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 kilometers of jungle river, is as spectacular as it is surreal. Tours are touted and jungle food is served from stalls, while below are decaying old riverboats, and the lower town's huts on stilts are at the mercy of rapidly changing river levels.
Malecón
Iquitos
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.75 MILES
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…
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0.2 MILES
Moored below Plaza Castilla is the diverting Historical Ships Museum, on a 1906 Amazon riverboat, the gorgeously restored three-deck Ayapua. The…
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4.07 MILES
Ostensibly, the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm is a conservation and breeding center for Amazonian butterflies. Butterflies aplenty there certainly are,…
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7.69 MILES
This lake, 15km south of Iquitos, is served by minibus (S2) several times an hour from near Plaza 28 de Julio (corner of Bermúdez and Moore), as well as…
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0.11 MILES
Every guidebook mentions the ‘majestic’ Casa de Fierro (Iron House), designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame). It was made in Paris in 1860 and…
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Museum of Indigenous Amazon Cultures
0.19 MILES
This intuitively presented museum takes you through the traits, traditions and beliefs of the tribes of the Amazon Basin, with a focus on the Peruvian…
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Nearby Iquitos attractions
0.11 MILES
Every guidebook mentions the ‘majestic’ Casa de Fierro (Iron House), designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame). It was made in Paris in 1860 and…
3. Museum of Indigenous Amazon Cultures
0.19 MILES
This intuitively presented museum takes you through the traits, traditions and beliefs of the tribes of the Amazon Basin, with a focus on the Peruvian…
0.2 MILES
Moored below Plaza Castilla is the diverting Historical Ships Museum, on a 1906 Amazon riverboat, the gorgeously restored three-deck Ayapua. The…
0.75 MILES
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…
6. Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm
4.07 MILES
Ostensibly, the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm is a conservation and breeding center for Amazonian butterflies. Butterflies aplenty there certainly are,…
7.69 MILES
This lake, 15km south of Iquitos, is served by minibus (S2) several times an hour from near Plaza 28 de Julio (corner of Bermúdez and Moore), as well as…