Things to do in Santarém
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Santarém
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Low water lingers into January but Brazilian holidays keep the village busy and prices high.
Amazon winter, high water and peak rain around March. Beaches vanish, flooded forest and Jari wildlife are the trip, prices are lowest.
Shoulder months, rain easing and water still high. Beaches only begin to reappear late in July, so do not promise a beach trip yet.
Amazon summer at its best, the driest months with full beaches and clear water. September is the sweet spot, with Sairé.
Beaches remain with fiercer heat in November, then December holidays bring crowds and higher prices while beaches stay good.
What's on
- Festa do Sairé September, dates vary, usually mid to late September, about five days
A festival over 300 years old in Alter, layering Catholic processions over indigenous ritual in the Sairódromo arena.
- Festival dos Botos Within Sairé, September
The pink and grey river dolphin groups compete with dance, allegories and carimbó to stage the legend of the boto.
- Aniversário de Santarém 22 June
The city's anniversary brings civic celebrations, concerts and riverfront programming in Santarém.
- Círio de Nossa Senhora da Conceição Late November, dates vary
The patronal festival of Santarém cathedral, with processions in the Círio tradition Pará is famous for.
Best things to do in Santarém
Ilha do Amor
The white sand arc in front of Alter village, with barracas, hammocks in the shallows and Lago Verde behind it.
Lago Verde
The green lagoon cradling the village, best explored by canoe into the flooded Floresta Encantada at its edge.
Encontro das Águas
Where the clear Tapajós runs beside the milky Amazon without mixing, best seen at water level by boat.
Orla de Santarém
The city riverfront promenade and Mirante lookout, the place to watch sunset over the confluence of two rivers.
Centro Cultural João Fona
A small 1853 museum of Tapajônica ceramics and regional history that makes the river communities legible.
Museu Dica Frazão
A house museum of fibre art woven from grasses and plant pulp by Santarém artisan Dica Frazão.
Araribá Cultura Indígena
The largest indigenous art shop in Alter, the reference collection for fair prices before buying at source.
Quinta do Mestre
The free Thursday evening carimbó performance in Alter, with drums, dance circles and locals teaching the steps.
Where to stay in Santarém
Alter do Chão village centre and the orla
first trip, all-round base
Minutes from the square, the pier, the Ilha do Amor canoes and most restaurants, then village quiet at night.
Santarém city Orla and Centro waterfront
flights, river boats and one practical night
Walkable to the waterfront, markets and city restaurants by day, chosen for logistics rather than atmosphere.
Carapanari and the Interpraias road
a deliberate retreat night with a car or transfer plan
Beautiful Tapajós frontage and the region's best restaurant, but nothing walkable beyond your own gate.
Think twice about
- Santarém outer districts away from the Orla and Centro, including the bus terminal and commercial port surroundings
A working city that empties at night, with industrial, poorly lit streets around the terminal and port. Pass through by car in daylight for transport, do not sleep there to save money.
- Properties scattered on the Santarém to Alter road and the Interpraias road without a car plan
Nothing lies between scattered highway properties, so without a rental car or approved transfers every meal out depends on a negotiated taxi.
Best restaurants in Santarém
Casa do Saulo Tapajós
The region's destination lunch on the river at Carapanari, long, generous and built on pirarucu and invention.
Restaurante Piracema
The best cooking inside Santarém city, Amazon dishes made from scratch in portions that will serve two.
Ty Comedoria e Bar
The village's best dinner, beachfront facing Ilha do Amor, with pirarucu and Amazonian fruit cocktails.
Arco-Íris da Amazônia
The beloved village all rounder on the square, part restaurant, part café, part craft shop, in bright colours.
Prime Ribs
A steakhouse newcomer topping Alter's ratings, filling the meat first gap in a village of fish menus.
Espaço Alter do Som
A restaurant bar built around live music near the orla, as much the evening's entertainment as its dinner.
Peixaria Rayana
The city's popular fish house for grilled river fish and regional plates, where Santarém itself eats fish.
Mãe Natureza Restobar
A reliable, central restobar on the village square with long hours, Brazilian plates and local tour knowledge.
Outdoor things to do in Santarém
Floresta Nacional do Tapajós
Primary Amazon forest walked with Jamaraquá community guides, giant samaúma trees and a clear igarapé swim.
Canal do Jari
A floodplain channel of giant water lilies, monkeys and sloths, with tastings made from vitória-régia itself.
Comunidade Coroca
A riverside community on the Arapiuns with a turtle lake, stingless bee honey, craft at source and empty beaches.
Praia de Ponta de Pedras
A long Tapajós beach with rock formations and fish restaurants, with far more space than Ilha do Amor.
Praia de Pindobal
A broad, calm river beach on the Belterra road, famous locally for space and for huge sunsets over the Tapajós.
Serra da Piraoca
A 40 minute climb from Ilha do Amor to a panorama over Lago Verde, the village and the widening Tapajós.
Belterra
Henry Ford's second Amazon company town, with green and white houses, rubber trees and a small Ford era museum.
Fordlândia
The original Ford rubber town 300 km upriver, reachable only on a multi day boat expedition booked well ahead.
Best hotels in Santarém
Vila de Alter Pousada Boutique Amazônia
The benchmark Alter stay, a wooded boutique pousada with a celebrated breakfast and staff advice to trust.
Hotel Mirante da Ilha
The village's proper mid range hotel, with a pool, terrace and front desk a few minutes from the beach.
Casa Saimiri
A stylish garden guesthouse on the quiet Lago Verde side, close to Ilha do Amor with a cared for breakfast.
Don Preguiça Hostel
The village's best supported budget base, spotless dorms and privates with a kitchen and a helpful host.
Barrudada Tropical Hotel
Santarém's default full service hotel with pool and breakfast, and honestly the ceiling of what the city offers.
Hotel Sandis Mirante
A compact waterfront hotel whose upper rooms and restaurant look toward the meeting of the waters.
Tapajós Center Hotel
A simple, central budget hotel whose front rooms overlook the riverfront avenue in Santarém.
Bangalôs da Selva Casa do Saulo
Jungle bungalows with river views inside Casa do Saulo, so you sleep where you have the region's best lunch.
Is Santarém expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | R$220 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | R$480 a person |
| Splurge | R$1,100 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Lago Verde: a few days ahead
- Encontro das Águas: a few days ahead
- Selvagem Tours: a few days ahead
- Floresta Nacional do Tapajós: a few days ahead
- Canal do Jari: a few days ahead
- Comunidade Coroca: a few days ahead
- Fordlândia: weeks ahead
- Casa do Saulo Tapajós: a few days ahead
- Book Alter pousadas weeks ahead for August to October, Sairé week and Brazilian holiday weekends.
- Reserve Casa do Saulo for weekends, and arrange FLONA, Arapiuns and private boat days 1 to 3 days ahead in season.
- Book Fordlândia expeditions and multi day river cruises weeks ahead, and book STM flights early as frequencies are limited.
Is Santarém safe?
- Alter is calm with ordinary precautions, while Santarém city needs normal Brazilian big city awareness at night and in markets.
- Shuffle your feet entering sandy shallows to avoid stingrays, and use strong sunscreen and repellent at dawn and dusk.
- Yellow fever vaccination is recommended for the Amazon, and insurance should cover medical evacuation.
- Start hikes and forest trails early, and build the afternoon around water and shade in equatorial heat.
Santarém travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Basing in Santarém city and commuting to Alter daily costs the village mornings and evenings that make the trip.
- Visiting in March to May for the beaches, when Ilha do Amor largely submerges at high water.
- Paying tour prices to be driven to the Meeting of the Waters viewpoint, which is visible free from the Orla.
- Building a full Santarém city sights day around its small museums instead of giving the hours to the river.
- Assuming cards work everywhere, when boatmen and barracas run on cash and Pix and Alter has limited ATMs.
Getting around Santarém: public transport and more
- Fly to Santarém airport STM, about 35 km from Alter, with domestic flights mainly from Belém, Manaus and Brasília.
- Taxi or a pousada driver to Alter costs about R$130 to 150 and takes 45 to 60 minutes, confirmed before you ride.
- The cheap route is a bus via Rio Tapajós Shopping, then the Alter bus for about R$5 in under an hour.
- In Alter, walk the village and hire boats at the CAT pier or through your pousada, agreeing itinerary and price first.
- In Santarém city use Uber or 99, and download offline translation and maps before river and forest days.
Who Santarém suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Santarém your trip
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