Things to Do in Tarapoto, Peru: Walking Guide

Tarapoto is the largest and most developed city in Peru’s San Martín region and a gateway to the country’s high jungle. Set on a plateau where the eastern Andes meet the Amazon rainforest, it combines tropical landscapes, regional history, and everyday life in northern Peru. Neywo offers a free Tarapoto audio guide with 2 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in Tarapoto

Explore Tarapoto, the City of Palms

Known as the City of Palms, Tarapoto is the largest urban centre in the San Martín region, even though Moyobamba is the region’s official capital. The city has grown into an important centre of the Peruvian high jungle and is considered the third-largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, after Pucallpa and Iquitos.

Tarapoto stands at about 350 metres above sea level, where the last foothills of the eastern Andes meet the rainforest. Its setting is often described as a high-jungle plateau or cloud forest. The city lies along the Shilcayo and Cumbaza rivers, tributaries of the Mayo River, giving the surrounding area a strong connection to water and forest landscapes.

The city’s wider setting is one of its main attractions. To the north is the Cordillera Escalera regional conservation area, while the fertile valley to the south contains fields of rice, corn, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco. This combination of cultivated land, rainforest, and Andean foothills makes Tarapoto a useful base for discovering the landscapes of the Upper Amazon.

Tarapoto was founded in 1782 by Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón, originally under the name Santa Cruz de los Motilones de Tarapoto. Its history also reflects the city’s long-standing importance in the region: it is older than both Pucallpa and Iquitos, the two larger Amazonian cities often associated with Peru’s rainforest.

Visit the Regional Museum of the National University of San Martín

The Regional Museum of the National University of San Martín is in the heart of Tarapoto and offers an introduction to the history of the Peruvian Upper Amazon. Its collections include ethnographic and archaeological material connected with the cultures of the selva alta and selva baja—the high and low jungle regions.

The museum is especially known for the Shimbillo-Chazuta mummy, described as 450 years old. It provides a tangible link with the communities that have lived in this part of the Amazon for centuries and adds historical depth to a visit focused otherwise on nature and landscapes.

Discover the Rivers and Surrounding Landscapes

Tarapoto’s location between the Shilcayo and Cumbaza rivers helps explain its close relationship with the surrounding rainforest. Both rivers flow into the Mayo River, forming part of the network of waterways around the city.

Beyond the urban area, the landscape changes into a mixture of forest, farmland, and Andean foothills. The northern conservation area and the agricultural valley to the south show two different sides of the region: protected jungle and productive land where crops such as coffee, cocoa, rice, corn, and tobacco are grown.

For travellers looking for things to do in Tarapoto, this setting is central to the experience. The city is not defined only by individual monuments, but by its position at the meeting point of the Andes and the Amazon.

A Gateway to Peru’s High Jungle

Tarapoto is a particularly useful starting point for discovering northern Peru’s Amazonian region. Its urban character makes it an important regional centre, while the nearby forest, rivers, conservation area, and agricultural valley provide a strong connection to the landscapes beyond the city.

It also offers a different perspective on Peru from destinations such as Lima and Arequipa. For a broader journey through the country, you can place Tarapoto alongside other destinations in Peru, or continue towards Iquitos, another major city in the Peruvian Amazon.

Explore Tarapoto with Neywo

Download Neywo and explore Tarapoto with a free audio guide covering 2 narrated places. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, making it an easy way to add context while discovering the city independently.