Iquitos
Iquitos is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region.
It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city in Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road that is not on an island; it is only accessible by river and air.
Getting to Iquitos
Iquitos is widely considered the largest continental city unreachable by road. That leaves planes and boats as the primary means of entrance and egress for people and supplies. Do not expect to see a city with all the trappings of the western world. This city is very basic as it has no road connection with the rest of the world.
- 01Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport
6 de la Ciudad (6.5km southwest of town via Av Grau and Av Jose Abelardo Quiñones).
Worth seeing
The riverfront is just one block from the Plaza de Armas. In the low water season it will retreat and thus not be terribly visible. The waterfront walk also seems to be the place where local high schoolers go to canoodle, so if you stroll it be prepared to see lots of this. There is a somewhat big crafts market right below the walk, called Anaconda Center.
- 01Iquitos Cathedral
- 02La Plaza 28 de Julio
The biggest square in Peru, there are very good 'Chifa' (Peruvian Chinese) restaurants around the square.
- 03Casa de Fierro
- 04Ex Hotel Palace
- 05Amazon Rescue Center
- 06Complejo Turístico de Quistococha
Km 6.5 of Iquitos Nauta highway (12 km south of the main square).
Things to do
Jungle trips. Jungle trips are the main reason to visit Iquitos as it serves as a launch point for trips into the Amazon. Single day or multi-day trips can be booked. You are taken out on a boat and can view wildlife such as monkeys, alligators, giant lily-pads, baby caimans (sort of like mini-alligators), anacondas, boas, tarantulas, and more.Your taxi driver or hotel concierge will be more than happy to contact a…
Where to eat
If you are new to Iquitos and the Amazon, you are in for a real treat. The food in Iquitos is excellent. It is an exotic blend of Peruvian, Brazilian, and Colombian food with influences from the Andes and the Pacific Coast. Try the 'juane' and the 'tacacho'.
- 01Amazon Bistro
At one block from the main square, in front of the river, a French old-style brasserie.
- 02Dawn on the Amazon
Easy to find at the end of the boulevard on the corner of Nauta is the place to go to eat and meet.
- 03Huasaí Restaurant
Jirón Fitzcarrald 131 (half a block northwest of the Plaza de Armas),.
- 04El Kikiriki
Napo # 159 (one block north of the Plaza de Armas, away from the river),.
Getting around Iquitos the local way
- Get inUpon exiting the airport, there will be several mototaxis and a few cars waiting to win your fare to town.
- Get inAverage rate for a mototaxi into the center of town is S/10 and for a car is S/20.
- Get inMany mototaxi drivers may try to bring you somewhere other than where you requested to go because they earn commission.
- Get inThe trip to Iquitos from Coca (officially Francisco de Orellana) in Ecuador takes over 8 days in one of the three slow cargo boats that ply the route.
- Get inThere are 2 rapido (fast boats) per week between Pantoja and Mazán, a small village before a big bend in the river about 45 minutes by mototaxi and speedboat from Iquitos.
- Get inThe boats arrive into Mazán's Napo port — a 5-10 minute mototaxi (S/5) from Mazán's Amazon port which is a 40-minute speedboat (S/15) or 2½-hour slow boat (S/7) from Iquitos.
- Get inTherefore, you can choose the speedboats from Tuesday to Sunday, the trip takes 9 - 14 hours (S/130).
- Get aroundThe most common way to move around town is by motocar (or mototaxi), a motorcycle with a small, rickshaw-like passenger cabin in the back.
From Wikivoyage: Iquitos, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.