Choosing
What are the best day trips from Paramaribo?
Four full days out of Paramaribo are worth the drive. Commewijne (seven hours, €95) crosses the river by boat to the plantations and Peperpot. Colakreek (eight hours, €85) is the swimming day. Brownsberg (eleven hours, €125) is the interior without an overnight. Jodensavanne, World Heritage listed since 2023, is a full day too; ours is being arranged, so book Jenny Tours at €82.50 for now.
Advice checked against our tour data on 2026-09-06.
At a glance
| What you want | Best fit | Time | Why | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| History, and the best single day out | Commewijne plantations and river, €95 | 7 hours, 08:00 to about 15:30 | Boat across the river, Fort Nieuw Amsterdam from 1747, the cells at Frederiksdorp, lunch by the water and sloths at Peperpot. | Seven hours, part of it in full sun, in an open boat. The subject is slavery and indenture, told straight. |
| Swimming, and a day children enjoy | Colakreek day trip, €85 | 8 hours | Clear blackwater over white savannah sand about 50 kilometres away in Para district, with lunch and hammocks included. | Not a wildlife day, and at weekends it is full of families and music. Midweek is the quiet version. |
| The interior without an overnight | Brokopondo & Brownsberg, €125 | 11 hours | The reservoir and the plateau at around five hundred metres, by 4x4, with park entry and lunch in the price. | Eleven hours, four of them in a vehicle over partly unpaved road. Not for small children or anyone with back or knee trouble. |
| World Heritage upriver | Jodensavanne. Jenny Tours at €82.50 today; ours is being arranged | Full day, typically | The ruined synagogue Beracha Ve Shalom of 1685 and two cemeteries, World Heritage listed on 19 September 2023, about 50 km up the Suriname River. | Our own trip has dates being arranged and a price confirmed with availability, so for a fixed date, theirs is the one to book. |
| A day out that only costs half a day | Peperpot Nature Park (being arranged) | Half day, typically | Eight kilometres from the centre, so it costs an afternoon rather than a whole day, and the sloths are the reliable part. | Dates being arranged, price confirmed with availability. Nothing is guaranteed, and Peperpot is already inside the €95 Commewijne day. |
| A day built around one specific place | Tailor-made: family and interior, price on request | Agreed with you | For three generations at once, or a village on the Upper Suriname, where a fixed departure simply does not fit. | Priced on request, because group size and logistics vary too much for us to publish a figure we have not verified. |
Commewijne: the day trip most people should take
Seven hours, €95, and the only one of the four where the journey itself already means something. You cross the Suriname River at 08:30 and are at Fort Nieuw Amsterdam by 09:15, a pentagonal fort from 1747 at the fork of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers, now an open-air museum.
Then Frederiksdorp, an eighteenth-century coffee plantation where the director’s house, the police post and the prison are all still standing. That contrast is the point of the day. Lunch is by the river, and the afternoon is Peperpot, where you almost always see sloths. Boat, entries and lunch are in the price.
The catch is just as clear: seven hours, part of it in full sun, an open boat, and a story about slavery and indenture that we do not soften.
Colakreek: the swimming day
Eight hours, €85, about 50 kilometres from the city in Para district near Zanderij, close to the airport. Red-brown blackwater clear enough to see your feet on the bottom, white savannah sand, hammocks and a Surinamese lunch. Transport and entry are included.
Go midweek if you want quiet and at the weekend if you want the Surinamese Sunday crowd, families and music included. In the main rainy season, late April to mid-August, the water sits higher and cooler, but you can swim all year.
Brownsberg: eleven hours, and who should not spend them
Brokopondo and Brownsberg is €125 for eleven hours, with 4x4 transport, park entry and lunch included. You leave in the dark and stand at around five hundred metres by ten in the morning. It is the interior without an overnight stay, which is exactly why people take it.
Four of those eleven hours are in a vehicle, part of it on unpaved road. Do not take it with small children, with back or knee trouble, or if being shaken about would ruin your day. Take Colakreek or Peperpot instead.
Jodensavanne: worth a day, but book it elsewhere for now
Jodensavanne is the ruin of a Jewish plantation settlement on the Suriname River, about 50 kilometres from Paramaribo in Para district. The stone synagogue Beracha Ve Shalom was consecrated in 1685 and is regarded as the earliest synagogue of architectural significance in the Americas. On 19 September 2023 the archaeological site was inscribed on the World Heritage list in two components: the settlement itself and the Cassipora Creek cemetery.
Our own day trip is being arranged: dates are being organised and the price is confirmed with availability. If you want to go this month on a fixed date, Jenny Tours is the better booking. They publish €82.50 and have run it as a fixed product for years. That is not politeness, it is simply who can deliver it today.
When half a day is the better answer
Not every day out of the city has to be a whole day. Peperpot is eight kilometres from the centre and therefore costs an afternoon. A sunset and dolphin trip costs a late afternoon and the start of an evening. Both are being arranged with us, dates being organised and the price confirmed with availability.
Practically: with three days in Paramaribo, one full day out plus two half days gives you more than three long days back to back in the heat.
What a day out costs here
Our day trips run from €85 to €125 per person, transport and lunch included. Local and direct is the same or cheaper: Jenny Tours charges €125 for Brownsberg, €80 for Brokopondo, €70 for Commewijne with dolphins and €82.50 for Jodensavanne. Price alone is not where we win here, and we do not pretend otherwise.
The difference is the international platforms. On Viator a Commewijne tour runs $169 to $295 and a Brownsberg day trip costs $233, of which 20 to 30 percent commission leaves the local economy.
Fitting a day trip into a short stay
Do not put the day trip on your arrival day. Departures fall between 08:00 and before first light, and a day after a night flight is a day you only half experience.
Do not put it on your last day either if you fly that evening: Brownsberg is eleven hours and Commewijne seven, and the margin left over is too thin. Put a city day beside it instead of two long days in a row.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best day trip from Paramaribo?
Commewijne, €95 for seven hours. You cross the river at 08:30, see Fort Nieuw Amsterdam from 1747 and the cells at Frederiksdorp plantation, eat lunch by the water, and spend the afternoon at Peperpot, where sloths are almost always overhead. Boat, entries and lunch are included.
How far is Brownsberg from Paramaribo?
Far enough to make it an eleven-hour day, roughly four hours of which is driving over partly unpaved road. You leave in the dark and stand at around five hundred metres by ten. Ours costs €125, including 4x4 transport, park entry and lunch.
Can you visit Jodensavanne as a day trip?
Yes. It is about 50 kilometres from Paramaribo in Para district, by road with the last stretch by boat or unpaved track. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage list on 19 September 2023. Our own day trip is being arranged; Jenny Tours sells one today at €82.50.
Which day trip works with young children?
Colakreek, €85 for eight hours, with swimming, hammocks and lunch. Brownsberg is explicitly unsuitable for small children: eleven hours, four of them in a vehicle. Commewijne is possible, but the morning is about cells and plantation history.
Do day trips include transport and lunch?
Ours do. Commewijne (€95) includes the boat, entry to Fort Nieuw Amsterdam and Peperpot, and lunch. Brownsberg (€125) includes 4x4 transport, park entry and lunch. Colakreek (€85) includes transport, entry and lunch. Tips and extra drinks are included nowhere.
Still not sure?
Send your date, your group size and what you enjoy. You get a personal reply within 24 hours with honest advice, even when that points to another operator.