Belém
Belém, often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the North of Brazil.
Belém, often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the North of Brazil. It is the gateway to the Amazon River with a busy port, airport, and bus/coach station. Belém lies approximately 100 km upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, on the Pará River, which is part of the greater Amazon River system, separated from the larger part of the Amazon delta by Ilha de Marajó. With an estimated population of 1,398,531 people — or 2,491,052, considering its metropolitan area — it is the 12th most populous city in Brazil, as well as the 16th by economic relevance. It is the second largest in the North Region, second only to Manaus, in the state of Amazonas.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Belém
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Theatro da Paz
Theatro da Paz is a theater located in the Praça da República on the city of Belém, capital of the state of Pará, in Brazil. It was built following neoclassical architectural lines during the golden age of rubber in Amazon Basin.
1.2 km · theatre in city Belém of Pará, at North Regional in Brazil · Wikipedia - 02Our Lady of Grace Cathedral
The Our Lady of Grace Cathedral also called Catedral Nossa Senhora de Belém. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belém do Pará and is located in the old quarter of the city in Belém in Brazil.
100 m · church in Belém, Pará · Wikipedia - 03Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth of Exile
The Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth of Exile is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church located in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazil. Its construction started in 1909 at the place where the image of the Virgin of Nazareth was found by Plácido José de Souza in the state of Pará, on the banks of the Murututu Igarapé.
2.6 km · church in Belém, Pára · Wikipedia - 04Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, commonly shortened MPEG, is a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. It was founded in 1866 by Domingos Soares Ferreira Penna as the Pará Museum of Natural History and Ethnography, and was later named in honor of Swiss naturalist Émil August Goeldi, who reorganized the institution and was its director from 1894 to 1905.
3.1 km · natural history museum, arboretum, zoological garden in Pará, Brazil · Wikipedia - 05Baenão
Estádio Evandro Almeida, usually known as Baenão is a stadium in Belém, Brazil. It is currently used mostly for football matches.
4.4 km · football stadium · Wikipedia - 06Universidade Federal do Pará
The Federal University of Pará is one of the public universities maintained by the Brazilian federal government in the state of Pará. The university, with + 50,000 students enrolled in its courses, operates across multiple campuses in the cities of Belém, Abaetetuba, Altamira, Ananindeua, Bragança, Castanhal, Cametá, Capanema, Breves, Tucuruí and Soure.
5.6 km · public university in the state of Pará, Brazil · Wikipedia - 07Estádio da Curuzú
Estádio Leônidas Sodré de Castro, also known as Estádio Leônidas Castro, but usually known as Estádio da Curuzu, is a football stadium owned by Paysandu Sport Club, located in São Braz neighborhood, Belém, Pará, Brazil. The stadium has a maximum capacity of 16,200 people.
4.7 km · football stadium in Belém, Brazil · Wikipedia - 08Forte do Castelo de Belém
Forte do Presépio is a fort located in Belém, Pará, Brazil. It was built in 1616 by Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco at Maúri Point, a promontory on the right bank of the mouth of the Guamá River and Guajará Bay.
200 m · fortress in Belém, Pará · Wikipedia - 09Church of Saint Anne
The Church of Saint Anne, also known as Church of Our Lady of Saint Anne of Campina, is a Catholic church located in the neighborhood of Campina, Belém, in Pará. It was designed and built by the Italian architect Giuseppe Landi, and his first major work of after his arrival in Brazil.
800 m · church in Belém, Brazil · Wikipedia - 10University of the Amazon
The Universidade da Amazônia is a Catholic, private university in the Brazilian state of Pará. Established in 1993, it was the first private university in the North of Brazil.
3.4 km · private University in Pará state, Brazil · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Belém is a lively and friendly city but it can look quite unappealing at first sight. There are a lot of modern high rises, but between them particularly in Cidade Velha and Campinas there are a vast number of well preserved colonial buildings, from the rubber boom and earlier. Many of the grander ones now house official bodies and there has been a drive to preserve them.
From Wikivoyage: Belém, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Many of the city's highlights can be taken in with a walk along the rivers edge, starting with the docks and continuing to the old fort. Numerous old churches along the way are worth a look, and the bustling market life is not to be missed. Círio de Nazaré (on the second Sunday of October): one of the largest Catholic parades in the world.
From Wikivoyage: Belém, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Belém has a range of regional specialties. See Pará for the full menu. Regional ice creams: made with fruits like Açaí, Cupuaçú, Taperebá, Bacurí, Graviola, etc. Best ice cream maker is Sorveteria Cairú, several branches, including at Docas (Station of the docks). Tacacá: a delicious soup made with shrimp, tucupi (a broth made with wild cassava) and jambu (Acmella oleracea).
- 01Sesc - Restaurante do Comerciário
R.
- 02Lanche do Sírio
Tv.
- 03Restaurante Popular
R.
From Wikivoyage: Belém, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Belém
- Airports
- Val de Cans/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro (BEL), 9 km
- Stations
- Protásio de Oliveira Airport, 6.8 km · Port of Belém, 1.6 km
- São Luís → Belém482 km · quickest by air, 4h 18m · R$350–540
- Fortaleza → Belém1135 km · quickest by air, 5h 9m · R$500–780
- Manaus → Belém1293 km · quickest by air, 5h 21m · R$550–850
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Belém
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Belém. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get aroundMost buses run until about 23:00, but minibuses go virtually around the clock on major roads.
From Wikivoyage: Belém, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,102 km
- 021,411 km
- 031,695 km
- 042,457 km
- 052,545 km
If you know how people move in Belém – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Belém
Belém is 18 km from Ananindeua, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Cidade Velhaneighborhood in the city of Belém, Brazil800 m