Perpetua Writes

Adult Museums to Visit in Amsterdam

On a cobbled street, Perpetua gazes up at the Belle statue. Another visitor has given Belle flowers. The background is brick houses with bright red doors and shutters.

When I went to Amsterdam, a big part of the appeal for me was being able to visit a country with legal sex work. I was delighted to find that they had multiple adult museums for me to learn more! Here, I’ve compiled some tourist destinations for those interested in the sexy & educational side of the city.

Note: I wrote this article a few years ago – all of these locations are still available to visit but some info may be out of date.

Erotic Museum:

Located in a tall narrow Dutch building, with an incredibly steep staircase and many floors. I really enjoyed this museum. There’s no shortage of things to look at, and plenty to interact with. The interactivity of this museum comes from the many photo opportunities dotted throughout, most of which were cut outs – many of these were actually too tall for me, but since my friend fit I was able to have fun taking the photos. The most memorable area is definitely the TV room, with a colourful mural portraying perverted adult versions of familiar cartoon characters. In here, a group of hand painted toadstool seats provide you with a rest and allow you to comfortably face the television playing vintage pornographic cartoons. I especially appreciated that it showed the spectrum of eroticism, past & present – nude anime figurines included! 

Website: https://www.amsterdam.info/museums/erotic-museum/ 

Prostitute Information Centre

This was my favourite destination of the trip, and somewhere I cannot wait to revisit. Situated off a cobbled plaza in the middle of the red light district, this non-profit provides a place to learn about Amsterdam’s famous red light district from the sex workers themselves. It houses a wonderful little library and a souvenir shop, selling mostly items handmade by local workers! Should I visit again, I’ll be booking a tour in advance. 

Website: https://pic-amsterdam.com/

The window of the Prostitute Information Center. There's many posters up, including a handmade sign that says "sex workers DEMAND safe spaces." Other posters include "No photos or filming of the sex workers." and "complaint desk for sex workers. "

Belle 

Commissioned by the Prostitute Information Centre and created by Els Rijerse in 2007, it’s a beautiful statue and totally worth a visit. With a plaque reading ”Respect Sexworkers All Over The World” I found it very moving. She’s pictured in the header!

Bronze Breastplate/Borstplaat 

A dozen or so steps from Belle, look down and you’ll see this sculpture hidden amongst the cobblestones. A work of art with no plaque attached, often attributed to the Unknown Sculptor. Some people interpret this as a man caressing a woman’s breasts, but I believe it’s a woman caressing herself. Should you struggle to find it, either look for the glint of bronze or the tourists looking down. 

A bronze sculpture nestled between paving cobbles. A woman is caressing her breast. The nipple has been worn away by visitor hands. Perpetuas red shoe is visible in the corner.

Sex Museum 

A large museum, featuring a wide array of art, photography & information. Mannequins were a big part of it, with some representing famous women known for their allure, such as Josephine Baker and Mata Hari. Various museum wings and pathways allow you to meander around at your own pace, with hallways being utilised as extra exhibiting space. 

What I presume to have been the queer wing (due to its rainbow muraled wall) was unfortunately still under construction, though I really loved the Asian wing, with my favourite items being the intricately sculpted erotic scenes hidden inside vegetable-shaped containers.

It had a surprising amount of jumpscares for a museum, likely nothing that would cause an accident or injury, but some rather surprising mechanical pranks, activated by motion detectors or your attention.

What I liked least about this museum was the atmosphere. It’s situated a very short walk from Amsterdam Central Station, right on the main road so gets all of the excitable tourists. I found them to either be out of their comfort zone, seeking refuge in the hallways, or entirely too comfortable and boisterous, groping mannequins. The second group especially made it difficult to focus on reading information cards, though perhaps if I’d gone with a larger group myself I may have had similarly loud fun.

Website: https://sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/

A staircase in the Sex Museum. On the wall there are large full sized sculptures of torsos and legs, focusing on the breasts and the butt. They are painted realistically, and appear to melt into the wall.

Souvenirs 

Amsterdam, like most touristy cities, has an abundance of souvenir shops though few are worth purchasing from. Many of the red light district themed souvenirs I saw tried far too hard to represent the ‘vices’ of the city. For example, a magnet with a cartoon sex worker standing in the window – but also smoking a joint with a weed leaf on their underwear. 

Neither of the museums had particularly creative or interesting souvenirs, mostly very generic sex novelty items such as pint glasses with three dimensional breasts, or a mug printed with a model in lingerie. 

I believe the Prostitute Information Centre had the best souvenirs! They had miniature Belle statues and artworks painted by local sex workers. I purchased a little zine of the history of sex work in Amsterdam written in Dutch, which thankfully my friend is able to translate. They purchased a set of playing cards with a photo of a sex worker turning on their red light as the cardback. 

Souvenirs from Amsterdam. There is a pack of cards with a red light district cardback, a fridge magnet with an illustration of narrow houses in the the red light district, a zine and a beer mat that says "No photos or filming the sex workers. Respect sex workers. "

SFW Destinations

Though the range of erotic destinations are what led me there, Amsterdam has plenty of family friendly places to visit. Here are the ones I really enjoyed:

  • Hortus Botanicus, a botanical garden with a wide range of greenhouses and some great souvenirs options.
  • Katten Kabinet, a museum dedicated to the memory of one particular cat, and the rest of their species. It’s located in an amazing house, and filled with art, sculpture and photography. When I visited, two friendly cats acted as tour guides. 
  • NEMO Science Museum was fun, fascinating and a great way to spend a few hours. I danced in front of a thermal imaging camera, but it was the optical illusion room (Ames room) that really won my heart. 
  • Jumbo Supermarkets. It’s just a regular supermarket chain except they have a fridge specifically for macarons! It’s indulging in treats like that that remind you you’re on holiday, so I ended up buying a box almost every day!

Did I Enjoy Myself?

Absolutely! Amsterdam is a fantastic destination for a holiday, and I intend to go back again some day and visit places I missed, like the Prostitution Museum! I found my holiday very  memorable and I think summer was a great time to visit. I stayed in Hoofddorp, which was a bit out of the way but I got to see so many wild animals, including geese and swans raising their young!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, and that it may even help you plan your own holiday!

Have you been to any of these destinations? What did you think of them? I’d love to hear from you, especially if you know of any hidden gems!

Next to a road, we see a cycling path. The area has small strips of tall grasses, nature thriving in an urban enviroment. On the grass between the road and the cycle path, an entire family of Geese. One goose stands firmly in the cycle path, ready to defend their partner and 6 children.