Santarém sits at the confluence of the Amazon and Tapajós rivers, roughly halfway between Belém and Manaus, and is one of the most appealing cities in the Brazilian Amazon. Around 250,000 people live here, and the surrounding area offers pristine rainforest, flooded forest, and a string of beautiful sandy beaches along the Tapajós.
The most striking natural spectacle is the Meeting of the Waters, where the dark waters of the Tapajós push up against the muddy brown Amazon for several kilometres before mixing — a quieter, less famous version of the same phenomenon seen near Manaus. Alter do Chão, a village 37 kilometres to the south, has beaches of white sand that look tropical enough to be from a tourism brochure, and is genuinely lovely outside of the peak October festival season.
Getting here by river boat takes about two days from either Belém or Manaus — a classic Amazon journey. Flights from both cities take around an hour. The BR-163 highway to Cuiabá is still largely unpaved and not recommended unless you know what you're getting into.