The best things to do in Paramaribo are the UNESCO-listed inner city on foot, Fort Zeelandia, the wooden cathedral, the synagogue and mosque side by side on Keizerstraat, and the Central Market. Three to four days adds Commewijne by boat and bicycle and a dolphin trip at dusk. Come in September and October, or February and March, for the dry seasons.
Paramaribo is a grid of white timber houses on a tidal river, and the only Dutch-speaking capital in the Americas. Below are the ten things worth your time, each mapped, plus the temples, the tables and the boat across to the plantations.
A seventeenth-century Dutch street plan filled with white-painted timber houses, UNESCO-listed since 2002. Start on the Waterkant, then work inland through Keizerstraat and the Kerkplein. Go in the morning, before the heat.
The pentagonal brick fort where the colony began, on the riverbank at the end of the Waterkant. The Surinaams Museum fills it with colonial rooms and objects. It was also the site of the December murders of 1982, which the fort does not hide.
A neo-Gothic basilica finished in 1885 and built almost entirely of wood, one of the largest timber churches in the Americas. The unpainted cedar interior is the reason to come. Entry is free; donations fund the upkeep.
Neveh Shalom synagogue, rebuilt in 1843 with a sand floor, stands next door to a four-minaret mosque, and the two communities have shared the block for generations. It is the country's shorthand for itself. The synagogue opens by appointment.
Two floors on the river: fish, meat, fruit, sambals and a row of herbal medicine stalls downstairs, clothes and household goods above. It is open Monday to Saturday and at its best before noon. Carry small SRD notes.
The palace of 1730, the brick Ministry of Finance of 1841 and the National Assembly frame one lawn. The palace opens to the public on Independence Day, 25 November. On Sunday mornings the square hosts twatwa songbird contests.
A shaded grove of royal palms behind the palace, first planted under Governor van Sommelsdijck and opened to the public in 1685. Capuchin monkeys work the canopy. It is the coolest walk in the centre, best in daylight.
Take the small boat from Leonsberg across to Nieuw Amsterdam, rent a bike and ride the flat loop past Fort Nieuw Amsterdam, Frederiksdorp, Peperpot and the old Mariënburg sugar works. Start early and carry water.
Late-afternoon boats run from Leonsberg to where the Suriname and Commewijne rivers meet, where Guiana dolphins feed before sunset. About three hours with a sundowner stop at a plantation. Book through a licensed operator.
The brick ruins of the Beracha ve Shalom synagogue and the Cassipora creek cemetery, a Sephardic settlement upriver that UNESCO listed in 2023. About an hour by road, and best seen with a guide who can read the graves.
A public holiday, with lion dances and the markets in the Chinese quarter at full stretch.
Holi, thrown in coloured powder across the city and a public holiday.
Marks the first indentured ship of 1873, with music and food.
Abolition in 1863, marked with the Bigi Spikri parade and at the Kwakoe statue.
A public holiday for the country's first peoples.
Marks the peace treaties the Maroons forced on the colony.
Independence in 1975, and the one day the palace opens its doors.
The pagara firecracker relay and the biggest street party of the year.
The international airport at Zanderij, 45 km south of the city. Allow about an hour by road, and book a taxi or hotel pickup before you land.
The domestic airfield inside the city. Light aircraft to the interior airstrips and reserves leave from here, usually as part of a lodge package.
State buses and private minibuses leave from the Heiligenweg terminal for the coast road, Nickerie included. They go when full and fares are cash.
Taxis are unmetered, so agree the fare first. Small boats cross from Leonsberg to Commewijne; the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge, 1,504 m, carries the road.
Grated pomtajer root baked with chicken and citrus. Every party has one.
Soft flatbread with curried chicken, potato and long beans.
Javanese chicken soup with egg, sprouts and fried potato sticks.
One-pot rice with beans and salted meat or fish.
Cassava, plantain and salt fish, eaten on Keti Koti.
Javanese fried noodles, as Surinamese as anything on this list.
Battered fried plantain with peanut sauce, sold on every corner.
Peanut soup with pounded plantain dumplings.
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