Eat
Paramaribo Food Tour
From the spice trays at the Central Market, when it is at its fullest, to a roti turned on the tawa in front of you. Places you would never find on your own.
Paramaribo, Suriname 5.825° N, 55.169° W
Six kitchens in one city. We know where, and when.
We take you to the warungs and market stalls where Surinamese people actually eat.
- €40 from, per person
- up to 8 people, minimum varies per tour
- 48 hours free cancellation
- 24 hours a personal reply
- Dutch · English · Sranan languages
Three ways into the city
Eat, walk, cross the river.
Javanese, Hindustani, Creole, Chinese, Maroon and Indigenous, side by side in one city. Every door below is a real tour, with the price and duration that its own page carries.
Walk
Historic Centre Walking Tour
The wooden centre on foot: Fort Zeelandia, the Waterkant and the synagogue that shares a plot with a mosque.
Cross the river
Commewijne: plantations and river
By boat across the Suriname river to Commewijne and the plantations: a white director’s house looking straight at a cell.
The route
Four hours, from the fish hall to a roti lunch
Central Market Waterkant 6 stops
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09:00
Meet on Independence Square. Short briefing on who cooks what in Suriname and why, then a five-minute walk to the market.
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09:15
Central Market: vegetables, spices, the fish hall. Tastings one and two, and the Vreedzaammarkt next door.
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10:30
The street: bara, phulauri and bakabana hot from the oil, and telo with salt cod.
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11:45
Hindustani roti shop. Roti with chicken, long bean and masala; dhal roti and plain roti side by side. This is lunch.
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12:40
Something sweet and coffee: bojo or fiadu.
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13:00
Tour ends in the centre, within walking distance of the meeting point.
Before you book
Ask us first
WhatsApp is the normal business channel in Suriname, so it is the quickest route here too. You do not have to book anything to ask something.
- Is the Central Market open on Sunday?
- Can we bring an eight-year-old on the food tour?
- How much cash do I need for a day in the city?
- Which warung in Blauwgrond is open on a Tuesday?
Review from a guest on Sunset and dolphins:
Very friendly and knowledgeable tour guides, courteous and attentive. Had lots of fun and the boat ride was very relaxing. Would have liked if there was a little music on the boat. However overall it was a very good experience.
The tours
What you can do with us
Saoto, satay, petjil and dawet. Four warungs, three hours, no menus.
Blauwgrond by Night: warung hopping
Blauwgrond sits in the north of the city and stays half empty until around six in the evening. Then the charcoal grills come out and you spend three hours across four warungs: saoto you season yourself, satay off the grill, petjil in peanut sauce and a cold glass of dawet to finish.
Leave in the dark, stand at five hundred metres by ten.
Brokopondo & Brownsberg
You leave at 05:30 in the dark, by half seven you are standing at a reservoir where the dead trunks of a drowned forest still break the surface, and by ten you are looking down on that same water from a plateau five hundred metres up. In between we walk to a waterfall, and the red howler monkeys reach you kilometres before they come into view.
And the rest
Not sure which? The decision guides put the best tour and its catch side by side, per goal →
- Paramaribo Food Tour The market at nine, when it is at its fullest, and a roti lunch to end on.
- Historic Centre Walking Tour From the cells of Fort Zeelandia to the synagogue that shares a plot with a mosque.
- Sunday Morning in Paramaribo Songbirds at seven, Javanese market at eight, breakfast at nine.
- Cooking class: market to table You pick out the pomtayer yourself, and five hours later you eat it.
- Commewijne: plantations and river A neat white director’s house looking straight at a cell.
- Colakreek: swimming in blackwater Black water, white sand, and you can see your feet on the bottom.
- Roots & archives: finding your own family The 1863 emancipation registers in the morning, the place itself after lunch.
- Roots Plus: with prior research and a dossier Three hours of research before you land, a dossier when you leave.
- Tailor-made: family and interior For three generations at once, or a village on the Upper Suriname.
- Business and work groups For people here for work with an afternoon, an evening or a day to spare.
- Sunset and dolphins The profosu rides the incoming tide upriver, following the shrimp.
- Jodensavanne day trip A synagogue ruin in the forest, and a cemetery older than the settlement.
- Peperpot Nature Park A plantation that became forest again, with flat tracks and sloths overhead.
- Commewijne boat tour The plantations sit on the water, because the water was the road.
- Commewijne and dolphins Plantation banks first, then back on the tide behind the profosu.
Why book direct
Booked direct, one fixed price.
International booking platforms take 20–30% commission. We sell direct, with no platform in between: one fixed price per person shown on every tour page, and personal contact with whoever actually arranges the tour.
Price board
| Tour | Price pp |
|---|---|
| Paramaribo Food Tour | €55 |
| Historic Centre Walking Tour | €40 |
| Commewijne: plantations and river | €95 |
| Brokopondo & Brownsberg | €125 |
Our prices are per person, include what the tour page lists, and never rise after a confirmed booking.
Want to see us next to other operators in Paramaribo, including where they are cheaper? See the comparison →
Before you go
Everything you wanted to know, worked out
- What to see 6+ places with hours, prices and coordinates.
- Best time to visit Month by month: rain, temperature, crowds and what is on.
- Practical info Visas, money, safety, vaccinations, transport and SIM cards.
- Itineraries One, three or five days, worked out with times and costs.
- Festivals Keti Koti, Holi Phagwa, Owru Yari and the rest of the calendar.
- Roots trip For people with family here who never knew exactly where.
Ask about a date
You get a personal reply within 24 hours, not a call centre and not a booking platform. No obligation.
Ask a question on WhatsAppWhatsApp is the normal business channel in Suriname, you will usually hear back within a few hours.
What happens next: your enquiry comes straight to us, not to a platform or a call centre. You get a personal reply within 24 hours with a date, a start time and a meeting point. Only once you confirm do we ask for a deposit to reserve, and you pay the balance in cash on the day. Nothing is committed until you confirm.
Frequently asked questions
What does a tour in Paramaribo cost?
With us a three-hour walking tour costs €40 per person and a four-hour food tour €55 per person, both all-in. Day trips run from €85 (Colakreek) to €125 (Brownsberg and the reservoir). On international booking platforms comparable tours in Suriname typically cost $85 to $295.
Are there Dutch-speaking guides in Suriname?
Yes. Dutch is the official language of Suriname, so virtually every guide speaks it as a first language. Our tours run in Dutch by default, and in English or Sranan Tongo on request.
How do you book a tour in Suriname without a booking platform?
Directly with the tour company, by email or WhatsApp, the latter is the normal business channel in Suriname. You send your preferred date and group size, you get a confirmation, you pay a deposit to reserve and the balance in cash on the day. That saves the 20–30% platform commission.
When is the best time to visit Suriname?
The long dry season runs from early August to early December and the short dry season from early February to late April. September and October are the driest months, averaging around 80 mm of rain. In the rainy season the rain falls hard but briefly, usually in the afternoon.
Is Suriname safe for tourists?
Generally yes. Crime rates are lower than in most neighbouring countries and the incidents travellers experience are almost always pickpocketing or petty theft in busy parts of Paramaribo. In the evening a taxi is wiser than walking.
How large are the groups?
Two to eight people. That is deliberate: above eight you can no longer sit at one table in a warung, and then it stops being a conversation and becomes a guided tour.