3 Days in Paramaribo Itinerary: UNESCO Wooden Streets, Peperpot and Commewijne

Three days in Paramaribo let you explore every corner of its 2002 UNESCO World Heritage wooden centre, taste Javanese, Hindustani, and Creole dishes, spot monkeys and toucans in an eighteenth-century coffee plantation across the river, and cruise the Commewijne estuary alongside wild pink-bellied dolphins. Base yourself on Kleine Waterstraat or inside the UNESCO Historic Inner City.

Day 1: Fort Zeelandia, Onafhankelijkheidsplein, Palmentuin, and Waterkant

• 08:30: Onafhankelijkheidsplein and the 1730 Presidential Palace: Start your morning in the heart of the UNESCO zone on Onafhankelijkheidsplein (Independence Square) to photograph the white wooden 1730 Presidential Palace, the 1836 brick Ministry of Finance, and the historic wooden townhouses of Mr. F. H. R. Lim A Po Straat.
• 10:00: Fort Zeelandia (Surinaams Museum) and Palmentuin: Walk out onto the river point to tour the 1667 shell-stone bastions and 1790 brick officers' quarters of Fort Zeelandia, then stroll through the shaded grove of 1,000 royal palms in Palmentuin.
• 13:00: Waterkant Promenade and Koto Museum: Enjoy a lunch of Creole pom or Hindustani roti, visit the Koto Museum on Prinsessestraat to learn the secret language of traditional Afro-Surinamese koto dresses and angisa headscarves, and return to the white wooden riverfront houses of Waterkant at sunset.
• 19:30: Javanese Warung Dinner in Blauwgrond: Take a ten-minute taxi north to Blauwgrond for aromatic saoto soup, charcoal-grilled peanut saté, and fried bakabana.

Day 2: Cedar Cathedral, Mosque and Synagogue, Central Market, and Peperpot

• 08:30: Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul: Step inside the 1885 Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral on Henck Arronstraat to admire the largest wooden building in the Western Hemisphere and its unpainted Surinamese cedar interior.
• 10:00: Keizerstraat Mosque and Synagogue and Central Market: Walk to Keizerstraat to see the Masjid Keizerstraat and the sand-floored 1842 Neve Shalom Synagogue standing side by side, then browse the riverfront Central Market and Maroon Herb Market.
• 14:30: Afternoon Cycling and Birding in Plantage Peperpot: Cross the 52-metre-high Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge to the 820-hectare Plantage Peperpot Nature Park, walking or cycling beneath old coffee and cacao shade trees to spot squirrel monkeys, sloths, and toucans.

Day 3: Commewijne River Plantations, Fort Nieuw Amsterdam, and Guiana Dolphins

• 08:30: Wooden Tent-Boat from Leonsberg to Fort Nieuw Amsterdam: Board a traditional covered wooden riverboat at Leonsberg pier in northern Paramaribo and cross the estuary to the 1734 star fortress of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam.
• 11:30: Plantation Frederiksdorp and Mariënburg: Cruise up the Commewijne River to walk the restored eighteenth-century yellow-and-white colonial buildings and orchard gardens of Plantation Frederiksdorp and view the nineteenth-century sugar factory ruins at Mariënburg.
• 16:30: Sunset Guiana Dolphins at Braamspunt: On the return boat ride into the Suriname River estuary off Braamspunt, watch wild pods of pink-bellied Guiana dolphins (profosu) surface and leap in the golden afternoon light.