What to do in Iquitos, Peru
When deciding what to do in Iquitos, Peru, you’ll have plenty of options for a solid 3 days. As the main gateway to the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, Iquitos offers incredible jungle excursions, but the town itself has much to explore. You can try exotic foods (including worms!) or shop for a love potion at Belen Market, visit rehabilitated wildlife at Pilpintuwasi, and indulge in delicious local cuisine.
We stayed in Iquitos for 3 days after our 6-day Amazon Tour, and I recommend spending at least three days for you as well to fully experience this unique jungle city.
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Where to Stay in Iquitos
We stayed at Boulevard 251 Riverside Apartments. It had a kitchen (though we didn’t use it), a nice view, and was clean and reasonably priced. The hotel is located at a dead-end near the pedestrian areas, making it very convenient for getting around.
Interestingly, the guesthouse was featured in the movie Fitzcarraldo, which is a fun film to watch before, during, or after your trip to Iquitos.
This balcony was used in the movie and I recognized it!
There seems to be a resident turtle on site that I loved..
We also considered Casa Morey for the classic feel. I also liked the look of Casa Pinto. These are all in the central part of Iquitos, where you can easily walk around
Getting around Iquitos
If you book activities with a guide, your transportation will likely be included. However, to get around yourself, get a tuk-tuk. We think we were mostly given fair prices but we asked our accommodation how much we should expect to pay beforehand.
During the day, we walked around ourselves a lot!
Where to Eat in Iquitos
I enjoyed the food in Iquitos. My favorite meal was at the Iron House, though there are plenty of places to explore. Since Iquitos was our final stop after 14 incredible days in Peru, I was happy to stick to nearby spots—but there’s no shortage of delicious options for those with the energy to venture further!
Casa de Fierro
Casa de Fierro/The Iron House is home to an upscale restaurant vibe, which is also good for drinks on the balcony overlooking the town square. It was designed by the same architect who created the Eiffel Tower, and there’s a funny story about how it ended up in Iquitos. Apparently, it was originally meant for Iquitos, Ecuador, but somehow got sent to Iquitos, Peru—I’m not sure how much of this is true, but it’s an amusing tale. We actually ended up eating here twice, mainly because it was close to our hotel.
I really enjoyed the variety of dishes at the Iron House, including regional options from across Peru. I was so excited to try the Causa dish, a stack of mashed potatoes with avocado, traditionally served with chicken, but the vegetarian version here was incredible!
Make restaurant reservations in the evening here as the restaurant gets packed! They also have live jazz music in the evenings, adding to the atmosphere.
Al Frío y al Fuego
Al Frío y al Fuego is located in the middle of the Amazon River! You’ll need to take a boat from here to get to the restaurant. It’s such a fun experience. The boat leaves whenever it fills up and typically runs every 45 minutes. If you’ve got time, plan to spend an afternoon here at the pool. Wilhelm and I squeezed in a trip after checking out of our hotel and before catching our flight out of Iquitos.
The food was excellent. We got a ceviche and fish skewers to share. WOW. The fish skewers were a highlight of our trip as they came with a “jungle” chimichurri sauce that I haven’t been able to figure out the recipe for.
My final Pisco Sour!
Mercado de Nanay
Eat like a local at the food market located by the new bridge. There are a dozen stalls or so selling fish, chicken, and pork on the grill. We got a grilled fish and tried a rice and chicken ball, too.
Dawn On The Amazon Café
Dawn On The Amazon Café is one of the few restaurants open early in the morning (at 7:30am). They have an extensive breakfast menu and also cater to those on the ayahuasca diet (read more about that below).
This is a perfect spot to have breakfast before your 8am Belen Market Food Tour (which you should definitely do like I did!).
Chifa Long Fung
Chifa is a kind of Chinese Peruvian food that is very popular across the country. Chifa Long Fung has a lot of great reviews, as well as some funny ones. There’s both an AC and a non-AC section, which I found amusing. We thought we’d be grateful for some air conditioning in Iquitos’ 80% humidity, but it ended up being too cold for me!
The menu at Chifa Long Fung is huge, with so many dishes to try. We ordered a noodle dish and a vegetable dish—both came in massive portions. They ended up having the same sauce, so it wasn’t as exciting as I expected, but the flavor was good. Definitely worth trying while in Peru!
La Posada del Cauchero
For a simple lunch, we tried Jungle Noodles at La Posada del Cauchero. Although this is a hotel, it had a local, old-timey feel to it. You can also stay here during your time in Iquitos.
What to do in Iquitos
Get a drink at El Musmuqui
Iquitos has a party scene, but after 6 days in the Amazon where we were getting into bed at 9pm, we couldn’t muster up the courage to stay up late. However, we made an exception for El Musmuqui, which opens at 7pm, and has unique jungle-y drinks. The bar is located on Iquito’s pedestrian street so you can also bar-hop into the night.
Camu Camu sour and a Passion fruit cocktail!
Visit Wildlife Centers
Pilpintuwasi is a wildlife center where you can visit rehabilitated monkeys and other animals that are difficult to spot in the Amazon (if you’re lucky). Animals are rehabilitated so that they can return to the wild, but some are brought by wildlife police after they’ve been rescued from homes and circuses. I really enjoyed our experience and learned a lot about the animals and the center’s conservation efforts. The entrance is just 30 soles.
If you didn’t see any manatees in the Amazon River (we didn’t), you can spot them at the Amazon Rescue Center.
Walk around Iquitos
Check out the Plaza de Armas de Iquitos (after getting lunch at The Iron House).
Plaza 28 De Julio has a fun evening atmosphere where you can take a walk before or after getting dinner at Chifa Long Fung.
Just wander around town as well. There are plenty of interesting colonial buildings.
Visit the first steamship of the Amazon in Iquitos
This historic steamship, dating back to the 1880s, was the first of its kind on the Amazon River. The museum inside offers fascinating information about the rubber industry—along with some of its controversies. There was some serious drama and pillaging that took place (by the British). We visited in the evening and spent about 20 minutes exploring.
Walk around the Iquitos Market and shop
There is a small artisan market in Iquitos. There were not that many unique gifts compared to what we saw in Cusco. I thought we’d be able to see some interesting or collect some unique jungle type souvenir items. I don’t really quite know what I was looking for…
For something different, there are women on the sides of the pedestrian area around the Mal. Maldonado selling handstitched pieces of cloth with designs that you could do something with. For example, I bought a few pieces that I’ll sew on a shirt.
You can also check out Artesanías Garza Vivav for some clothing items.
And visit the art gallery across the street.
Indigenous Culture Museum
Visit the Indigenous Culture Museum on a hot afternoon. One of the best things about this museum is that it’s fully air-conditioned—a huge relief when the humidity hits 90%! The museum itself is small but worth a visit.
I especially liked seeing the feather headdresses and reading about the cultures of different indigenous tribes in the Amazon.
Ayahuasca in Iquitos
There is a huge industry around the ayahuasca drug in Iquitos. It apparently gives people an out-of-body experience, and people feel reborn. There is a strict diet that lasts seven days that people are supposed to follow before taking ayahuasca. Because of this, many restaurants in town cater to the diet. The diet eliminates meat, fat, oil, pepper, spices, sugar, salt, and dairy.
The menu at Dawn on the Amazon Cafe
Although there’s a booming ayahuasca tourism industry for foreigners, there are also risks—bad experiences and mistakes can happen when untrained people lead ceremonies. The drug isn’t illegal in Peru due to its deep connection to Indigenous culture, but if you’re interested, I highly recommend doing thorough research beforehand.
Ayahuasca is actually a root that grows in the rainforest. You can find it on a Belen Market Food Tour.
Personally, we have no interest in it, and I don’t want to be “reborn” and have to find Wilhelm again in another life!