Cheap flights to Paramaribo

Quick summary

Why track Paramaribo with SniperAir

A UNESCO-listed wooden capital, to track without comparing every day

Paramaribo, nicknamed Par'bo, is the capital of Suriname. It lies on the banks of the Suriname River, not far from the Atlantic, and has more than 240,000 inhabitants according to the 2012 census, about half the country (Wikipedia EN, DE, ES). Its historic centre has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2002, for the gradual fusion of European architecture and building techniques with local South American materials and crafts (Wikipedia FR).

The city is famous for its mix of peoples: Wikivoyage (FR) lists Indigenous peoples, Creoles, Maroons, descendants of escaped slaves, Dutch, Indians, Chinese and Javanese. Dutch, Sranan Tongo, Hindustani and Javanese are spoken (Wikivoyage EN; Wikipedia FR). This page describes places from open sources; for any destination, read the official advice of your departure country and health recommendations before leaving.

SniperAir monitors flight prices to PBM, compares them with the route's real history and alerts you when one falls below your budget. It does not sell or book tickets.

Airport and getting into town

An international airport about forty kilometres to the south

Services, airlines and entry conditions change: check your connections and the official websites before booking. We publish no taxi fares or timetables.

Wikivoyage (EN, ES) describes a bus into the city and taxis, but a somewhat chaotic scene outside the airport, with many drivers hustling for clients. Agree the price before getting in, or arrange a transfer with your accommodation.

Entry rules, including formalities, depend on your nationality and can change: check the official websites of your country and of Suriname's embassy. The currency is the Surinamese dollar, and Dutch is the language most spoken at home (Wikivoyage EN).

Landmarks and sights

A UNESCO-listed centre, a palm garden, Fort Zeelandia and neighbouring places of worship

The centre of Paramaribo is a gridded, tree-lined plan laid out by the first Dutch governor (Wikivoyage EN). Most houses are of wood, hence the fires of January 1821, which destroyed more than 400 buildings, and of 1832 (Wikipedia FR, EN); red bricks arrived as ballast in Dutch ships (Wikipedia FR). The mansions seen today mostly date from the first half of the nineteenth century, rebuilt after those fires (Wikivoyage EN).

The Palmentuin, a garden of royal palms

Fort Zeelandia

The mosque and synagogue on Keizerstraat

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral

An interior entirely of wood

Independence Square and the Presidential Palace

Onafhankelijkheidsplein is surrounded by the Presidential Palace, the Court of Justice and the Parliament (Wikivoyage EN). Wikivoyage (EN) notes that there is not usually much going on, except on Sundays, when men make their caged birds sing, which Wikipedia (ES) confirms.

The Waterkant and the central market

The Waterkant, the riverfront, is part of the protected heritage (Wikivoyage DE). The large covered market on the Waterkant sells fresh fish, vegetables, fruit and meat, and clothes and utensils upstairs (Wikivoyage EN); Wikivoyage (EN) adds that many vendors, especially Maroon, dislike being photographed: ask first.

Other places of worship

Wikipedia (FR, EN) also lists the Hindu temple Arya Dewaker and the centrally planned Centrumkerk: one more proof of the city's religious diversity.

Museums and culture

The Suriname Museum, numismatics, the zoo and festivals of every culture

Paramaribo has a few museums, often in colonial buildings. We give no opening hours or prices, which change: check before you come.

Suriname Museum, in Fort Zeelandia

Housed in the seventeenth-century Dutch citadel (Wikivoyage FR), the Stichting Surinaams Museum presents the history and culture of the country in a fortified setting (Wikivoyage EN).

Numismatic Museum

A small museum of the central bank of Suriname (Wikivoyage FR), it holds almost every legal currency used in the country since the late seventeenth century, in a colonial building (Wikivoyage EN).

Paramaribo Zoo

Opened in 1972, the zoo regained its popularity thanks to a cooperation with a zoological park in Rotterdam; it mostly shows animals from the region (Wikivoyage EN).

Festivals and languages

Wikivoyage (EN) lists the carnival in February, the Hindu festival of lights Divali, the New Year celebration Owru Jari and the Javanese dance Jaran Kepang; whether they take place varies by year. The two lingua francas are Dutch and English; Sranan Tongo, Javanese and Hindustani are also spoken (Wikipedia FR; Wikivoyage EN).

Food and drink

Roti, Javanese warungs and beer shared on the Waterkant

A crossroads of cuisines

Wikivoyage (EN, FR) describes a great variety of food, fed by Chinese, Javanese and Hindustani influences, and also Indigenous ones.

Dishes and neighbourhoods

You can eat roti, a flatbread filled with chicken (Wikivoyage EN, FR), Javanese food in warungs, small restaurants in the Blauwgrond quarter (Wikivoyage EN), pom sandwiches and, on the Dutch side, pancakes and poffertjes (Wikivoyage EN).

Markets and river

The central market on the Waterkant sells fish delivered by fishermen, fruit and vegetables (Wikivoyage EN). On the waterfront, terrace pavilions let you share a local beer at sunset (Wikivoyage EN, DE).

Drinks

Local beer is drunk in a large format, the djogo, a litre to share (Wikivoyage EN). We recommend no particular address: ask your host.

Getting around

On foot downtown, private buses, taxis and boats

On foot

The centre is compact enough to visit on foot: the fort, the garden, the mansions and the market all lie behind the Waterkant (Wikivoyage EN, DE).

Buses and taxis

Buses are private and follow shared routes: they leave from the central station at the Knuffelsgracht, near the Waterkant, when full, with no timetable (Wikivoyage EN, DE). Taxis mostly run without a meter: agree the price before leaving (Wikivoyage DE).

Car, bike and boat

Suriname drives on the left (Wikivoyage EN). Wikivoyage (FR) suggests renting a bike and crossing the river by boat to reach New Amsterdam; boat taxis also cross the river to Meerzorg (Wikivoyage EN), linked to the city by the Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (Wikipedia EN).

Towards the east and the interior

Shared taxis link Albina, 150 km away, in about three hours (Wikivoyage DE, FR); Wikivoyage (DE) also describes the road heading south into the interior.

Budget and precautions

A modest to mid-range budget, with no price ranges published

Price level

Wikivoyage (EN) finds the city fairly cheap for foreign visitors, with cheap food, but its prices are old. The currency is the Surinamese dollar. We publish no ranges, because we could not confirm them on two independent sources.

Flights

The flight is the most variable item in the budget. SniperAir monitors prices to PBM and compares them with the route's history, but it does not sell or book tickets.

Precautions

Wikivoyage (DE) finds the city safer by day than other big South American cities, but advises avoiding the Palmentuin after dark; penalties for drug possession are harsh (Wikivoyage DE). Mosquitoes are numerous, even by day, near stretches of water (Wikivoyage DE): ask your country's health authorities about vaccines and protection against bites. Also read the official advice of your departure country.

Hurricanes

Wikipedia (EN) classes Paramaribo as an equatorial climate, more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than to the trade winds, with no tropical cyclones: the city lies outside the usual hurricane zone.

When to go

Hot and humid all year, with two rainy seasons

Wikipedia (EN) classes Paramaribo as a humid equatorial climate (Af): no month is truly dry. Wikivoyage (EN) describes two rainy seasons, from late April to mid-August and from mid-December to mid-February, and a drier period from mid-August to mid-December, with humidity of about 80% all year. The sources differ on detail: we give no average temperatures. Suriname is on UTC-3 all year, with no clock change.

By length of stay

What to do in Paramaribo by length of stay

In pictures

Paramaribo in pictures

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions about flights to Paramaribo