De Wallen or De Walletjes is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam and a major tourist attraction. It is located in the heart of the oldest part of the city (Amsterdam-Centrum), covering several blocks south of the church Oude Kerk and crossed by several canals. De Wallen consists of a network of alleys containing approximately three hundred tiny one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. The area also has a number of sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, a sex museum, a cannabis museum, and a number of coffee shops that sell marijuana. 26 coffeeshops in the De Wallen area will have to close their doors between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2015. A Dutch judge ruled tourists can legally be banned from entering cannabis cafes, as part of new restrictions which come into force in 2012.
De Wallen, together with the prostitution areas Singelgebied and Ruysdaelkade, form the Rosse Buurt (red light areas) of Amsterdam.
Read more about De Wallen: Location, Organization, Pimping and Human Trafficking, City Government Actions of 2007/2008