2 Best Sights in Manaus, The Amazon

Background Illustration for Sights

Manaus is a sprawling city, with a combination of low and high-rise buildings and numerous shopping malls. Hotels and restaurants are concentrated in the small City Center (Centro), which is the most atmospheric of neighborhoods, or in Ponta Negra. Business hotels are generally in the business district en route to the airport. Most people will give you directions in reference to one of the shopping malls.

Museu do Seringal Vila Paraiso

Fodor's Choice
Originally constructed as part of a film set, this rubber museum is in a 19th-century mansion on the banks of the Rio Negro, a 25-minute boat trip from Ponta Negra. Here, visitors can witness the extraction of latex from the rubber trees that surround the house, as well as learn about what life was like for the rubber gatherers. Elaborate European antiques and a grand piano allude to the owners' wealth. To visit the museum, head to the Marina do David in Ponta Negra and give the name of museum to the boatmen (round-trip approximately R$15), or have a tour operator in town take you there.

Palácio Rio Negro

Centro

The extravagant Rio Negro Palace was built at the end of the 19th century as the home of a German rubber baron and was later used as the official governor's residence. Today it houses some of the city's finest art exhibits and a cultural center. The Centro Cultuak Rio Negro, on the same property, has three daily screenings of art films and documentaries Tuesday through Friday and four screenings daily on weekends. Don't miss the cultural exhibits out back, which include a caboclo home (an indigenous home) and a cassava-processing house.

Av. 7 de Setembro 1546, Manaus, 69020-125, Brazil
092-3232–4450
Sight Details
Free
Tues.–Fri. 10–4, Sun. 5–8

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