Do I need a visa for Guyana?

Not if you hold a US, Canadian, British, Australian or most Western European passport. You get 30 days on arrival. Germany and Spain are the exceptions worth checking.

Is English really spoken everywhere?

Yes. English is the official language and every guide, driver and lodge speaks it. You will hear Creolese and, in the villages, Makushi or Wapishana, but you will never need a translator.

Maybe. The Iwokrama road and the Rupununi rivers give the best odds in the country, and some weeks three sightings happen in a row. Other weeks none. Giant otters, anteaters and caiman are close to guaranteed.

How do I get to Kaieteur Falls?

Either a one-hour flight from Georgetown with time at the rim, or our overland trek, three to five days by road, river and foot that reaches the falls from below. Flights only go in clear weather with enough seats sold, so we schedule Kaieteur early and keep a spare day behind it.

When is the best time to go?

September to April is dry across the interior. October and November are the best months for Kaieteur, February and March the driest in the savanna. May to August is wet, roads close and the savanna floods.

How much luggage can I take on the interior flights?

Twenty pounds, nine kilos, in total on the Lethem flights, cabin bag included. Pack a soft duffel and leave the rest at your Georgetown hotel; we store it for you.

Do I need malaria tablets?

Yes for the interior, no for Georgetown. Your doctor will usually suggest atovaquone-proguanil or doxycycline. Start them before you fly.

Do I need a yellow fever vaccination?

It is recommended for everyone and required if you arrive from a country with yellow fever, including a long connection through Panama, Bogotá or Brazil. Carry the certificate either way.

Like any Caribbean capital it rewards common sense. Walk in daylight, take the hotel's taxi at night, keep phones out of sight at Stabroek Market. Our guides meet you at the airport and stay with you in the city.

How much does a trip cost?

Interior lodges run about US$150 to 450 a night per person with meals and activities, and a Kaieteur flight about US$300. Most eight-day trips land between US$3,500 and 5,500 before international flights.

Can I drive the Lethem road myself?

It is 280 miles of dirt, a pontoon river crossing that runs in daylight only and a twelve-hour day, and it closes in heavy rain. We use only the short, scenic stretches between lodges, in our own vehicles with drivers who know the road, and fly the long legs.

Is there Wi-Fi in the interior?

Barely. Georgetown hotels have it, a few lodges have a slow connection at the main building, and most of the savanna has none. Tell people you will be offline.

Light long sleeves and trousers, a sun hat, sandals for the boats, a head torch, binoculars, insect repellent with DEET and a dry bag for cameras. Everything soft, everything under nine kilos.

What is the money situation?

Guyanese dollars, about 210 to the US dollar. Georgetown has ATMs; the interior has almost none. Bring US cash for tips and village purchases. Lodges and flights on our trips are paid in advance.

Is Guyana good for children?

For teenagers who like animals and boats, very. The heat, the flights and the insects make it hard work under about ten.

Can I combine Guyana with Brazil or Suriname?

Yes. Lethem crosses into Brazil over the Takutu bridge toward Boa Vista, and a ferry links the east coast with Suriname. We build both extensions.

Guyana Travel Guide: When to Go, Where to Go, Costs

What are the top things to do in Guyana?

Guyana is one of the least-visited countries in South America. An hour’s flight inland from Georgetown takes you over unbroken rainforest to Kaieteur Falls, and that first view sums up the country: huge, intact and almost empty of visitors.

It is also the easiest wild country on the continent to travel in. English is the official language, and most lodges are locally owned. In a single trip you can see the rainforest of Iwokrama, the open savanna of the Rupununi and nesting sea turtles on the coast, with giant otters, giant anteaters, harpy eagles and, with luck, a jaguar along the way.

Here are the top things to do in Guyana.

Landscape. Reason 1 of 6.

The Potaro River drops 741 feet in one fall, five times the height of Niagara, and on most days fewer people stand at the rim than you would find on a single Niagara boat.

See on the map: Kaieteur Falls Read more: Kaieteur Falls
Wildlife. Reason 2 of 6.

On the Rupununi rivers you drift past families of giant otters, six feet long and loud, that have never learned to fear a boat. The same waters hold black caiman and arapaima, the largest scaled freshwater fish on earth.

See on the map: Giant River Otters Read more: Rupununi Savanna
Wildlife. Reason 3 of 6.

The road through Iwokrama is one of the few places in South America where jaguars are seen from a vehicle with any regularity. Nobody can promise one. A night drive here is still the best odds you will get.

See on the map: Jaguar Spotting Read more: Iwokrama Rainforest
Culture. Reason 4 of 6.

Surama, Rewa and Caiman House at Yupukari are run by the Makushi villages around them. Your guides grew up hunting, fishing and farming this land, and they know its forests, rivers and wildlife better than anyone.

See on the map: Locally Owned Lodges Read more: Rupununi Savanna
Wildlife. Reason 5 of 6.

The Rupununi is a vast savanna, so the animals are out in the open. Vaqueros on horseback search ahead of your truck for giant anteaters crossing the grassland at dawn.

See on the map: Giant Anteater Safaris Read more: Rupununi Savanna
Adventure. Reason 6 of 6.

Guyana has more than 800 bird species, and the famous ones are all here: harpy eagles, Guianan cock-of-the-rock, hoatzin, scarlet macaws and the rare red siskin. Start at dawn on the Iwokrama canopy walkway, 100 feet up in the treetops, then head out to the Rupununi for the savanna species.

See on the map: Guiana Shield Birding Read more: Iwokrama Rainforest

Where should you go in Guyana?

International gateway

Georgetown

The capital sits below sea level behind a seawall, a grid of wooden colonial buildings, canals and markets. Everyone arrives and leaves through it, and one night at each end is enough.

Getting there
International flights to Cheddi Jagan airport, 45 minutes south of the city

Best for
Arrival nights, St George's Cathedral, Stabroek Market by day, the Botanical Gardens
Iwokrama Rainforest

A million acres of protected forest on the Essequibo, run as a living experiment in using a rainforest without destroying it. The canopy walkway, the river lodge and the jaguar road all sit inside it.

Getting there
A 50-minute flight to Fairview airstrip, or a full day's drive by 4x4 from Georgetown.

Best for
Jaguars, the canopy walkway, Turtle Mountain, night river trips
Kaieteur Falls

A sandstone plateau cut by the Potaro River, with the falls at its heart and Patamona villages around it. Most visitors fly in for two hours. The overland route takes three to five days and is the better story.

Getting there
One hour by light aircraft from Georgetown, or by road and river via Mahdia

Best for
The falls, golden rocket frogs, cock-of-the-rock, the overland trek
Rupununi Savanna

Where the forest gives way to open grassland. In the north, Makushi villages, oxbow lakes and the lodges that made Guyana's name: Surama, Rewa, Karanambu and Caiman House. In the south, Wapishana cattle ranches under the Kanuku Mountains. This is where most people spend most of their trip.

Getting there
Annai, Karanambu or Lethem airstrips, or by road from Iwokrama

Best for
Giant otters, giant anteaters, black caiman, arapaima, village and ranch stays
Shell Beach

Ninety miles of coast in the far northwest where four species of sea turtle come ashore to nest. Remote, basic and only worth it in season.

Getting there
By road to Charity, then two to three hours by boat

Best for
Nesting turtles from March to August, scarlet ibis, mangroves

When is the best time to visit Guyana?

The best time to go to Guyana is between September and April. The interior is dry, the roads are open, the rivers are low enough to see what lives in them and the sky is usually clear for the Kaieteur flight. October and November are the sweet spot: Kaieteur Falls is still at full volume from the rains, the savanna has dried out, making animals easier to spot, and the Christmas crowds haven’t arrived yet.

May through August is the rainy season. The savanna floods, the Lethem road turns to mud, most lodges close and more often than not the day tours to Kaieteur are cancelled due to flying conditions. It is not impossible, and the flooded forest has its own appeal for fishing and birds, but it is not for first timers on a rigid schedule.

Easter is the one date to plan around. The Rupununi Rodeo fills every bed in Lethem and most in the Rupununi months ahead.

How many days do you need in Guyana?

Choose a trip length

5 days 8 daysrecommended 14 days

5 days: Kaieteur Falls Overland Trek

Pace: packed, 3 of 3
Best for: A long weekend with one big objective
Budget: moderate, 2 of 4

Camping and basic lodging on the river keep this the least expensive way to see the falls.

Georgetown, then the Kaieteur overland trek: road to Mahdia, boat up the Potaro, the climb to the rim.

Allow a spare day? Flights out of the falls depend on weather, so do not book an international connection on the last day.

Day by day

Day 1, Georgetown

1 night
Days 2 to 4, Kaieteur Falls

3 nights

Travel by road, 8 hours
Day 5, Fly out

from Kaieteur Falls

The journey home from Kaieteur Falls

What you see

Kaieteur from the rim
The Potaro by boat
Rainbow at the falls

8 days: Rainforest and Savanna

Pace: balanced, 2 of 3
Best for: Most first visits
Budget: high, 3 of 4

Two internal flights and lodges with everything included.

Georgetown, two nights in Iwokrama Rainforest, then three on the Rupununi Savanna, with a Kaieteur flight on the way home.

Allow a spare day? Keep the final Georgetown night. Interior flights move, and the Kaieteur day trip only goes in clear weather.

Day by day

Day 1, Georgetown

1 night
Days 2 to 3, Iwokrama Rainforest

2 nights

Travel by small plane, 1 hour
Days 4 to 6, Rupununi Savanna

3 nights

Travel by road, 2 hours
Day 7, Georgetown

1 night

Travel by small plane, 1 hour 30 minutes
Day 8, Fly out

from Georgetown

The journey home from Georgetown

What you see

Canopy walkway at dawn
Jaguar night drive
Giant otters
Surama village
Kaieteur day flight

14 days: The Full Guyana Expedition

Pace: relaxed, 1 of 3
Best for: Wildlife photographers, birders, anyone who wants the whole country
Budget: high, 3 of 4

Longer lodge stays bring the daily rate down; the extra flights push it back up.

The full sweep: Iwokrama, then a week across the Rupununi from the northern villages to the southern ranches, with Kaieteur at the end.

Allow a spare day? Two spare nights in Georgetown absorb a cancelled flight without losing the lodge nights that matter.

Day by day

Day 1, Georgetown

1 night
Days 2 to 4, Iwokrama Rainforest

3 nights

Travel by small plane, 1 hour
Days 5 to 11, Rupununi Savanna

7 nights

Travel by road, 2 hours
Days 12 to 13, Georgetown

2 nights

Travel by small plane, 1 hour 30 minutes
Day 14, Fly out

from Georgetown

The journey home from Georgetown

What you see

Iwokrama
Rewa and the arapaima
Karanambu otters
Mapari harpy eagles
Red siskins
Kaieteur

Eight days is the right number for a first trip. It gives you one night in Georgetown to arrive, two in the forest for the canopy walkway and a night drive, three on the savanna for otters, caiman and a village, and a final night in town so the Kaieteur flight has a day to go.

Five days works if the falls are the whole point: our overland trek reaches the rim from the river below and you will have earned it. Fourteen days adds the South Rupununi, which is a different country again, cattle and cowboys and finches on the ranch fences, and lets the lodge stays stretch to the length where you stop being a visitor.

Whatever the length, the rule is two nights minimum anywhere you sleep. The interior rewards patience and punishes a schedule.

How do you get to and around Guyana?

Getting there

Every trip starts at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, 45 minutes south of Georgetown. From the United States it is one flight: American from Miami and New York, JetBlue from New York, United from Houston. Caribbean Airlines flies from New York and Toronto, Air Transat from Toronto in winter. From Europe, British Airways connects London Gatwick through Bridgetown, and KLM reaches Paramaribo next door, with a short hop on to Georgetown.

Fill in Guyana's online immigration form before you fly. It is free, takes five minutes at portal.gov.gy, and saves you the paper version at the desk. Our pre-trip notes walk you through it.

We meet every traveler at the airport. The drive into the city is your first look at the coast: sugar cane, Hindu temples, rum shops and the seawall that keeps the Atlantic out.

Guyana is about 5 h 15 min from New York, 4 h 15 min from Miami and 6 h from Houston.

Show flights from Everywhere North America Europe

North America

New York JFK 5 h 15 min

Nonstop Daily American, JetBlue, Caribbean Airlines

Round trip $500 to $900 checked Oct 2026 Search flights: New York (JFK) to GEO
Miami MIA 4 h 15 min

Nonstop Daily American

Round trip $450 to $850 checked Oct 2026 Search flights: Miami (MIA) to GEO
Houston IAH 6 h

Nonstop Several times a week United

Search flights: Houston (IAH) to GEO
Toronto YYZ 6 h

Nonstop Most days Caribbean Airlines, Air Transat (winter)

Search flights: Toronto (YYZ) to GEO

Europe

London LGW 11 h 30 min

1 stop via Bridgetown (BGI) Twice weekly British Airways

Search flights: London (LGW) to GEO
Amsterdam AMS 13 h

1 stop via Paramaribo (PBM) Several times a week KLM, then Surinam Airways

Search flights: Amsterdam (AMS) to GEO

Getting around

The interior has two ways in: by air or by the one road.

By air

Light aircraft leave from Ogle, the small airfield on the east side of Georgetown, for Kaieteur, Fairview at Iwokrama, Annai, Karanambu and Lethem. The Lethem flight takes 90 minutes and has one rule that matters: 20 pounds of luggage per person, total, cabin bag included. Pack a soft duffel and leave the rest with your hotel. The Kaieteur flight goes when the weather allows and the plane is full, which is why we never put it on your last day.

By road

The Linden to Lethem road is 280 miles of red dirt through the forest, paved only at the start, with a pontoon crossing of the Essequibo at Kurupukari that runs in daylight. Done end to end it is a twelve-hour day in a 4x4, and the government is rebuilding it a stretch at a time. We use it the way the locals do: short hops between lodges, Iwokrama to Surama, Surama to Karanambu, never the whole thing in one go unless the journey is the point.

By river

In the Rupununi the rivers are the roads. Rewa, Karanambu and Caiman House all move their guests by boat, and the best wildlife of the trip happens on the water at dawn and dusk.

Other Guides for Guyana

Location guide
Kaieteur Falls guide

Where should you stay in Guyana?

There are no hotel chains in the interior and that is the point. You stay in a handful of lodges, most of them owned by the village or the family that built them, and each one is a reason to go in its own right.

Georgetown

Georgetown's most characterful stays are the restored colonial guesthouses near the center, among them Cara Lodge and Herdmanston Lodge, with quiet walled gardens and an easy walk to the markets, St. George's Cathedral and the seawall. The international hotels along the seawall are newer and larger, but have little of the city's character.

Hotel

Cara Lodge

A nineteenth-century wooden mansion in the center of Georgetown, now a quiet hotel with a garden courtyard and a famous mango tree. It is where we put our travelers on their first and last nights.
Hotel

Herdmanston Lodge

A restored colonial house on a leafy street in Queenstown, small, calm and walled, a few minutes from the center. A good alternative to Cara Lodge when the city is busy.

Iwokrama Rainforest

Iwokrama River Lodge sits on the Essequibo at the research station, with cabins on the bank and the jaguar road outside the gate. Atta Rainforest Lodge is an hour south at the foot of the canopy walkway, which means you are up in the trees before breakfast.

Eco-lodge

Iwokrama River Lodge

Cabins on the bank of the Essequibo at the Iwokrama research station, in the middle of a million protected acres. The jaguar road runs past the gate and the river is the front lawn.
Lodge

Atta Rainforest Lodge

A small lodge in a forest clearing a short walk from the Iwokrama canopy walkway, so you are up in the treetops at first light before anyone else arrives.

The North Rupununi

Surama is the village lodge that started it all, Makushi-owned since 2004, with benabs on a hill looking at the mountain. Rewa is further up the river and the place for arapaima and otters. Karanambu is a century-old ranch where the otter rehabilitation began, with five cabins and the best water lilies in the country. Caiman House at Yupukari puts you in the middle of a black caiman research project, six rooms, solar power, a boat every evening.

Community lodge

Surama Eco-Lodge

The Makushi village lodge that started community tourism in Guyana, on a savanna clearing ringed by forested hills. The village owns it, runs it and guides every walk.

Community owned
Community lodge

Rewa Eco-Lodge

A village-owned lodge where the Rewa River meets the Rupununi, reached only by boat. The place for arapaima, giant otters and some of the wildest river country in the Guianas.

Community owned
Ranch

Karanambu Lodge

A historic family ranch on the Rupununi River where Guyana's giant otter rehabilitation began. Five cabins, wetlands full of giant water lilies and giant anteaters on the savanna.
Community lodge

Caiman House

A small lodge in the village of Yupukari that doubles as a black caiman research station. Guests join the night captures, where the animals are measured, tagged and released.

Community owned

The South Rupununi

Wichabai is a working cattle ranch on the open savanna, where you eat with the family, ride out with the vaqueros and look for the red siskin with the conservation rangers based there. Mapari is the opposite: a remote camp in the Kanuku foothills, reached by river, and the best place in the country to watch a harpy eagle at its nest.

Expect fans rather than air conditioning, power for part of the day, and showers that are cold and very welcome. Expect also to be fed enormously.

Ranch

Wichabai Ranch

A working cattle ranch in the South Rupununi, headquarters of the local conservation society and the place to see the red siskin, a finch long thought gone from Guyana.
Camp

Mapari Wilderness Camp

A remote camp on the Rupununi River in the foothills of the Kanuku Mountains, reached by boat. It is the base for one of the most reliable harpy eagle nests in Guyana.

Is Guyana safe to visit?

The interior is as safe a place as you will travel: small villages, no traffic, guides who have known you since the airstrip. The risks there are the ordinary ones of heat, sun, insects and rivers, and your guide manages all four.

Georgetown asks for the same habits as any Caribbean city. Walk in daylight, use the hotel's taxi after dark, keep the phone in a pocket at Stabroek Market and skip the neighborhoods your hotel tells you to skip. On our trips you are never in the city without a guide or a driver.

Health

Stay allowed As the embassy grants

Germany is not on Guyana's current visa-exempt list. Apply through the nearest Guyanese consulate before you travel, or ask us: we handle the paperwork for our travelers.

Check on the official site Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs Opens in a new tab

Checked Oct 2026

Rules change. Always confirm with the official source before you travel.

My nationality is not listed

Check on the official site Guyana's visa list by country Opens in a new tab

Rules change. Always confirm with the official source before you travel.

For all visitors

Holders of US, Canadian, British, Australian and most Western European passports arrive without a visa and get 30 days, which is more than any trip needs. Your passport should have six months left on it. Germany and Spain are the two Western countries not on the exempt list, so German and Spanish travelers apply through a consulate first, and we help with that.

Two more pieces of paper: the online immigration form, filled in before departure, and the yellow fever certificate if you arrive from a country that has the disease.

Inside the country, Kaieteur National Park charges an entry fee and Iwokrama a conservation fee, and Amerindian villages ask visitors to register with the village council. All of that is handled for you on our trips. Drones are legal but ask before flying one over a village.

What should you know about the culture in Guyana?

Guyana is a Caribbean country that happens to be on the South American mainland. The coast is where almost everyone lives: Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese descended from indentured laborers and enslaved Africans, with Chinese, Portuguese and European threads woven through. The food shows it. Pepperpot, a dark slow stew of beef and cassareep, is the national dish; roti and curry are breakfast; cook-up rice is Saturday. Banks beer and El Dorado rum go with everything.

The interior belongs to nine Indigenous nations. In the Rupununi you will mostly be among Makushi in the north and Wapishana in the south, and the villages run themselves through elected councils that own the land and the lodges on it. Ask before taking someone's photograph, bring something useful for the school rather than sweets for the children, and accept the cassava bread when it is offered. Everyone will want to talk cricket.

Georgetown is changing fast. Oil money is building hotels and raising prices, and the city feels more confident every year. The savanna has not noticed.

Can you visit Guyana without a tour?

A guide is recommended

Technically, yes. In practice, very few people manage it well, and the reasons are all logistics.

The interior has no public transport worth the name, a handful of lodges spread across hundreds of miles, and light aircraft that fly only when the weather and the passenger count allow. Kaieteur flights are cancelled when seats go unsold. Lodge rooms at Easter and in the peak months are taken months ahead. Moving between lodges means private trucks and boats arranged with people who rarely answer email. One missed connection can cost two days of a ten-day trip.

That is exactly the work we do. We hold the seats on the interior flights, book the lodges and the village guides, arrange every truck and boat in between, and put an EcoVoyager guide beside you from the airport to the airport. If the weather moves a flight, we move the rest of the trip around it. You spend your days looking for otters, not waiting for transport.

How much does a trip to Guyana cost?

Costs checked October 2026

Budget

$150 to $220

per person per day

Per person, excluding international flights

Community lodges in the Rupununi and Iwokrama, shared transfers and a mix of road and air. The simplest way we run Guyana, and still everything arranged.

Community lodges with all meals
Village guides at every lodge
Shared 4x4 and boat transfers
One interior flight

For example Five nights between Surama and Rewa, with a road day through Iwokrama

Mid-range

Most travellers

$300 to $450

per person per day

Per person, excluding international flights

Full-board lodges, flights instead of long road days, a private guide and a Kaieteur day. This is how most of our Guyana trips are built.

Full-board lodges
Flights to the interior
Private 4x4 and boats
A dedicated guide throughout
Kaieteur by air

For example Our eight-day forest and savanna route

Comfort

$500 to $700

per person per day

Per person, excluding international flights

The best rooms at Karanambu and Iwokrama, chartered aircraft that leave when you want them to, and specialist guides for birds or photography.

Top-tier lodges
Private charters
Specialist guides
Longer stays with no shared transfers

For example A fourteen-day photography expedition across both Rupununis

Budget Mid-range Comfort

Guyana is not a cheap country to travel in, and it is worth knowing why. Everything in the interior arrives by small plane or a twelve-hour dirt road, fuel is carried in drums, and the lodges are small, so each bed carries the cost of the whole operation. What you pay for is having some of the wildest country on the continent almost to yourself.

As a guide to the numbers: interior lodges charge roughly US$150 to 450 a night per person with meals and activities included, a Kaieteur flight is around US$300, and flights into the savanna about US$200 each way. Tips and small purchases add US$20 to 30 a day in cash.

The levels above show what a day costs depending on how the trip is built. Our trips include the lodges, flights, transfers, park fees and a guide throughout, and each tour page shows its full price.

Guyana Travel Guide: EcoVoyager's guide to Guyana's untamed wilderness

What are the top things to do in Guyana?

Kaieteur Falls

Giant River Otters

Jaguar Spotting

Locally Owned Lodges

Giant Anteater Safaris

Guiana Shield Birding

Where should you go in Guyana?

Georgetown

Iwokrama Rainforest

Kaieteur Falls

Rupununi Savanna

Shell Beach

When is the best time to visit Guyana?

How many days do you need in Guyana?

Day by day

What you see

Day by day

What you see

Day by day

What you see

How do you get to and around Guyana?

Getting there

North America

Europe

Getting around

By air

By road

By river

Other Guides for Guyana

Kaieteur Falls guide

Where should you stay in Guyana?

Georgetown

Cara Lodge

Herdmanston Lodge

Iwokrama Rainforest

Iwokrama River Lodge

Atta Rainforest Lodge

The North Rupununi

Surama Eco-Lodge

Rewa Eco-Lodge

Karanambu Lodge

Caiman House

The South Rupununi

Wichabai Ranch

Mapari Wilderness Camp

Is Guyana safe to visit?

Health

What are the Guyana visa requirements?

United States

Canada

United Kingdom

Australia

France

Netherlands

Germany

My nationality is not listed

For all visitors

What should you know about the culture in Guyana?

Can you visit Guyana without a tour?

How much does a trip to Guyana cost?

Budget

Mid-range

Comfort

Guyana FAQ

Do I need a visa for Guyana?

Is English really spoken everywhere?

Will I see a jaguar?

How do I get to Kaieteur Falls?

When is the best time to go?

How much luggage can I take on the interior flights?

Do I need malaria tablets?

Do I need a yellow fever vaccination?

Is Georgetown safe?

How much does a trip cost?

Can I drive the Lethem road myself?

Is there Wi-Fi in the interior?

What should I pack?

What is the money situation?