I visited the RLD as part of a tour group...a drinking tour, not a..well, you know what-kind-of-tour. Looking in from the outside, it was interesting, but not in the slightest exciting. There wasn't a good vibe in the area due to prevalent pimps and druggies. Also, to be fair... while the women were often hot, they also were sad looking and/or aggressive.I swear I saw a couple that probably were underage...and more than a few that looked high.
As you can tell, the experience was less than a turn on.
On the up side, the RLD is located in an ok part of the city. The oldest church in amsterdam is located in the heart of the RLD, check it out. Unless it's closed down, the Casa Rossa had live m/f action up on stage for those wanting to perve before you splurge (oo?). The Green Grasshopper, accross the canal from the Cassa Rossa, is/was fairly popular for those wanting to experiment in the other "tolerated" culture of Amsterdam. Although, you could locate similar fare in any number of "Cafe's" all over down town.
FYI... coffee shop = normal coffee. "Cafe" = brownies etc. That particular fare is not legal (although often tolerated) outside of the cafe's, and residents aren't very happy about seeing it.
The RLD and the majority of the sex shops + cafe's are lumped together. If you partake in the later, be very careful about wandering around looking for the former. There are alot of muggings that happen in the area, usually targetting anyone looking less than sober.
Other than that, the Heineken Experience is worth checking out
Make sure you grab some fries off the street & look out for bikes!
There are alot of tourists...lots of attractive ladies visiting. Depending on your proclivities, hooking up with a nice young tourist might be a better experience than the RLD. (hint, heineken house...any other popular beer hall...) The last word of warning is be careful in night clubs, as escorted 16 year olds are often allowed to hit up the disco's (in many parts of europe)(look for the parents loungs, heh).
- Cheers
