Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital, unfolds like a living storybook along the Suriname River, where wooden structures from the 17th and 18th centuries still stand today. This historic heart reveals a rare fusion of Dutch design and local craftsmanship. Visitors can stroll the Waterkant, a riverside avenue, and take in landmarks such as Fort Zeelandia, the neoclassical Reformed Church, and the lofty wooden Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

Just behind the Presidential Palace lies the Garden of Palms, planted in the late 1600s. Those royal palms first took root in 1685, and today the garden still shelters curious capuchin monkeys and flutters with the calls of tropical birds. It’s a quiet green pause in a city rich with pasts.