Alkmaar red light district

Home	Alkmaar Red Light District

I took the photos on this page around 10.40am on 24th March 2011.
The area is very pretty and not at all grotty like some other red light districts in Holland such as Doubletstraat in Den Haag. Some of the windows are on the street front whereas others are in small passage ways or alcoves. A map showing the window / kamer layout can be seen here.
I have listed locations below each photo. I regret that I was unable to get enough photos to construct an interactive map.
Click any photo to enlarge.
Update: Sept 2011- 65 windows have been forced to close including some of those below. See bottom for explanation.

SW end of Achterdam viewed from across the Zijdam	First windows coming from the SW Kamers z3, z2, z1, A28	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers 3p-k15

Passage way off Achterdam Kamers 3p-k26	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers 3p-k17	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers 2p-g2-(k6, k8, k9)

'Open Plein' off Achterdam. Kamers 2p-g1-(p3, p4, p5, p6)	'Open Plein' off Achterdam. Kamers 2p-g1-(p1, p2, p3, p4)	Passage way leading to 'Open Plein'. Kamers 2p-g1-(t7, t8, p3, p4, t5, t6)

Looking out onto kamers A27-(k1, k2) on	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers 2p-g2-(k2, k3)	Achterdam Kamers A23-(k2, k3, k4), A27-k1

Alkmaar Hotels

1. Hotel Pakhuys
2. Familie Hotel Alkmaar
3. Grand Hotel Alkmaar
4. Amrâth Hotel Alkmaar

View Alkmaar in a larger map

The map above shows the location of the red light district as well as a few nearby hotels. You can also see the station top left. The quickest walking route is probably to take Spoorstraat. It only takes 10-15mins. Single train fare from Amsterdam costs around 6.70 Euros and the journey takes about 30 mins.

Achterdam 2p-g3 corridor	Achterdam Kamers A27-k2	Achterdam Kamers A31-(k1, k2)

Kamer A19-k3 on Achterdam	t'Steegje Passage way off Achterdam. Kamers A13-(k1, k2, k3)	t'Steegje Passage way off Achterdam. Kamers A13-(k1, k4)

Achterdam Kamers A11-(k1, k2)	Passage way off Achterdam. . Kamers 1p-g3-(k2, k3, k4, k5)	Passage way off Achterdam. Kamers 1p-g2-(k7, k8)

Passage way off Achterdam. Kamers A1-(k3, k2)	Achterdam Kamers d1, d2	NE end of Achterdam. Office for window / kamer hire.

NE end of Achterdam. Office for window / kamer hire.	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers A3-(k3, k2)	Passage way off Achterdam Kamers A3-(k4, k3)

Achterdam Kamers 1p-g2-(k1, k2)	Passage way 2e (2p)- Kamers k1, k2 plus Achterdam 16 (k2, k1), 14 (k2, k1)	Achterdam kamers 14 (k2, k1), 12 (k2, k1)

Achterdam Kamers 3p-(k5, k6)	Achterdam Kamers A31-(k1, k2), A33-(k1, k2)	Achterdam Kamers A35-(k1, k2), A37-(k1, k2)

Achterdam Kmaers 3p-(k1, k2, k3, k4)	One of the rooms in the passage ways	Passage way 1e (1p) off Achterdam. g2 corridor. Kamers k7, k8. k9

Passage way off Achterdam. Kamers 1p-g2-(k3, k4)	SW end of Achterdam viewed from across the Zijdam	Achterdam means "rear dam" and is situated on a piece of land that was reclaimed in the 15th century. Around it are Dijk (dike), Voordam (front dam), and Zijdam (side dam). Windows appeared in the area in the early 1970s. They were only allowed on Achterdam itself but small passage ways were made to increase the number of rooms. In 2010/2011 action was taken to close around 92 windows because of suspected criminal connections by the owner. In March 2011 however it was declared that these windows can in fact remain open. In Sept 2011 the above decision was over turned by the council of state. 65 windows were forced to close.