by Carmen

Cary, North Carolina

April 27, 2009

by AdrienneEC

New York, New York

February 10, 2006

by justmejenna

Decatur, Alabama

December 28, 2005

by karameister

Saint Paul, Minnesota

August 8, 2005

Netherlanders really like their sex. Prostitution is legal (and unionized!). Just walk into the Red Light District and you'll see things that you never knew existed. But the Sex Museum is perhaps the best examples of the fascination in all of Amsterdam.

For all the hubbub and jokes, the Sex Museum actually takes the subject very seriously. There is a "Sex through History" exhibit, with information that dates back thousands of years. They have myriads of sculptures of naked men and women, but the origins of each and every one are explained. The sex museum is not just there to look at; it's there to learn from, too!

There is a small section that isn't for everyone. It's sort of a fetish explanation area, and some things can get pretty intense and/or disgusting. If you are faint of heart, I wouldn't recommend going into this room!

Overall, the Sex Museum was a fun and unusual experience. My travel partner thought that it would be trashy and not worth it, but she agreed that she learned a lot! We spent about an hour at the museum, so it is well worth the 2€ we spent.

by Sarah the Expat

London, United Kingdom

May 31, 2005

At the back of the first floor is a room devoted to photographs of the extremes of sex, including fetishism, bondage, anal, beastiality... well, you get the idea. Don’t go in unless you’re really ready to be disturbed; there’s a sign warning you not to complain if you see something you don’t like!

There are three levels to this museum, and the architecture of the place is actually quite interesting. They’ve made good use of the stairwells and landings to display various paintings, and the ceiling over one part is all glass. As you move up to the second level, the displays are less tacky. The Sex Museum does a much better job than the Erotic Museum in explaining the various objects in their collection, including country of origin, how things were used, and approximate dates. There is a large display of b/w photography from professional and private collections, paintings, carvings, statues, etc. In one area, you can sit between two giant penises and watch a video about the beginnings of porn; beware, though, as the middle seat is set to suddenly start vibrating at random!

At only 2.50 Euros, this is a bargain attraction and well worth the money. If you only go to one of this type of thing, skip the Erotic Museum and do this one; their collection is bigger, better explained, and more varied.

by backstage_diva

Danbury, Wisconsin

April 21, 2005

by savella

Birmingham, United Kingdom

February 2, 2004

by Aquarius78

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

August 11, 2002

by mcbabe

London, United Kingdom

May 30, 2002

The exhibits here range from the silly to the lurid, but don't go expecting to be titilated, go expecting to have a photo taken of you next to a giant penis!

This is partly a good place to go just to see the range of expressions on the faces of the other museum visitors. From the painful (daughter brought along by parents) to the hilarious (the elderly queuing up to have their picture taken next to said giant penis) it is good.

This museum is generally dismissed in the guidebooks (the ones we read anyway), and this is unfortunate. It does lean towards the tacky, yet it does have some interesting exhibits if you get away from the wax works, particularly the vintage pornography.

by Marianne

Eindhoven, Netherlands

May 18, 2002

The first room is quite dull. It shows a collection of literature and manuscripts of sex through the ages. I quite likedthe china figurines with huge phalluses. There are also chastity belts and other equipment.

We then went to another room which was very popular with the male visitors. There are small padded booths, for one euro you can make your selection from eight different porno movies. We selected one but in fact it was all over before we really started looking at it. I’m sure it was not longer than one minute. When we left our booth it was soon occupied by one of the male visitors who stayed there for quite some time!

After this we went up stairs here it gets more interesting. This is the gallery of uncommon sexual desires.

This is not all. Another rooms shows thousands of pornographic pictures from around the world. If you feel tired you can sit on one of the huge penis chairs which vibrates every minute while you do a bit of people-watching and in particular men-watching. Quite a sensation!