Paramaribo
Welcome to one of the more surprising cities in South America. Black-and-white colonial Dutch buildings line grassy squares, wafts of spices escape from Indian roti shops and mingle with the chaos of the city’s market, while Maroon artists sell colourful paintings outside sombre Dutch forts. The friendly, multilingual residents of the Surinamese capital, who call the city ‘Parbo,’ are proud of their staggering ethnic diversity and the fact that they live in a city where mosques, synagogues, churches and Hindu temples are happy neighbours. The historical inner city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a veritable treasure trove of traditional colonial architecture, and makes a great place to relax between jaunts to Suriname’s rainforest.
Exploring this capital, with its colonial architecture and lively main streets, could fill two days. Southwest along Waterkant from Fort Zeelandia are some of the city’s most impressive colonial buildings, mostly merchants’ houses built after the fires of 1821 and 1832. The streets inland from here, particularly Lim-a-Postraat, have many old wooden buildings, some restored, others in picturesque decay.
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Saint Peter & Paul Cathedral-Basilica
Commonly called ‘the Cathedral,’ this gorgeously restored building was designated a Minor Basilica by Pope Francis in 2014. It’s said to be the largest wooden structure in the western hemisphere and is worth a peek inside for the masterful woodwork and carvings. Mass is held daily and English tours are available on demand.
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Fort Zeelandia
Inside well-restored Fort Zeelandia, a star-shaped, 18th-century fort built on the site where the first colonists alighted, is the worthwhile Stichting Surinaams Museum, as well as the Baka Foto restaurant.
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Mosque Keizerstraat
This is the biggest mosque in the Caribbean. The current building was completed in 1984.
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Neveh Shalom Synagogue
The expansive Dutch Israeli synagogue, which famously sits side by side with the Caribbean’s largest mosque on Keizerstraat, dates from 1716, when it was founded by the Sephardic Jews. The current structure was completed in 1843 and contains a small museum about the history of Jews in Suriname.
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Central Market
The frenzied and fascinating central market is divided into distinct areas: the meat, fish, fruit and vegetable sections on the lower floor and a less photogenic clothing area on the upper. The ‘Witch’s Market’ (aka the Maroon Market; no photography allowed) has a separate entrance just to the west on Waterkant, and sells herbs, bones, shells and mysterious concoctions. It’s best to get to these markets before noon.
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Het Surinaamsch Rumhuis
Tours here begin with a ‘happy shot,’ then it’s through the distillery, rum museum and tasting room, where you will learn to sample each variety like a pro. Finish with cocktails on the patio. Shorter tours skip the distillery.
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Onafhankelijkheidsplein
Surrounding the centrally located Onafhankelijkheidsplein (Independence Sq) are the contrasting stately 18th-century Presidential Palace and aging colonial government buildings. Behind the palace is the Palmentuin, where it’s a pleasure to walk and escape the chaos of the city outside.
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Presidential Palace
Official residence of the President of Suriname, this fine white colonial house was originally built in 1730. It opens to the public on Suriname’s Independence Day (November 25) each year, and otherwise can only be enjoyed from the outside.
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Palmentuin
The Palmentuin is a shady haven of tall royal palms, home to some tropical birds and a troop of capuchin monkeys.
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Commewijne River
Opposite Paramaribo, the banks of the Commewijne River are lined with old plantation properties divided by canals and strewn with the remains of coffee, cacao and sugarcane-processing facilities. The best way to explore is by renting a bike to spend a full day touring the well-defined routes past the plantations. This makes for a fascinating day trip and an impressive contrast to the chaos of the capital. The most popular route crosses the Suriname and Commewijne rivers using water taxis to reach Frederiksdorp, a plantation complex that has been lovingly restored and turned into a hotel and restaurant.
Popular boat tours are available to the same sites you can get to by bike. Spotting friendly-faced river dolphins along the Commewijne is popular, especially at sunset, and most plantation boat tours will attempt to point them out to passengers when passing through the dolphins’ feeding grounds
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Peperpot Nature Park
Beautiful Peperpot Nature Park, about 10km from Paramaribo, stands in eerie dilapidation (with poorly maintained paths) across the Meerzorg Bridge. It is a favourite birdwatchers’ locale, with a well-marked 3km-long trail through the forest, from which you’ll often see lots of monkeys as well. Bring your own water and mosquito repellent, and go early to see the most wildlife.
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Fort Nieuw Amsterdam
This open-air museum is inside one of the earliest surviving Dutch structures in Suriname, a fortress built at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne Rivers in 1747. Inside you’ll find chilling artefacts of the slave trade and a Dutch-engineered system of locks holding back the river.

Matapica beach
North of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam, Matapica is a tranquil and almost mosquito-free beach where sea turtles come ashore April to August. Tours generally reach it by boating through the plantation canals and a swamp rich in birdlife. Stinasu runs a small camp here.
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Info
This jungle-locked, chocolate-brown river plods through the sweaty wilderness of the Surinamese rainforest from the Eilerts de Haan Mountains in the country’s south towards the giant Brokopondo reservoir. Relatively accessible by air and boat, the Upper Suriname River is where most visitors to Suriname come to experience the wonders of the country’s raw nature, magnificent wildlife and the rich Maroon cultures.
Tourism here is well established but still low-key, meaning that while facilities are good and guides experienced, it’s still very easy to get out into untrammelled rainforest and to feel that you’ve left the modern world far behind.
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Getting There
Travel to the Upper Suriname River usually involves a combination of flights in small twin propeller aircraft, bump. 4WD jeep rides along dirt tracks, and far more tranquil boat travel. Most lodges fly their guests in using one of the several airstrips in the region, after which they transfer visitors by jeep and boat to their destination. This will all be included in your package price and will be organized by each lodge, most of which have a couple of transfers per week from Paramaribo.
Water taxis ply the river and can easily be hired, allowing independent travellers to move around between lodges with ease. Prices are not set and need to be agreed with the boat captains. Lodges can help you with this.
It’s relatively easy to visit Brownsberg on your own: take an Atjoni-bound bus from the Saramacastraat bus station near the central market in Paramaribo and ask to be let off at the village of Brownsberg (SR$60, three hours). From here, arrange in advance for Stinasu to pick you up and drive you to the park (SR$70, 30 minutes). Several Parbo-based tour agencies also do Brownsberg as a (very) long day trip or a more relaxed overnight tour.
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Maroon Museum Saamaka
Guided visits of this little museum on a large property offer great insight into the local culture, from marriage customs to dress codes, music and much more. It’s an important institution for Maroon culture, and is generally visited by travellers staying in nearby lodges as part of day trips visiting Maroon villages.

Eco Resort Pasensie
Ideally located just outside of Pikin Slee, this tidy riverside lodge is walking distance to the Maroon Museum and a few other villages, so visitors can really delve into the Saamaca culture. Bathrooms are shared. Museum trips (SR$40) and half-/full-day jungle tours (SR$80/150 per group) are two of the activities on offer.
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Gunsi Resort Tei Wei
Operated by the tiny, very traditional and welcoming village of Gunsi, this is the best place to immerse yourself into Saamaca culture. Huts with beds and mosquito nets are basic but clean, with fantastic, hammock-strewn terraces overlooking the river. Bathrooms are shared. Activities range from village visits (SR$50) to caiman-spotting (SR$100) and even overnight jungle hiking trips.
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Brownsberg Nature Reserve
Brownsberg Nature Reserve, named after the eponymous 560m peak at its heart, was founded in 1969 and is made up of 112 sq km of pristine jungle populated by dozens of rare species of animal, many of which are unique to Suriname. It’s a stunning slice of nature covered in thick jungle and bordering the vast Brokopondo reservoir. Head here for wild tropical adventure, some superb bird-watching and endless wildlife-viewing opportunities.
Brownsberg’s park headquarters are located on a high plateau overlooking the Brokopondo reservoir, about 100km south of Paramaribo along a red-dirt highway. Monkeys seem to be everywhere, whether they’re red howlers growling in the canopy, or precious black-bearded sakis checking you out from a tree limb. Park operator Stinasu has rustic lodges (from SR$120) for groups, and camping (SR$50) and hammock sites (SR$30) at the headquarters.
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Brokopondo
Brokopondo is a human-made reservoir, created in 1964 when the government dammed the Suriname River. Views of storm clouds moving in over the 1550-sq-km lake are breath-taking, but a closer look reveals a rainforest graveyard, in which dead trees stick up through the water’s surface from what was once the forest floor. The park headquarters has interesting displays detailing how the dam project required relocating thousands of mostly Maroon and Amerindian people as well as hundreds of thousands of animals.
It’s relatively easy to visit Brownsberg on your own: take an Atjoni-bound bus from the Saramacastraat bus station near the central market in Paramaribo and ask to be let off at the village of Brownsberg (SR$60, three hours). From here, arrange in advance for Stinasu to pick you up and drive you to the park (SR$70, 30 minutes). Several Parbo-based tour agencies also do Brownsberg as a (very) long day trip or a more relaxed overnight tour.
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Nieuw Nickerie
This bustling border town of wide streets was once a major center for the collection of wood of the balata tree, a unique tree that produces a sap that can be made into latex. Today, Nieuw Nickerie is mostly a banana and rice production hub with a large port, and it has very little to offer visitors, although it’s perfectly pleasant. As the last stop in Suriname before Guyana, the town gets its fair share of visitors passing though, and most travellers do just that – staying the night is generally done unintentionally. Nieuw Nickerie is also the departure point for exploring Bigi Pan, a swampy reservoir known for caimans, scarlet ibises and more than 100 other kinds of birds.
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Central Suriname Nature Reserve
Covering 12% of Suriname’s land area, the epic 16,000 sq km Central Suriname Nature Reserve was established in 1998 with a US$1-million donation from Conservation International. Around 40% of the plants and animals here are found only in the Guianas, and the vast majority of the reserve is dense, impenetrable wilderness. As you’d expect, visiting the park is challenging but hugely rewarding, and can only be done by guided tour.
The most commonly visited place in the park is Raleighvallen (Raleigh Falls), a low, long staircase of cascading water on the upper Coppename River, about two hours upriver from the nearest Maroon village. Resident wildlife includes spider monkeys, electric eels and the Guiana cock-of-the-rock, a spectacular blood-orange bird. Stinasu has well-run tourist lodges on Foengoe Island next to the falls. Nearby Voltzberg is a 240m granite dome accessible by a 2½-hour jungle trail and then a steep ascent – the 360-degree views of the jungle from the top are simply astounding.
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Galibi Nature Reserve
On Suriname’s eastern shoulder, Galibi Nature Reserve faces French Guiana across the Marowijne River. Here, hordes of sea turtles, including the giant leatherback, crowd the beaches during egg-laying season (April through August). You can get there from Albina with permission from members of the local Carib community and a hired canoe, or more easily from Paramaribo with the tour operator Stinasu. (www.stinasu.sr)

Coppename Nature Reserve
Just 100 sq km in size, the Coppename Nature Reserve, at the mouth of the Coppename River, is home to the endangered manatee and is a haven for bird-watchers who come here to see rare species of migratory shorebirds and several types of herons. Stinasu organizes trips on request. (www.stinasu.sr)