous coffeeshops, a really nice story about how the Red Light District is changing into a fashion zone, a portion of a canal cruise, and a salute to bicycles set to a song you’d never guess.

Red Light District prostitutes

Here’s a popular 2-minute video some guys took while wandering around the Red Light District checking out the window prostitutes. The quality isn’t great, but if you’ve yet to make it to Amsterdam it should be interesting. There are actually plain-clothes security guards in the RLD who are there to protect the girls and also prevent filming of any kind. Anyone trying to capture this area on film runs the risk of being assaulted by these guys, which explains why this video was kind of taken on the sly.

An Amsterdam coffeeshop

Here’s a 3-minute video of a couple of guys going into the Easy Times coffeeshop to buy some weed. The title says it’s in the Red Light District, but Easy Times is actually on Prinsengracht, very near Leidseplein. If you are wondering what the experience of buying weed in a coffeeshop is like, this video actually gives you an excellent look.

Amsterdam swaps hookers for fashion

This great 5-minute English-language video from Russia Today shows the Red Light District and how many of the windows have recently been closed and now house trendy fashion boutiques. The video also discusses general prostitution and human trafficking and such, and is definitely worth a look.

Amsterdam canal tour

This is a 4-minute video someone shot from the left side of a canal cruise they took. The basic one-hour cruise is something I highly recommend to anyone visiting for the first time, and especially for anyone in town on a short Amsterdam layover at Schiphol.

Amsterdam bicycles

Our final video is 3-minutes that help show just how insanely ubiquitous bikes are in Amsterdam, and it’s cleverly set to the tune Bicycle Race by Queen! It’s professionally done and also shows off some of the unusual modern architecture the city has been blessed with recently. You can easily and cheaply rent a bicycle in Amsterdam, but it’s not all fun and games to be honest with you.

Return to the Amsterdamlogue home page to see the latest Amsterdam articles