Amazon map & highlights
A massive 60 percent of the Amazon sits within the borders of Brazil, but when it comes to choosing which country to visit, you may want to look beyond the most obvious choice to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador or even Colombia – each has its own sights that set it apart. Wildlife lovers wanting to see animals in the jungle would be best off choosing tours that visit quieter, more remote countries. Most of the protected reserves boast claims of the highest biodiversity on earth, but what matters more than species statistics is going with a guide who knows where and how to find them.
Our Amazon Holidays
Ecuador and Amazon holiday
A journey of discovery and exploration
From
£787 to £1179
14 days
ex flights
Ecuador ecolodge, Napo Wildlife Center
A luxurious eco-lodge in wildlife rich Ecuadorean Amazon
From
£1323 to £1973
4 days
ex flights
Colombia holiday, Andes, Amazon & Caribbean
Explore the Andes, Amazon Jungle and Caribbean Coast
From
£1995
13 days
ex flights
Ecuador tours, Andes and the Amazon
Active experience of Ecuador's beauty, wildlife and people.
From
£5490
15 days
ex flights
Andes & Amazon holiday in Ecuador
The best of mainland Ecuador - Andes to the remote Amazon
From
US $4325
15 days
ex flights
Trekking and mountain biking in Peru
Stunning Mountain biking, trekking and rainforest, Peru
From
£3658
21 days
ex flights
Inca Highlights, adventure tour
Allow yourself to absorb the magic of Peru
From
£1707 to £2479
14 days
ex flights
Family holiday to Peru, Machu Picchu & the Amazon
Experience Peru's top sights as a family
From
£3563
19 days
ex flights
Kapawi Eco Lodge in Ecuador
Visit the Achuar tribe at Kapawi, Ecuador Amazon rainforest
From
£1342
5 days
ex flights
Andes to Jungle tour in Peru
A small group tour ticking off the highlights of Peru
From
£1123 to £1799
11 days
ex flights
Jaguar safari in Brazil, private departure
Southern Amazon and Pantanal with your expert naturalist guides
From
£6500
10 days
ex flights
Ecuador wildlife tours
Watch great wildlife in Ecuador's Cloud Forest & Amazon
From
£3850
12 days
ex flights
Brazil 10 day tour, Pantanal & Amazon
Discover the wonders of natural Brazil with eco-lodge stays
From
US $6560
10 days
ex flights
Equador self drive holiday, 14 days
Ecuador highlights including the Andes & the Amazon
From
US $2125 to US $2875
14 days
ex flights
Wildlife holidays in Brazil, tailormade
From macaws to jaguars in the Pantanal and Amazon, plus Rio
From
£4895
13 days
ex flights
Peru tour, Andes to Amazon
Travel through the spectacular Andes into the rainforest
From
£3545
13 days
ex flights
Brazil wildlife holiday, Amazon and Pantanal
Thrilling wildlife safari combining Pantanal and the Amazon
From
£5575
11 days
ex flights
Conservation volunteering in the Amazon, Peru
Make a real difference and volunteer in the Amazon!
From
US $1999 to US $6999
4 weeks
ex flights
Amazon rainforest birding tour, Peru
Join us in arguably the world's best birding location!
From
US $2700
8 days
ex flights
Tailormade holiday in Peru, Inca Trail & Amazon
Walk the Inca Trail with private guide, without the crowds
From
£5330
13 days
ex flights
Colombia holiday, San Agustin and the Amazon
Off the beaten track Colombia holiday
From
£3057
13 days
ex flights
Peru Amazon Rainforest family adventure
Amazon family adventure holiday, for children aged 4-10
From
£675
4 days
ex flights
Brazil holidays, tailor made
Visit dramatic landscapes, waterfalls & tropical islands
From
£2748
12 days
ex flights
Peru holiday, colours of Peru
Explore the very best of Peru on this small group tour
From
£3735
14 days
ex flights
Ecuador adventure holiday, tailor made
From volcano-top to Amazon basin and everything in between!
From
£1795
9 days
ex flights
Amazon River Cruise, 7 days
This voyage visits some of the most untouched rainforest
From
£2365 to £2429
7 days
ex flights
Wildlife of Brazil holiday
Jaguars, capybara & caiman: Brazil's ultimate wildlife tour
From
£5395
16 days
ex flights
Peru adventure holiday, small group
Experience coastal deserts, mountains and the Amazon Jungle
From
£2249 to £3129
19 days
ex flights
White water & wildlife holiday in Peru
Rafting Peru's Upper & Lower Tambopata river
From
£2760
10 days
ex flights
1. Iquitos, Peru
2. Leticia, Colombia
3. Madidi National Park, Bolivia
4. Mamirauá Reserve, Brazil
5. Manú National Park, Peru
6. Napo, Ecuador
7. Northern Brazilian Amazon
8. Southern Brazilian Amazon
9. Tambopata Reserve, Peru
10. Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
2. Leticia, Colombia
3. Madidi National Park, Bolivia
4. Mamirauá Reserve, Brazil
5. Manú National Park, Peru
6. Napo, Ecuador
7. Northern Brazilian Amazon
8. Southern Brazilian Amazon
9. Tambopata Reserve, Peru
10. Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
Iquitos, Peru
1. Iquitos, Peru
For a city of its size, Iquitos is surprisingly remote. Cut off on all sides by dense jungle, in Peru’s most underdeveloped region, the nearest road is nine days away by boat. Fortunately, flights are also available. Born out of the Amazon rubber boom, it’s a curious, bustling metropolis of motorbikes and dugout canoes. Shantytown markets float on stilts above waterlogged land and wildlife shelters in the fringes of flooded forests.
Leticia, Colombia
2. Leticia, Colombia
This small, southern city has an interesting indigenous ethnography museum – but that's not why you're here. Leticia is Colombia's gateway to the Amazon rainforest. Only accessible by air, it sits on the shore of a branch of the Amazon River, where encircling rainforest promises sightings of pink dolphins and parakeets. Take a jungle trek or visit the Mocagua village, painted with colourful murals of the local wildlife.
Madidi National Park, Bolivia
3. Madidi National Park, Bolivia
Madidi is a serious contender for the world's most diverse national park; it's here that the Amazon meets the Andes. Cruise along the Beni river through a landscape of soaring trees and deep leafy canyons, where whoops and calls help pinpoint howling hoards of monkeys, scaly caiman and perhaps even the ever elusive jaguar. More than most other places in the Amazon, Madidi is a good spot for animal sightings.
Mamirauá Reserve, Brazil
4. Mamirauá Reserve, Brazil
In an area of encroaching urban development, the Mamirauá Reserve is a spectacular model of sustainability, its floating ecolodge one of many projects that protect Brazil’s largest area of flooded forest. This renowned, but lesser travelled, corner of the rainforest conceals sloths, dolphins and giant river otters. It’s also the only place you’ll see what is arguably the Amazon’s ugliest primate: the bald and red-faced Uakari monkey.
Manú National Park, Peru
5. Manú National Park, Peru
If you're hoping to see animals, you've come to the right place; the Manú Biosphere Reserve protects important, pristine Peruvian rainforest. Its rambling territory provides a refuge for jaguars, giant anteaters, monkeys and a multitude of multicoloured macaws that gather at salt lick sites on clay river banks. Its success lies in its inaccessibility – civilisation is a couple of days away by boat, but it’s worth it for the wildlife.
Napo, Ecuador
6. Napo, Ecuador
The Napo region is dominated by a roaring river that draws in rafters and kayakers looking for white-knuckle whitewater paddling. Not just for thrill seekers, Napo is home to many indigenous communities who have taken a leading role in the tourism here. Discover the daily lives of the Kichwa community, from their traditional yuca drinks to blowpipe hunting, or visit the AmaZOOnico wildlife rehabilitation centre.
Northern Brazilian Amazon
7. Northern Brazilian Amazon
Don’t linger long in Manaus, this sprawling and ungainly city at the heart of the Amazon is better kept a starting point for your trip. Set off west, instead, on a small boat cruise along the vast Rio Negro. Here you can fish for piranha, meet the local Caboclo community and sail among flooded forests where orchids cling to overhanging trees and lily pads grow to the size of canoes.
Southern Brazilian Amazon
8. Southern Brazilian Amazon
The Cristalino River, which runs through central Brazil, is a nirvana for natural historians. Although ancient towering trees hide much of Brazil’s biodiversity, it’s here you’ve your best hope of spying harpy eagles, one of the world’s most powerful birds of prey. Stay at the Cristalino Lodge, and make the most of its 50-m canopy lookout, or trek the meandering forest trails in search of spider monkeys and some 586 species of birds.
Tambopata Reserve, Peru
9. Tambopata Reserve, Peru
Being so secluded certainly helps preserve Tambopata’s wildlife populations, but so does an invitingly varied collection of habitats, from misty cloud forest to beautiful oxbow lakes and swampy savannah plains. It’s perfectly suited to more adventurous visitors and families, who can choose bird watching while canopy climbing and kayaking. Paddle palm-fringed waters to see feeding otter families or trek through the rainforest along wooden walkways.
Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
10. Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
Ecuador’s largest section of undisturbed tropical rainforest is the deep, dark jungle of adventure movies and explorer’s tales. This ancestral land of the indigenous Kichwa Añangu people sits in the shadow of the Andes, just below the equator, in an area described as an ‘ecological bull’s eye’. Suffice to say, the richness of animal, plant and insect life here is on a record-breaking scale.
Our top Amazon Holiday
Ecuador and Amazon holiday
A journey of discovery and exploration
From
£787 to £1179
14 days
ex flights
Small group travel:
2020: 14 Mar, 21 Mar, 11 Apr, 16 May, 30 May, 6 Jun, 13 Jun, 27 Jun, 4 Jul, 18 Jul, 25 Jul, 8 Aug, 15 Aug, 22 Aug, 29 Aug, 12 Sep, 19 Sep, 26 Sep, 10 Oct, 17 Oct, 31 Oct, 7 Nov, 21 Nov, 28 Nov, 12 Dec, 19 Dec
2021: 9 Jan, 16 Jan, 23 Jan, 6 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 27 Mar, 10 Apr, 8 May, 22 May, 5 Jun, 12 Jun, 19 Jun, 26 Jun, 3 Jul, 10 Jul, 24 Jul, 7 Aug, 14 Aug, 21 Aug, 28 Aug, 4 Sep, 18 Sep, 25 Sep, 2 Oct, 16 Oct ...
2020: 14 Mar, 21 Mar, 11 Apr, 16 May, 30 May, 6 Jun, 13 Jun, 27 Jun, 4 Jul, 18 Jul, 25 Jul, 8 Aug, 15 Aug, 22 Aug, 29 Aug, 12 Sep, 19 Sep, 26 Sep, 10 Oct, 17 Oct, 31 Oct, 7 Nov, 21 Nov, 28 Nov, 12 Dec, 19 Dec
2021: 9 Jan, 16 Jan, 23 Jan, 6 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 27 Mar, 10 Apr, 8 May, 22 May, 5 Jun, 12 Jun, 19 Jun, 26 Jun, 3 Jul, 10 Jul, 24 Jul, 7 Aug, 14 Aug, 21 Aug, 28 Aug, 4 Sep, 18 Sep, 25 Sep, 2 Oct, 16 Oct ...
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Amazon or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
Travel times in the Amazon
Manaus is the overdeveloped gateway to the Amazon, a sprawling city where tourists can step off the plane and into the rainforest. Lodges and large cruise ships are just a short car ride away, but the convenience comes at a sacrifice. “There are a lot of lodges that are at road heads that you can get to more easily, but you're not going to see the same amount of wildlife,” explains Kathy Jarvis from our Amazon holiday specialists Andean Trails. Her key tip is to get off the beaten track and further in.
Ultimately, all the wildest regions are remote and require quite complicated journeys to reach. The Tambopata Research Centre in Peru is a two hour flight to Puerto Maldonado followed by six hours in a motorised canoe. Reaching Peru's Manú National Park involves an eight hour road journey and six hours by motorised canoe, or a flight to Puerto Maldonado and a full day journey upriver. Time-pressed tourists might be put off by the time it takes. But, as Kathy Jarvis points out, “it's all part of the trip obviously, when you're on the river boat you see masses and it's a great experience, it's not like you're sitting on a bus.”
Ultimately, all the wildest regions are remote and require quite complicated journeys to reach. The Tambopata Research Centre in Peru is a two hour flight to Puerto Maldonado followed by six hours in a motorised canoe. Reaching Peru's Manú National Park involves an eight hour road journey and six hours by motorised canoe, or a flight to Puerto Maldonado and a full day journey upriver. Time-pressed tourists might be put off by the time it takes. But, as Kathy Jarvis points out, “it's all part of the trip obviously, when you're on the river boat you see masses and it's a great experience, it's not like you're sitting on a bus.”
More about Amazon
The world’s largest rainforest hosts the richest biodiversity of any ecosystem on earth, but it’s only when you’re completely immersed that you’ll make out the wildlife amongst the trees.
There’s no real best time to visit the Amazon – the rainforest really is a year round destination.
Boat trips are by far the best way to experience the Amazon, as your tour guide will tell you.
Amazon holidays can be a benefit to both travellers and the indigenous people they visit.
The Amazon rainforest is a thriving hub of biodiversity but, to see it, you'll need a local guide.
This page is packed full of tips from our specialists for your trip to the Amazon rainforest.
Find out how your visit can benefit the rainforest and the people who make their lives in it.
Deforestation in the Amazon has now reached an 11 year high - but can tourism help save it?
protection
Photo credits: [Page banner: Christian Vinces] [Iquitos, Peru: Global Water Forum]
[Leticia, Colombia: Paulo Philippidis]
[Madidi National Park, Bolivia: Michael Kessler, Schweiz]
[Mamirauá Reserve, Brazil: Aaron Martin]
[Manu National Park: Bill Bouton]
[Napo, Ecuador: Arabsalam]
[Northern Brazilian Amazon: Zemlinki!]
[southern Brazilian Amazon: Brian Gratwicke]
[Tambopata National Reserve: Xauxa]
[Yasuni National Park: Geoff Gallice]
Back to the top
- Recently viewed
.jpg ){kind=link}