Felicity Long
When my oldest son was about 10 years old, he and I embarked with a small group of journalists and their children on a family tour of Amsterdam. Not surprisingly, we had an amazing time -- rollerblading in Vondelpark, pedal boating in the canals, a sobering visit to the Anne Frank House and a more cheerful one to admire the brightly colored sunflower paintings at the Van Gogh Museum.
On our final evening, we embarked on a canal dinner cruise so that we could admire the city by night. At one point, however, our guide encouraged us to play an I spy game with the kids focusing firmly on one side of the canal -- and keeping their backs to the other side, where the red-light district was glowing in the dark as we glided by.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring," c. 1665. (Mauritshuis, The Hague) Photo Credit: Johannes Vermeer
I'm not sure they would have noticed anything anyway from our vantage point -- after all, we weren't that close -- but we appreciated the thoughtfulness of our guide.
On my next visit a few years later, I found myself in the red-light district again, this time in the company of adults and a guide.
What struck me as we walked along, apart from the surreal spectacle of women on display, was rather the loud boorishness of some of the tourists taking in the sights.
In an ongoing effort to address the problem, Amsterdam officials recently announced a ban on smoking marijuana in the streets. To be clear, no one is saying you can't smoke pot in the city -- this is Amsterdam, after all -- but simply that you can't do so in the streets. The new regulations go into effect in May.
Tightening rules on alcohol sales and curbing opening hours for restaurants and the red-light district "visiting" hours are also in the works.
This latest gambit, which has yet to be finalized, is just one of many attempts to tamp down rowdy behavior without discouraging visitors from coming to the city and spending money.
Locals are hoping this proposal will be better received than the pre-pandemic idea to relocate the district to a designated area on the city's outskirts -- a notion that fizzled thanks to a lack of local support.
Amsterdam's other exciting attractions
Whether the red-light district will ever go away completely is anyone's guess. It's a huge tourism draw with an obvious double-edged sword, but in today's world, it does seem anachronistic and a little sad.
Besides, who needs the faux shock value of the district when the city is overflowing with authentic and iconic attractions, including the aforementioned canals and museums?
This year, that roster of great art is even more spectacular, thanks to a Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum that just opened and will run through June 3.
Art lovers are already swooning over what's being called the greatest Vermeer exhibition ever mounted, with 28 of the artist's work on display. Not sure you remember who Vermeer is? If the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" means anything to you -- an image so popular worldwide as to appear on everything from posters and coasters -- then you do, and chances are, so will your clients.
Note that this particular painting will participate in the Vermeer exhibition through March 30, after which it will move back to its permanent home at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
For more on visiting Amsterdam, visit the Netherlands Board of Tourism website.