Iquitos

Iquitos is the capital of Loreto and is located in the northern rainforest of Peru, which is considered one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet.

Here you will be able to sail along the Amazon River, live with native communities and visit the natural reserves. An intimate contact with virgin nature!

If you love experiential travel or ecotourism, you can' t miss Loreto. A place where you will discover exotic landscapes that host pink dolphins, sea turtles and native birds. 

Do you want to visit Iquitos? We offer you a wide variety of personalized tours to discover Peru.

Customize your trip

Top tourist attractions

  • Quistococha Park: It has a zoo with exotic animals and different varieties of snakes.
  • Moronacocha Lagoon: It has a paiche (gigant fish) farm.
  • Amazon River Margins: Itaya, Yarapa and Manatí, where many shelters have been built.
  • Last century manor houses: The first prefabricated house in America can be visited: The Iron House.
  • Belén neighborhood: Called “The Jungle Venice" It is built over the waters of the Amazon River and where you can only transit by canoe. 
  • Cruise service: Cruises that give you the option of sailing the Amazon for a week.
  • Ecotourism in the Amazon Rainforest: Visits to the most vast and ecologically diverse nature reserve in the world.
  • Camping over the Sucusari River: Considered one of the most important ecotourism attractions worldwide.
  • Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve: Is the biggest protected area in Peru 
Typical food:
  • Chonta or Palmito Salad: Made of the heart of a palm tree known as “Pona”.
  • Cebiche of Dorado: Made of Dorado fish. Inchicapi: Hen soup with peanuts, cilantro and yucca.
  • Timbuche: Concentrated bouillon based on fish and coriander. 
  • Cecina: Dried and salted beef or pork meat.
  • Patarashca: Fire-roasted fish wrapped in Bijao leaves.
  • Juanes: Rice dough flavored with turmeric, with chicken pieces and steamed wrapped in Bijao leaves.
  • Tacacho: Prepared from roasted green bananas, mashed and kneaded with pork rinds. 
  • Inchicucho: Prepared with corn, peanuts and aji.

Tropical fruits:
  • Papaya, aguaje, taperiba (”mango-ciruelo”), bananas, cocona, camu-camu, passion fruit, and guava, among others.

Traditional drinks:
  • Masato: Drink prepared from cooked and mashed yucca, fermented with chancaca or sugar.
  • Aguajina: Soft drink made from the aguaje fruit (palm tree).
  • Chapo: Specially prepared with ripe banana. (Capirona).
  • Shibe: Prepared from fariña (fermented and toasted yucca).

Shots:
  • Huitochado: Prepared with the fruit "huito", sugar and aguardiente.
  • Chuchuhuasi: Prepared from the bark of the tree named the same way, macerated in aguardiente.
  • Siete Raíces: Prepared from seven  different barks: cumaceba, clove huasca, marure, huacapurana, chuchuhuasi, cocobolo, ipururo, sweetened with honey and macerated in aguardiente.
  • Coconachado: Prepared with the fruit “cocona", sugar and aguardiente.
  • Huarapo: Fermented sugarcane juice.
  • Piraña bite: Prepared with rum and cocona.

First week of January: Anniversary of the founding of Iquitos
Third week of February: The Carnival. 
June 24: San Juán festivity
First fortnight of August. Agro-artisanal fair in the hamlet of Santa Clara de Nanay.
September 7: Festivity of the Señora de la Natividad, patroness of Tamshiyacu.
December 8: Festivity of La Purísima (Immaculate Conception) in Punchana district.