At the southeast end of town is the floating shantytown of Belén, consisting of scores of huts, built on rafts, which rise and fall with the river. During…
Must-see attractions in Amazon Basin
- BTop ChoiceBelén Mercado
- HTop ChoiceHistorical Ships Museum
Moored below Plaza Castilla is the diverting Historical Ships Museum, on a 1906 Amazon riverboat, the gorgeously restored three-deck Ayapua. The…
- Parque Nacional Manu
This vast national park in the Amazon Basin covers almost 20,000 sq km and is one of the best places in South America to see a stunning variety of…
- TTres Cruces
About two hours beyond Paucartambo is the extraordinary jungle view at Tres Cruces, a lookout off the Paucartambo–Shintuya road. The sight of the…
- CCocha Salvador
Probably Parque Nacional Manu's loveliest lake, at least amongst the part of the park visited by tourists, with camping and hiking possibilities.
- Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria
At 20,800 sq km, this is the most immense of Peru’s parks and reserves. Pacaya-Samiria provides local people with food and a home, and protects…
- RReserva Nacional Tambopata
The wildlife-rich Río Tambopata is a major tributary of the Río Madre de Dios, joining it at Puerto Maldonado. Boats go up the river, past several good…
- YYanamono Rum Distillery
For three generations the Guerra family has been operating this traditional rum distillery in Yanamono, in the middle of nowhere in the northern Peruvian…
- PParque Nacional Bahuaja-Sonene
About two hours south of the Río Madre de Dios and along the Río Heath (the latter forming the Peru–Bolivia border), Parque Nacional Bahuaja-Sonene has…
- FFrancisco Grippa Studio-Gallery
In undeniably the most eye-catching edifice in Pevas, the art works of Francisco Grippa, one of Peru's most famous contemporary painters, are a sight more…
- PPuente Guillermo Billinghurst
This bridge, since 2011 carrying the Carr Interocéanica across the Río Madre de Dios – connects Puerto Maldonado by paved road to the outside world for…
- MMalecón
The sight of Iquitos' sophisticated riverside walkway, edged by swanky bars and restaurants and yet cut off from the rest of the world by hundreds of…
- MMariposario Tambopata Butterfly Farm
Peru has the greatest number of butterfly species in the world (some 3700) and you can see many of them here at this well-run butterfly conservation…
- CCollpa Chuncho
One of the best clay licks in the Reserva Nacional Tambopata, where you can see the colorful cacophony of feeding macaws for which the Tambopata region is…
- CCocha Otorongo
A lovely lake enfolded within Parque Nacional Manu, with an observation tower to aid wildlife-watching.
- CCocha Brashco
Preferred over Cocha Juárez these days as a lake to spy wildlife such as the giant river otter.
- CCatarata Bayoz
A stunning waterfall close to Puerto Yurinaki, about 50km northeast of La Merced.
- PPilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm
Ostensibly, the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm is a conservation and breeding center for Amazonian butterflies. Butterflies aplenty there certainly are,…
- RRío Madre de Dios Ferry Dock
This dock close to the Plaza de Armas is a cheap way of seeing a little of the action on a major Peruvian jungle river (the Río Madre de Dios), which is…
- PParque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén
North of Oxapampa rear the cloud-capped hills of this little-visited park, preserving spectacular cloud forest and diverse flora and fauna, including the…