Things To Do in Georgetown, Guyana

Georgetown is the capital of Guyana, the only English speaking nation in South America. It is the gateway to the marvels of inland Guyana – the Kaieteur Falls and the rainforest or savannah. The city itself is quite sprawling. It’s also a messy city with lots of litter strewn around the streets. We spent a day in Georgetown before flying to Lethem to start an amazing river journey through Guyana’s wild rainforests.

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How To Get To Georgetown

The city has two airports. The international airport is Cheddi Jagan International Airport and is around 40km away from Georgetown. Most large international airlines fly here. Taxis cost around $50 (US) to get you into the city centre and it will take around 60 to 90 minutes to arrive in Georgetown, depending on the traffic.

The local airport Eugene F Correia International Airport is just 6km from the city centre. If you are travelling internally or to the Kaieteur Falls this is likely to be the airport you will fly from.

Where to Stay in Georgetown

We stayed at the Status International hotel which has now closed. Hope it wasn’t something we said! There are plenty of hotels in the city centre.

Street scene in Georgetown Guyana, shoing some of the drainage channels

How to Get Around Georgetown

Georgetown isn’t a very easy city to walk around and it isn’t always safe. We spent some time walking in the city during the daytime but made sure we didn’t carry any valuables with us – just a bit of cash if we needed it.

We travelled with a local tour operator who were able to arrange this city tour for us as we were travelling inland into the rainforest with them. They knew who to contact to arrange various excursions, especially our evening river boat trip.

Taxis are available and there are several minibuses – 15 seaters – that don’t follow fixed timetables but can be hailed as they go past. They’ll drop you off where you need to go. But be aware that they may not be the best maintained vehicles and may not be driven particularly well. Traffic can vary throughout the day in Georgetown and can be quite heavy at rush hour.

Things to Do in Georgetown

You can easily see Georgetown’s attractions in a day.

On the Coast

Our first stop was the beach. Georgetown is actually situated 8 feet below sea level. It has a sea wall but high tides often breach this and the area is prone to flooding. The locals have planted mangroves to try to mitigate the impact of the floods but ultimately the city is at risk due to climate change. The authorities are considering relocating the city over the next 40 years.

Things to do in Georgeown Guyana showing sea wall and hte beach

Georgetown’s lighthouse is very tall, stripey and distinctive but not very useful. Surprisingly it’s quite a way inland. It is located near the Demerara River but Marriott built a hotel in front of it, so the hotel now has a light for shipping on its roof .

Georgetown's red and white stripey lighthouse

The Marriot hotel which has a lighthouse, now used for shipping navigation

The Cathedral

St George’s Cathedral is the tallest wooden church in world. Guyana has a mix of religions – Christian, Muslim and Hindu – but everyone gets on with each other. Many residents are descendants of people who arrived from India or slaves from Africa. Guyana has a large indigenous population but the Amerindians mainly live inland. What is nice is that all religions have time off for each others’ holidays. Everyone gets a holiday for Eid and Diwali and they also have a break at Christmas. We reckon this policy should be adopted worldwide – any excuse for a holiday!

St George's cathedral in Georgetown a large white wooden structure with a tower

Umana Yana

Umana Yana is benab (traditional thatched building) built by the indigenous Wai-Wai people. It’s located in the centre of the city and is a location for government and public events. It’s possible to visit this large space and to appreciate Amerindian architecture and culture.

Georgetown National Museum of Guyana

This museum feels a little like a school building from the 1950s. It has exhibits showing Guyana’s natural heritage featuring stuffed creatures from the 1930s which, in all honesty, have seen better days.

Things to do in Georgetown Guyana - the interio of the museum showing stuffed animals

Did you know that the world’s most famous rare stamp is the British Guiana 1c Magenta? The museum doesn’t exhibit the stamp – that would be in the hands of a rich philatelist – but it does have the original press that printed the stamp.

An ornate stamp press made form cast iron that stamped the world's rarest stamp

There is also an exhibition about the recent discovery of oil in the country (which is currently disputed by Venezuela, who apparently gifted the land to Guyana but became more interested in getting it back when oil was discovered).

And there’s a fun life-sized replica of a giant sloth called a Megatherium which would have roamed around South America some 125,000 – 9,000 years ago.

A replica of a Megatherium - a giant sloth

Just across the road, Georgetown’s library is free to visit and has a friendly welcome and similar 1950s vibe.

Georgetown’s Architecture

Much of the architecture of the historical buildings is colonial. Many have shuttered windows with shelves underneath. The house owners put ice on the shelves which helps blow cooled air into the window when the wind is breezy. Many place plants underneath the shelves which are watered by the dripping ice.

Botanical gardens

This is a nice green space that is popular with local people especially at weekends. Sadly, a lot of it is strewn with litter. You can see Amazonian water lilies here. Although they are not as large as those in the rainforest.

And there is a mausoleum dedicated to all Guyana’s presidents who have held office since its independence.

Georgetown’s zoo has been closed for some while.

There is a monument nearby commemorating a rebellion by slaves on the Magdelenenburg plantation in 1763. It is recognised as the first attempt by slaves to fight for their freedom. The figure is holding a fish in his hands. On the back of the monument there is a map of Guyana, representing its people.

Monument of a figure grasping two fish on a large spiral plinth

A Sunset River Trip

The Demerara River is the life-blood of the city. It flows directly into the Atlantic. The city’s main industries can be found along the river.

Many people live outside the city in the suburbs, where housing is cheaper, and commute to work each day. They have to cross the river to do this and there are plentiful boats that serve as ferries. You can hire these boats to enjoy an evening river journey.

Two boats on the quayside of the market building

You embark at Stabroek Market. This is probably the city’s best known market where you can buy all sorts of products. Be aware that pickpockets are around and may target visitors. This market was highlighted on our government travel advice service as being particularly unsafe.

Starbroek Market building with clock. The clock faces are showing different times

Travelling upriver you see two bridges – one of which is a temporary structure which rattles and clatters as vehicles pass across it. It was commissioned in 1978 and the intention was that it would have a life of 10 years. It’s still going strong… The other is a shiny new bridge, the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, which officially opened in 2025.

Temporary bridge crossing water - the river Demarara

The reason for an evening boat trip is to that you can witness a plethora of local birds coming to the riverbank to roost. Hundreds of birds – mainly white egrets and the delightfully crimson scarlet ibis fly in to roost in the trees on the riverbank. It’s a spectacular sight.

Things to do in Georgetown Guyana Scarlet ibis and egrets sitting in a tree

Lots of Scarlet ibis and egrets sitting in a tree

And the sunset is rather splendid as well.

Sunset across the river with a yellow sun and silhouets of birds flying across the sky

Safety

Guyana – and particularly Georgetown – has a reputation for not being a safe country to visit. There is a high level of crime and our government’s travel advice website indicated particular places that we shouldn’t visit, including the markets. We did venture out into Georgetown ourselves during the day and didn’t experience problems – in fact, a lot of people were very friendly and said ‘hello’ to us – but we do advise not carrying flashy tech or jewellery, and only take a little bit of cash with you.

Georgetown for Foodies

There are a number of eateries in Georgetown. The cuisine is a curious blend of African, Indian, Creole, Portuguese, Chinese and European food with a hefty influence from the country’s indigenous Amerindian community.

Cook-up is the local variation of rice and peas, a popular Caribbean dish. It’s rice-y and spicy and accompanied by various meats. Hot ‘n’ Spicy Creole Corner on 112 Third & Albert Streets does a mean cook-up. They have lovely fruit juices too. You can eat in – or rather at tables outside the shop if you can find space – or take the food away. Join the queue at the kiosk to order and then pick up your food at the counter.

Curries are also popular, heavily influenced by the Indian population.

Guyana’s national dish is pepperpot, a celebratory meal that comprises a delectable meat stew cooked up in a great big pot with sweet, sticky cassareep, a dark oozy liquid derived from cassava. It is often accompanied by farine, crunchy crushed cassava.

We didn’t get to visit the famous Guyanese restaurant The Backyard Café because our hosts told us that apparently the owner wasn’t at the café and didn’t want us to attend if he couldn’t be there, despite us saying that we eat absolutely anything and would have been delighted to try any dishes that the restaurant had served. Very disappointing.

You can read about the food of the rainforest and how the cuisine of the Amerindians has influenced modern Guyanese food.

Final Thoughts

Georgetown is an interesting city with enough sights to entertain the visitor for a day but is really the gateway to Guyana – to the wilderness and rivers of the rainforest and the spectacular Kaieteur Falls. We found it much easier to see the city sights with a guide and, indeed, the only other tourists we saw throughout Guyana were on a group tour and were all accompanied. Despite the recent oil boom many people in the country still live in poverty and yet prices, especially for food, are expensive. But with some investment, Guyana genuinely has a lot of potential as a tourist destination.