Prostitution is legal in Holland, and in Amsterdam most of it is concentrated in the Red Light District. Even if you don't want to play, this is a place you may want to see at night, when the red lights reflect from the inky surface of the canals. Lots of visitors come here out of curiosity or just for fun. There's no problem with wandering around, and you don't need to worry much about crime as long as you stick to the busier streets -- and keep an eye out for pickpockets. Visiting women going around in groups of two or more won't be noticed any more than anyone else, but a single female might be subject to misrepresentation.

The Red Light District, known in Dutch as the Rosse Buurt, isn't very big. The easiest way in is on Damstraat, beside the Krasnapolsky Hotel on the Dam. Then stick to the main drag on Oudezijds Voorburgwal, as far north as the Oude Kerk, the venerable Old Church, which stands watch over this passable representation of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you don't mind the weird-looking, sad-sack males and the "heroin whores" hanging around on the bridges, you can go further in, to the parallel canal, Oudezijds Achterburgwal, and the cluster of good bars and restaurants, many of the latter Chinese, at Nieuwmarkt. The Rosse Buurt (Red Light District) serves up its own unique brand of nightlife, and adjoining this is Nieuwmarkt, which is rapidly becoming a popular, if somewhat alternative, hangout. Your best source of information on nightlife and cultural events is Amsterdam Day by Day, the VVV Tourist Office's monthly program guide in English, which costs 2€ ($2.50).