The Amazon Travel Guide

The Amazon basin covers roughly 7 million square kilometres across nine countries and holds about a tenth of all known species. It is also the hardest popular destination on this site to travel independently: there are very few roads, the river is the highway, and the difference between a supported lodge trip and an unsupported river journey is enormous. Most visitors enter from Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia or Bolivia.

At a glance

Reference facts for planning The Amazon.

Basin area

Approx. 7,000,000 km²

Countries

Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, France

Main gateways

Manaus, Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado, Coca, Leticia

River length

Approx. 6,400 km

Best access

Organised lodge or river boat from a gateway city

Best time to visit

Where the good months sit, and why.

Months to think twice about: Travelling here without a yellow fever vaccination certificate and without checking which antimalarial prophylaxis is recommended for your specific destination region.

Where to go

The places that justify the trip, and the guides we have written for them.

• Peruvian Amazon

  Iquitos, Madre de Dios

  The most developed lodge infrastructure, with deep-forest reserves reachable in a few hours from Iquitos or Puerto Maldonado.

• Brazilian Amazon

  Manaus, Amazonas

  The meeting of the waters, enormous river scale, and multi-day boat journeys that function like slow cruise ships.

• Ecuador's Yasuní

  Ecuador

  One of the most biodiverse places measured on earth, with community and conservation-run lodges.

• Indigenous territories

  Across the basin

  Home to hundreds of distinct peoples, including some of the last communities living without sustained outside contact.

  Read the guide

Visas & entry

Entry requirements depend entirely on which country you enter from — Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia all differ.

• Many Western passports get visa-free entry to Peru, Ecuador and Colombia for 90 days; Brazil and Bolivia have their own rules that have changed in recent years.
• Check each country's current requirement well in advance; some require proof of onward travel and a yellow fever certificate.
• Border crossings in the tri-border area around Leticia, Tabatinga and Santa Rosa involve formal immigration stops.
• National park and reserve entry fees are common and are usually arranged by your lodge or operator.

Use the official immigration authority of the country you are entering. Requirements for this region change frequently.

Daily budget

Rough per-person costs, excluding international flights.

• Lodge prices usually include transport, all meals and guided activities, so headline daily rates look higher than they are.
• Budget river hammock boats between Manaus and Iquitos or Belém are cheap but basic — food is included, comfort is not.
• Independent travel is rarely cheaper here because there is almost nothing to book independently.
• A good guide dramatically changes what you see; most wildlife is invisible to an untrained eye.

Recommended routes

Three ways to structure a trip, depending on how much time you have.

Getting around

River transport is the only real option. Slow boats carry cargo and hammock passengers over days; speedboats cover the same distance in hours for several times the price. There are almost no roads through the forest itself. Flights connect the gateway cities, and lodges arrange the last leg by boat.

Safety & hazards

This is the most demanding destination on this site. Vaccination against yellow fever is required or strongly recommended for most of the basin, malaria prophylaxis is advised in many regions, and medical care is hours or days away. Never enter the forest without a guide, and treat the river as the only reliable route out.

The Amazon guides

Long-form guides published for this destination.