This itinerary details travelling downstream on the Amazon from Iquitos via Tabatinga, Manaus, Santarém, Santana/Macapá to Belem. This article does not point out sights along the river as for most people the journey itself is the main attraction. For sights along this trip, check out the pages specific to locations mentioned.
If you are traveling upstream most of this information still applies to you but you'll have to nearly double the price and duration. You'll have to check the departure dates and times (please update this page with them too!).
The full trip will take roughly 8 days downstream and 14 days upstream, though adding at least 2 or 3 days buffer is recommended to allow for delays and missed connections. You can also cut the journey short by starting somewhere in between or by doing some legs by plane. See the Get In-section for details. Another way to save some time is to do parts by speed boat, though be aware that seating is like in an airplane's cattle class.
Furthermore, travel time depends on the season of the year. In the rainy season, the boats can go pretty fast, while in the dry season, they sometimes lose a few hours because they have to reverse until they find a passage where water is deep enough. Last but not least, travel time also depends on the itinerary of the boat. If a boat stops in lots of small settlements you might have to watch the crew get a cow on board which is to be sold in the next large city - this endeavor can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 5 hours.
Understand that you cannot plan the trip in detail: For ease of mind, accept that you can only go step by step and that, in the worst case, you'll be stuck in a place for 2 or 3 days until the next boat leaves to your next destination.
The boats that serve the Amazon are not designed with tourists in mind; they are the default mode of transportation for goods and people from place A to place B. Therefore:
But if you accept all that, you can have a great time - just don't put your expectations too high and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
At home, or en route, if traveling for longer: Get a yellow fever vaccination. In theory it is mandatory in the tres fronteiras area where Brazil, Colombia and Peru meet, practically yellow fever is endemic along most of the Amazon and getting a vaccination upfront is better than having complications after an infection. Also, some countries require proof of vaccination when coming from an area where it is endemic (again in theory, it is rarely checked in reality). Still, get vaccinated!
Also, especially when planning lots of excursions on lands and when traveling for a longer time, get a typhus vaccination.
Last but not least: When traveling to riskier areas (esp. the north-eastern parts like the border to Venezuela or to the Guyanas), bringing emergency medication for malaria is a very good idea.
If you want to pay on board the ticket as well as food and drinks with a credit card, ask beforehand if that is possible. Some boats only accept cash.
A good idea to have are:
Depending on your citizenship you may need a visa to enter Brazil, Peru and Colombia. Ensure that you get your passport stamped as might be checked numerous times (esp. when traveling downstream) and penalty fees can be steep when you try to leave a country and cannot show your entry stamp.
The only exception is the Tres Fronteras area where Peru, Brazil and Colombia meet - here you can freely roam around the three countries. You'll still have to make sure you get your entry- and exit stamp for the country you are coming from and the one you are going to.
You can get to: Belem, Macapa, Santarem, Manaus, Tabatinga, Leticia and Iquitos.
Belem's international airport (IATA: BEL) has flights to Lisbon, Miami Airport, Paramaribo, Georgetown and Cayenne.
Macapa's airport (IATA: MCP) has flights to Belém and Brasilia.
Santarem's airport (IATA: STM) has flights to Brasilia, Fortaleza, Manaus and Rio de Janeiro.
Manaus's airport (IATA: MAO) has flights to Miami, Barcelona El Prat, Panama City, Fortaleza and Aruba.
Tabatinga's airport (IATA: TBT has flights to Manaus.
Leticia's airport (IATA: LET) has flights to Bogotá, Iquitos and Pucallpa.
Iquitos's airport (IATA: IQT) has flights to Lima, Trujillo, Pucallpa and Chiclayo.
You can reach Belem (by bus from the south), Macapa (from French Guyana via Oiapoque) and Manaus (by bus from Boa Vista).
You can go to Iquitos from further south in Peru, though as of 2016 this is only recommended to seasoned travelers because of drug-related violence along the 4-day trip within Peru.
Prices depend on season and those listed below (from 2016) the prices you'll be quoted will likely be different. As a rule of thumb: per day of travel you'll have to pay R$50 per day for a passage in a hammock in low season, R$60 to R$70 in high season - without food. If food is included, the price is R$15 to R$25 higher per day. If food is extra, calculate with R$15 to R$30 per day for full board.
Note that the following itinerary is just listing major towns/settlements. You can get get off the boat at any point in between and board another one later. Just book exactly until where you want to go, as none of the boats offers hop-on-and-off tickets.
For most efficient connections buy your onward ticket immediately after getting off a boat, directly at the port after disembarking.
The following information is just a rough guide, details depend on which boat you take at which season and to which destination.
Boat schedules usually have a buffer at every stop so they can make up time lost earlier by speedier unloading of goods. Though, sometimes boats arrive and leave earlier than indicated by the schedule! Always be early at the port, give the booking agency your telephone number (or the one of your hotel) so they can inform you of earlier departures. In case boats arrive early at their final destination one usually can sleep on the boat until sunrise - but don't count on it, in worst case you'll have to leave the boat at 03:00 in heavy rain.
In theory prices are set. In reality you will be quoted (slightly) higher prices if you are a gringo. Whether to discuss or just accept is a matter of personal preference and how well you speak Spanish.
You can either take a speedboat (11 hr) or a slow boat (about 2½ days). The latter will do many stops in small settlements along the river to take on and drop off passengers and cargo.
First, get your exit-stamp for Peru at the immigration office in Santa Rosa. Then you will have to take a small boat to Tabatinga (about 10 minutes). They wait about 200 m downstream from the place where the larger boats stop.
In Tabatinga, you have to see immigration in town to get your entry stamp into Brazil. In both settlements it is advisable to take a taxi to do the immigration formalities. In Santa Rosa, it will help allow you to avoid walking through mud, in Tabatinga you avoid length walks through boring neighborhoods.
First, get your exit-stamp for Peru at the immigration office in Santa Rosa. Then you will have to take a small boat to Leticia (about 10 minutes). They wait about 200 m downstream from the place where the larger boats stop.
In Leticia, you have to see immigration at the airport to get your entry stamp into Colombia. In both settlements it is advisable to take a taxi to do the immigration formalities. In Santa Rosa, it will help allow you to avoid walking through mud, in Leticia you avoid a pretty long walk to the airport.
This mostly applies to people who want to end their Amazon river tour here, because:
, capital of the state of Amazonas, Brazil.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Port_of_Manaus%2C_Brazil.jpg/440px-Port_of_Manaus,_Brazil.jpg) Unlike travelling the Peruvian Amazon, in Brazil the prices per voyage are set and it's extremely unlikely that you'll be ripped off.
Major stops going downstream are Tabatinga, Manaus, Óbidos, Santarém, Macapá and Belém, from west to east.
Lunch on the first day isn't included, but shortly after departing the boat will stop in Benjamin Constant - for more cargo and passengers - where locals will jump aboard to sell lunch boxes (R$6-15) and drinks.
This section of the journey is a little bit slower as the flow of the river is not very strong but it is much more beautiful. Especially on the final day. You can stay on the boat after arrival and sleep in your hammock until morning. If you're heading to French Guiana it's best to get up early though!
in the state of Pará.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Encontro_das_%C3%81guas_Tapaj%C3%B3s-Amazonas_Santar%C3%A9m.jpg/440px-Encontro_das_Águas_Tapajós-Amazonas_Santarém.jpg)
On some boats food is included, while on others one has to sometimes pay prices which would be considered steep for the locals. Ask when booking and maybe stock up on durable food so you don't have to pay 3 times a day for sometimes mediocre food.
Going rates, as of 2016, are: R$3 to R$5 for breakfast, R$10 to R$12 for lunch and dinner. Simple sandwiches that are available on some boats' bars go for R$4. Softdrinks (0.33l can) come at R$4, beers (0.33l can) come at R$5.
The quality of the food depends on the boat and cannot reliably be predicted. R$5 for breakfast can get you a single coffee and a roll with ham and cheese or, on another boat, the same plus lots of fruit and a cup of a hot, delicious, milky something.
Lunch and dinner are often rice (maybe with noodles or beans or both), some salad and some meat. In the worst case it will be chicken every time, but on some boats one has a choice between chicken, beef and pork. In the Peruvian section of the Amazon, fish might also be served.
One can also rely on merchants coming on board and offering fresh or pickled fruit, fried food and sweets.
You could discover the area around with brought binoculars.
You can ask the crew if they planned something during the trip. It could be, that the crew throws somewhere bags of chips into the water, which are then grabbed by children in kayaks.
You can ask one of the boat captains at what time the speed boats overtakes the slow boat approximately. Or at what time a boat from the opposite direction is going to meet your boat. Around that time you can wait for it.
The Amazonas has several antipode areas with Malaysia and Indonesia. With the GPS on your smartphone you can check, if you actually pass a village on the exact opposite side of the earth. The Android app "Pantipodes" and the iOS app "Antipodes - Opposite Points" make it possible.
On most boats you have several kinds of accommodation to chose from:
Note that, usually, neither cabins nor suites have windows and can become very moist without air-condition and/or regular airing.
It's not a good idea to be tight and use your sleeping mat instead. People will be walking over you or someone will put their hammock 10cm above you. Or it starts to rain and you wake up soaked to the bones.
This warrants its own section - there is more involved than one might think.