Belém is a startlingly pleasing city, with streets and parks dappled by mango trees, and a numerous mesmerizing memorials and museums. The leaning central park is calm during the week and full of life on weekends, when locals come out all together for free shows and yummy street chows. Nightlife tends toward the bohemian cerebral types: art house plays, small music venues, and exciting café-bars. From Belém it’s just an overnight trip to Algodoal and Ilha de Marajó, both alluring coastal destinations with sunlit beaches and stunning vistas, and it’s an essential springboard for voyages up the Rio Amazonas.