The First Days of Pride, Before the Boats

Pride in Amsterdam opens in the last days of July and runs for roughly two weeks, closing with the weekend of the Canal Parade at the start of August. Nearly everyone who writes about Pride writes about that weekend. It is the high point by a long way, the one the hotels fill for first and the one every visitor has heard of. What gets less attention is the fortnight in front of it, and for a visitor with some flexibility the first days are often the better choice.

What the first week is like

The city is decorated from the start. Rainbow flags hang from bridges, balconies and shop windows, and a programme of talks, parties, film screenings, sports events and street gatherings runs across the fortnight. The atmosphere is festive, but the centre is not packed in the way it is on the parade Saturday. Trams run normally. Hotels have rooms, though fewer each day. An evening walk along the canals is pleasant rather than a struggle.

From a booking's point of view, that difference is significant. The evening hours are easier to fix, the women you would like to see are more likely to be free at the hour you want, and a same-day message in the first week usually finds several free names rather than one or none.

The first week has its own programme worth planning around: opening parties, sports tournaments, film evenings and talks. Most of them end at sensible hours and none of them closes the centre, so an hour after one of them is planned the way an hour after a dinner would be, with a short walk back and a modest margin.

Which days count as peak

Pride is one of the peak dates the house names, and the weekend of the parade is peak without question. For the other days of the fortnight, ask. Give your dates in the first message and the reply says which of them the house counts as peak. On peak days every booking carries half the fee ahead, including a returning client's same-day hour. On the others the ordinary rules apply: a returning client asking on the day for one or two hours at a city address pays the whole fee on arrival, while a first booking, a booking fixed more than twenty-four hours ahead or an overnight carries half on any date.

Arriving early for the parade

Many visitors combine the two. They arrive on the Wednesday or Thursday before the parade, spend a few calm days in a city already dressed for the occasion, and stay for the weekend. That pattern suits a booking on one of the calmer evenings in the middle of the week, when the room is new, the body is still recovering from the journey and the crowds are still to come. An hour at EUR 180 or ninety minutes at EUR 270 on a Thursday evening is easy to fix a week in advance.

Guests of every kind

The house arranges bookings for any guest who is twenty-one or over, alone or as one of a couple, and Pride brings every combination to the city. A couple writes once, says there are two of them, and says whether they want one therapist between them, at EUR 360 an hour, or a therapist each, at EUR 720. Both people in the room must have agreed to the booking before it is arranged. Each woman decides for herself which bookings she takes, names her own limits at the start of the visit, and may end a visit whenever she chooses.

Rooms during Pride

Hotels during Pride fill with groups of friends, and rooms are often shared. For the session the room needs to be yours for the duration, with nobody in it who is not part of the booking. If you are sharing, arrange the timing with your friends before you write. Put the room number in the thread before she sets out, and say so if the hotel asks guests to meet their visitors in the lobby.

Why the first week is worth a thought

Visitors plan around the parade because it is the famous part. But a trip that includes a few days before it gives more room for everything, a booking included. The Pride week page covers the parade weekend in detail, and the lead time entry in the glossary sets out how far ahead each part of the fortnight tends to need.