Location: Manaus
Top Things to do in Manaus
10 Things to do in Manaus That You Shouldn't Miss
When you can trek through the rainforests in the morning and take in a tear-jerking opera at night, you know you're in a special place. Manaus offers a rich variety of nature, culture, art and dining. Explore the lush vegetation of Amazonian jungle on a guided backpacking or river tour, or sample the colorful bounty of the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa. The stately Amazonas Opera House was built with the finest materials, and inside you'll be blown away by powerful performances.
Restaurants in Manaus
1. Teatro Amazonas
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 9,497 reviews
This magnificent theater, crowned with a tiled mosaic dome in the colors of the Brazilian flag, features operas and other artistic performances.
Reviewed By BernhardL454 - Vienna, Austria
Visiting Teatro Amazonas is a must when being in Manaus. I do highly recommend visiting one of the free shows. We saw a modern balet inspired by traditional Amazon music. Get into the queue about 45 minutes before the show starts. They open the doors at about 30 minutes before the beginning of the show and there is free seating. As it is very chilly inside the Teatro, bring a sweater. It is an opera house, so I do recommend wearing long trousers and propper shoes - not only because of the chilly temperatures inside.
2. Bosque da Ciencia
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,097 reviews
Reviewed By ElgaK_12
There was a lot of walking, especially to the alligators. The museum within the grounds had very interesting exhibits and it was slightly cooler inside. Our guide, Rainier, was excellent. A native hut sold local craft work.
3. Meeting of Waters
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,959 reviews
Unusual meeting of the Amazon and Solimoes rivers
Reviewed By myom624 - Coquitlam, Canada
"Fun & fulfilling" is just how I would describe this tour on the Rio Negro River (with also compliments to its "well-organized" nature) from its starting point near the Manaus Port Terminal right at about 9 am followed by about an hour of some nice views along the waterfront (including those of the port machinery, what maybe some "colorful favelas" of Manaus & the "long bridge" over the Rio Negro) to the first stop at the "fairly wide" confluence area of the black-watered Rio Negro & the brown-watered Amazon (for a "quite sufficient" time allowance of about 10 minutes to see), then a short 5-to-10-minute ride to the second stop at some "floating structure" with some mini-ponds full of "quite sizeable" fish where yes the interesting thing some people did was to buy small fish available for sale and feed them to those big fish (for about half an hour with also some souvenir shops to browse), then about a half-hour ride to the third stop for a buffet lunch with some small "nature walk" along the raised boardwalk nearby just before lunch (for a little over an hour in total and where there were also some big tables with souvenirs for sale although I found the costs "quite a bit" more for similar items compared to Adolpho Lisboa Market back at the Manaus waterfront), then the ride for the "longest stretch" of about 1.5 hours to the fourth stop for a swim with "pink dolphins" which were just 5-minute sessions in small groups of like 5 or 6 people but yes which for me was the "most fulfilling" part of this tour being just "amazingly up close" with 3 or 4 of them in that precious allotted time (for about an hour at the stop where yes it was also great to enjoy seeing other groups do the same after my group), then a short ride of 5 to 10 minutes to the fifth & the last stop at an Indian village for a dance show in their "big house" followed by some time afterward to walk around their "village-like" area at the back or as for some people a chance to go into the water some more (for about an hour at the stop where just the 20-minute dance show was sufficient for me and I was just a bit wary of that water where there were also trees & such!), then finally the ride of about an hour back to the city (where actually some people also got off near the "pretty crowded" Ponta Negra Beach along the way which I'm not sure is a good spot to catch the sunset), and arriving back at the Port terminal (right where we had started in the morning) at about 5 pm after the duration of about exactly 8 hours. I booked my tour at my place Hostel Manaus for about 180 reais (an equivalent of about 55 US dollars) which I would say was a "reasonable deal" including the all-you-can-eat lunch (as mentioned above) & the hotel transportation both ways, especially in comparison of that price to another one I'd got earlier from another tour agent elsewhere (so yes might be a good idea to shop around a little).
4. Ponta Negra Beach
5. Manauara Shopping
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,775 reviews
The most complete shopping center in northern Brazil. Managed by Sonae Sierra Brasil.
Reviewed By paulacT4228XQ
Well we been there for some times and afternoons trying to find specific things like shoes but unfortunately we didn't found of the size, anyway is really interesting
6. Museu do Seringal Vila Paraiso
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 843 reviews
Tue-Sun 8am-4pm
Reviewed By dmittleman - Palm Beach Gardens, United States
It takes a bit of doing to get to the rubber museum. A long boat ride after a long drive out to Ponta Negra. But it's worth it. The site was originally built for a movie, but it appears authentic. You really need a guide to explain things as the signage is not great. You get a great idea of what life as a rubber baron as well as life as a worker was like. One of the highlights of Manaus.
7. Museu da Amazonia (MUSA)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,339 reviews
Created in January 2009, Musa sits on a 100-hectare area at the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, belonging to the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia [National Institute for Amazonia Research] - INPA, in Manaus, a native dryland forest area that has been passionately studied for the last 50 years. The results of this research, compiled in catalogs that broach topics such as plants, birds and frogs, tell what Musa wants to show visitors. At Musa, one can find exhibitions, an orchid and a bromeliad house, a lake, aquariums, and experimental snake, insect, and butterfly labs. A 42-meter high tower provides a magnificent view of the treetops, unforgettable at 6 am. Forest trails allow visitors to take pleasant walks and make surprising discoveries. At Musa, we develop research on science popularization and scientific and cultural education. A house of culture and science, of relationships and the celebration of diverse beings in the world. A place where humans and non-humans live happily together.
Reviewed By 374mmdc - Sao Paulo, Brazil
The park/museum is a bit run down - the lack of investment if keeping the facilities is palpable. Nevertheless, it is worth a visit. You can take easy and safe walks into the Amazon jungle inside the park, and if you climb the ~200 steps that lead to the top of a metal observation tower you can see the resident monkeys playing around the trees canopy. The park also holds a pond with the water lilly Vitoria Regia. The museum/park sits in the limit of the city of Manaus, so prepare for a 40 mins taxi ride to get there. You might need to call an Uber to go back to the city since taxis are inexistent in this part of the city. Nothing in this park is friendly to the person with reduced mobility.
8. Manaus Botanical Garden - MUSA
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 417 reviews
Reviewed By seankay86 - Canberra, Australia
I love Botanic Gardens, and the Manaus one did not disappoint. Its a really good way to see the Amazon without actually visiting it. There's also a tall observation deck that allows you to see trees and the forest from different levels. There's also a pond with water Lillies, an aquarium and a display about indigenous life. I would highly recommend you visit here.
9. Espaco Cultural Largo de Sao Sebastiao
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,769 reviews
Reviewed By Anderson_Kaszas
Worths the visit! it´s an open space in front and besides of the opera house where u can find a vintage church, some local restaurants and also small eat points where u can eat TACACA. i extremly recommend it.
10. CIGS Zoo
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,634 reviews
Reviewed By Sportyrod - Hobart, Australia
I went to this zoo to see some animals that I had missed seeing in the wild. I braced myself for some sorry sights however I was very pleased with each enclosure. Overall the enclosures were very large with plenty of room to live in. The birds in particular had the most spacious enclosures. There was one otter I felt sorry for being all alone. I felt like the leopards could use more space. Overall the average star per animal enclosure is still 5 or close to 5. Lots of diversity. I would recommend supporting this zoo.
