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Floating City of Belen Tours

Some call this unusual neighborhood of 74,000 the “Venice of the Amazon,” which is more than a little misleading. The famed “floating barrio” is quite poor, and would be considered a shantytown on dry land. Nevertheless, the fact that the modest thatch-roofed homes, restaurants and bars rise and fall with the river, atop balsawood “foundations,” make Belen one of Iquitos’ top tourist attractions.
Hire a canoe and guide to take you through the canals, past homes, businesses, schools and churches gently rocking atop the water. A sturdier city center rises on stilts from dry land (during dry season, anyway). There, you can visit the famed Belen Street Market on Pasaje Paquito, known for herbal medicines and healing elixirs, made with natural rainforest products, that are brought in daily from more than 150 native communities upriver.
After shopping for unusual fruits, fish and more, you’ll head back onto the water. Several floating restaurants cater to tourists with fresh fish dishes and cold beer, perfect after a day of exploring. Remember that this is a very poor neighborhood, so leave your valuables at the hotel and be alert for pickpockets and petty thieves, particularly at the market.
Address: Iquitos, Peru
5 Tours and Activities to Experience Floating City of Belen
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Did you know?
You can reserve your spot today and pay when you're ready.Learn more
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Iquitos Private City Tour
You will start your tour in downtown Iquitos, then you will visit the 28 de Julio Square, a recreational area that exhibits in its center the old locomotive that pulled Iquitos first train. Next, you will visit the local Palace of Justice and then you will go to the main market that supplies the city with a great variety of Amazonian fruit, fresh water fish and local products, a feast of colors, smells and tates. Then you wll go to the Iron House, located on the Main Square, designed by Gustave Eiffel. It is an old structure built in 1887, considered the first prefabricated house in the Americas, which shows the economic splendor during the Rubber Boom. You will finally visit the Belén riparian hamlet, a community of Iquitos in which the wooden houses built on beams and columns are elevated some meters above the ground during the dry season, while in the rainy season they seem to float and its inhabitants have to cross theflooded street in canoes.
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From
US$75.00
From
US$75.00
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff

Iquitos Belen Tour Venice Loretana
Iquitos is better-known for being the entrance to the Peruvian Amazon. However, with this guided Belén neighborhood tour, you can see a different side to the popular port city. Pass through the local marketplace with your private guide, before venturing to the Itaya River to see the labyrinthine, floating neighborhood known as La Venecia Loretana.
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From
US$94.77
From
US$94.77

Meet the esoteric market of Bethlehem in Iquitos and the Venice of Loreto
Holidays only for one day in Iquitos? Are you looking for an experiential tour with total security but do not have much time? Meet the reality of a city that forms on the river. Live the true Amazon adventure with us!
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From
US$76.43
From
US$76.43

Enjoy Belen market and Venice Loretana - Grupal Tour
We will walk to the populous Bethlehem Market where you can find the most varied products, from fresh fish, to passing meals, raccoons or cigars, lucky charms, love lotions, medicinal preparations and many exotic drinks of them with curious names that honor their aphrodisiac properties, do you dare to try them?!.
Then we will go to the neighborhood of Belén Bajo, a spicy and populous neighborhood where you will live the deep Iquitos, we will travel its streets until we reach the banks of the Itaya River where we will navigate between the famous floating houses or rafts. Which in times of rising of the river float forming the so-called Venice Loretana. Feel totally calm and safe, our specialized guides will give you the best experience in this sabrosón neighborhood bathed by the Itaya River.
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From
US$10.20
From
US$10.20
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff

Rivera Amazónica Iquitos - Full day
This private, full-day cruise on the Amazon River and Itaya River takes you where cars can't go. Admire views from a stunning vista point, hike into the rain forest, visit two traditional communities that still live along the banks of the rivers, and more. Breakfast and lunch are included to fuel a full day.
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From
US$135.53
From
US$135.53
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