EdwardWII

I am moving to Amsterdam for three months soon and apartment I got through the company is in Singel area (Herengracht). Flats looks beautiful (2 rooms, kitchen, tiny balcony window and shower).

I founded this after a little googling: Singel - WikiSexGuide - International World Sex Guide

So according to that guide Singel is also a red light district. I have been in Amsterdam many times before, but now my understanding is that there are more than one red light district. I have no problem living in the area like that, but my daughter will be visiting me once a month (11) and I would not take him to the red light district where I have been before (De Wallen I assume). I just hate weird questions.

So what do you guys think? Will it be a fine area to live, no junkies or loud prostitutes?

Red_Wine_Fairy

It all comes down to the address, as it's quite a long strip of land you're talking about. In your shoes, I'd be scrolling google maps to ensure you picked one of the better parts.

To the west of Central, you're quite some way away from the Red Windows and can avoid them. But no matter how lovely the canal district is - you are never going to be totally free of coffeeshops, their clientele, and the smells that brings with it, and the hostels and cheap hotels that cater to the weekend tourists. The central tourist area also has the occasional 'massage parlour' which is made obvious that they are there for sex tourists - however these tend to have opaque windows with nobody sitting in their underwear. I have no doubt whatsoever that your child will come into contact with stoners and will question what the funny smell is: forewarned is forearmed when it comes to awkward questions.

EdwardWII

I actually googled a little bit and the flat is just next to the prostitution area, but there are no window prostitutes next to the flat. I have seen some of the massage parlours in Amsterdam and those are not the problem as most of them do not have half naked girls on their windows. Coffee shops should be fine too and smell of the ganja is not a problem like tourist groups either. So I believe I will be fine.

I was wondering also if there is some parks or fun things to do in the Singel area and if it is safe to allow kids drive bicycle or is the traffic too crazy?

Thanks for your help friend!

mikelincs

That doesn't really make any sense, daughter or son?

lou p

Bicycles rule the roads in Amsterdam, its not a car friendly city, there are cycle lanes everywhere, so its very safe.
You will be a short cyle away from beautiful Vondel Park and Museumplein, enjoy...Amsterdam is a fab city!

Red_Wine_Fairy

All of the above depends on your child and what she finds fun. If I take a rough guess at where you are, you are close to a cinema and to the floating flower market. You can walk most of Amsterdam in under an hour, and so a stroll to the Vondelpark shouldn't take too long, but you can find a playground with play equipment in most areas. There are hundreds of cafes if she likes people watching, and not far to Kalverstraat for window shopping. But you can hop on a tram and explore together: there is Artis (zoo), Nemo (science museum), or take the free ferry from behind central station and try the Eye film museum, or a bus to Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest) where they have lots of events.

A good resource for things to do with kids is Amsterdam Mamas (they let fathers in too, don't worry)

I would advise not letting your child cycle in Amsterdam centre at first, as she won't have the skills to cope with the sheer volume of other, experienced (and crazy) natives on the road who've been doing it every day since they were 2 or 3 years old It might be a good idea for you to hire a bike and experience it for yourself (or together) before making that decision.

EdwardWII

her She is a girl

EdwardWII

Thanks for your helpful advices. I just came back from a short trip to Amsterdam and I checked out the Nemo museum and it was pretty cool. I agree with kids bicycling in Amsterdam. I have sometimes hard time myself, but luckily people do not drive as fast as in Copenhagen.