amazon globe tour

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Welcome to Amazon Tours!

What tours do you offer?

We offer in-person tours of select Amazon fulfilment centers, where you can explore the cutting-edge systems that power our operations. If you’re short on time or can’t get to a site easily, we’ve got you covered - we also offer live virtual tours. If you’re looking to learn more about Amazon Puget Sound’s Headquarters, we offer a self-guided tour around the campus, so you can explore at your own pace.

How can I find a tour?

To find the best Amazon Tour for you, scroll up to select your preferred type of tour, and browse the available dates and times.

Do you offer private group tours?

At this time, we are not offering private Amazon tours, but we always welcome group registrations up until we reach public tour capacity.

Are your Virtual Fulfillment Center Tours offered in any other language?

We are currently only offering Virtual Tours in English.

How much do your tours cost?

All tours are free of charge.

I’m a member of the press and would like to visit a facility for my reporting. Who should I contact?

Please reach out to [email protected] with your request and we’ll work with you to arrange a visit.

What accommodations are offered during the tour for guests with specific accessibility needs?

Please submit a request via the Amazon Tours Help Center at least 2 weeks in advance of your desired tour date to discuss your needs and help ensure that we can accommodate your request. Sign language interpretation (SLI) is available on request for In-Person Tours as well as live Virtual Tours.

Who can I contact for more information?

Questions or concerns? Please visit our Amazon Tours Help Center .

Amazon Spheres Guide: How to Visit, Hours, Tours, and More!

Did you know that there’s a tropical oasis in the middle of downtown Seattle?  Thanks to Amazon’s dedication to providing spaces that inspire creativity in their employees, Seattle has one of its most gorgeous pieces of architecture.  It’s a set of three conjoining glass spheres, and if you think the outside is a sight to behold, you should see it from the inside!  Twice a month, Amazon opens the building to the public and you can do just that.

Let’s dive into everything you need to know about visiting the Amazon Spheres. They have hours available for tours every other week, but if your trip to downtown Seattle doesn’t line up we’ll reveal how best to get a view of this beautiful oasis in the city.

The Background on the Amazon Spheres

The Amazon Spheres (also called the Seattle Spheres) began development in 2012. Until 2010, Amazon’s headquarters were in an old healthcare facility in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, but the company decided to build an urban campus sprawling across several blocks of downtown.

At the center of this campus, then-CEO Jeff Bezos wanted an eye-catching landmark. The main theme he landed on was a collaborative indoor garden. The Spheres would not only be an icon in downtown Seattle , but would also be a space for Amazon employees to connect with nature and spur innovation at its headquarters. After several design iterations, the Spheres design was approved in late 2013 and construction began in June 2015.

By December 2016, all glass panels had been installed on the Sphere ( there are 2,643 panes of glass! ), and work shifted to filling its interiors with plant life. Highlights of plant life include a 49-foot tree nicknamed “Rubi,” and a 4,000 square-foot “Living Wall” filled with a variety of plant life.

Where Are the Amazon Spheres Located?

The Amazon Spheres are located in a part of downtown Seattle known as the Denny Triangle. Their address is 2111 7th Ave, Seattle WA 98121. Near the Spheres, you’ll find several other office buildings that are part of Amazon’s downtown campus. If you’re looking for activities after visiting the Spheres, the surrounding blocks are filled with restaurants, coffee shops, and bars.

The Amazon Spheres are a 12-minute walk from Pike Place Market that should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

What’s Inside the Amazon Spheres

Inside, you will enjoy a balmy 72 degrees Fahrenheit and 60% humidity year-round.  Tropical plants from South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia fill various themed spaces.  Enjoy them while wandering pathways, from the many sitting areas, or staring up at the jaw-dropping four-story high plant wall.  My personal favorites were the wide variety of orchids, the interesting shapes of the pitcher plants, and the impressive size of the infamous corpse flower.  What you find can change from one visit to another, however.  Amazon has enormous greenhouses in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville, from which they regularly switch out the plants of the Spheres. 

The Amazon Spheres Tour and Hours of You Can Visit

Planning ahead for a visit to the Spheres is a must as space is limited and highly in demand.  The days reserved for general public visits are the first and third Saturdays of each month.  While free, tickets must be reserved in advance by visiting seattlespheres.com .   Reservations open 15 days prior to the day of your visit so mark your calendar because they go quickly!   

Now if you’re reading this and realized you’ve missed your window to get tickets during your visit to Seattle, not all is lost!  Amazon has their Understory Exhibit waiting for you.  It sits literally under the Amazon Spheres, requires no tickets or reservations, is free, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 am-6 pm.  This exhibit is about the concept on which the Spheres were created; bringing nature together with design, art, and technology.  Part art exhibit and part science exhibit, it’s both educational and interactive.  It’s worth a visit on its own or it’s a great addition to your day at the spheres.

Parking and Getting to the Amazon Spheres

The day of your visit, you can find parking conveniently located next to the spheres at 2021 7th Ave or use nearby public transportation.  The closest light rail station is Westlake Station, which is about an 8-minute walk from the Amazon Spheres. The Spheres are also located near the Westlake and 7th stop of the South Lake Union Streetcar.

Adults, remember your photo ID and leave pets and big bags at home; no bags over 12”x12” are allowed.

Foods in the Amazon Spheres

Do bring your appetite!  Inside the Spheres, you will find coffee and donuts courtesy of General Porpoise.  Operated by the same folks as Ballard favorite The Walrus and The Carpenter, these are not your typical donuts and are worth a trip all on their own.  They’re a filled donut similar in style to a Hawaiian Malasada and the flavor list is ever-changing.  There will be a rotating variety of local, in-season favorites such as Rainier cherry jam or huckleberry cream.  As well as year-round favorites like honey yogurt and vanilla custard. 

Restaurants Near the Amazon Spheres

If you’re looking to dine or grab a drink near the spheres, there are some fantastic options for taking in a view and enjoying top-notch food. A few of our favorites include:

• 2120: Features entrees ranging from sweet potato coconut curry to standards like prime New York steaks. 2120 sits on the corner of Amazon’s Day 1 building, which gives its outdoor patio a sweeping view of the Amazon Spheres.
• Willmott’s Ghost: A full-fledged restaurant inside the Spheres. The space inside Willmott’s Ghost is optimized for views of the plant life inside the Spheres. It’s cozy, with 49 seats total that include both tables and a curved bar with seating for 8. The food is Italian, with a mix of pizza, salads, and panini (for lunch). The dinner menu adds entrees that are generally between $30 to $50.
• Deep Dive: Would you believe that the Amazon Spheres have a speakeasy-style bar inside them? If that sounds like your idea of fun, make sure to check out Deep Dive. It’s styled after an upscale European bar and has drinks cocktails that change daily and an expansive wine menu. Foods are mostly lighter fare that includes Jamon Iberico, rockfish pave, and a hot dog with salmon caviar and cream cheese ( yes, seriously ).

One Last Tip: Our Favorite Place to Take a Photo

Make sure to travel all the way to the top floor or you’ll miss two favorite spots in the building.  There’s a great photo background with the Amazon Spheres logo on a wall of greens.  Plus, my favorite place in the whole building, the lounge chairs at the top of the dome.  As long as some sun is peeking through, it’s a great, warm spot to gather some vitamin D during the long Seattle winter!

Hi, I'm Ashleigh! Welcome to Seattle Travel, my little piece of beautiful PNW. This is home and I'm here to share all my experiences so visitors and locals alike can find the best experiences this part of the country has to offer. I started Seattle Travel in 2012 as a way to journal my experiences and over the years have been encouraged by family and friends to open up my adventures to everyone. I actively seek out the best food, activities, and day trips and give you a local perspective.  The Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful areas in the world and my goal is to let you explore it to the fullest. 

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Our urban campus

The South Lake Union and Regrade neighborhoods in Seattle are bustling 18-hour-a-day districts filled with locally-owned shops, restaurants, cafes, and more. You’ll love perusing the streets of South Lake Union and the Regrade, meeting one of our “banistas”, or scheduling play time at one of the many dog parks.

Take a look inside Amazon’s Spheres as they get set to open

The hard-to-miss Amazon Spheres are both a workplace and a jungle, a pre-opening-day tour reveals.

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Sitting on one of the half-dozen lounge chairs in a secluded spot nestled just under the four-story-high steel superstructure that caps Amazon’s glass-paneled Spheres, the feeling is like resting in a space capsule ready to launch.

A short walk away, past a living wall of carnivorous Asian pitcher plants and Philippine rhododendrons, tables and chairs are set by beds of succulents.

Downstairs, a wooden path circles the leafy canopy of a towering 49-year-old tree, stopping at a few meeting nooks.

These different environments in the three connected domes convey the same sensation. You quickly forget you’re in a bustling office park downtown. For the building’s designers, that’s the point.

Amazon’s Spheres, the centerpiece of the retail juggernaut’s $4 billion urban campus, will open to employees — and, in a limited fashion, to the public — next week, a milestone in a decadelong corporate growth spurt that has reshaped Seattle .

The company, for most of its 24 years, preferred to operate under the radar in its hometown, posting no signage to indicate its presence in its office buildings even as the company and its blue-badged employees came to occupy much of the South Lake Union and Denny Triangle neighborhoods.

But in the Spheres, Amazon has built an architecturally ambitious focal point and symbol of its status as Seattle’s largest employer and one of the most dynamic entities in corporate America.

John Schoettler, Amazon’s real-estate chief and a Seattle native, hasn’t been shy about comparing the Spheres to other architectural landmarks in the city.

A private jungle

Amazon will hold an opening ceremony for the Spheres on Monday, with Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan expected to attend. But the Spheres already have achieved a measure of fame.

Tourists stopped by to snap photos of the orbs during their two-and-a-half years of construction. Some critical locals who saw the edifice as a corporate vanity project gave it a label of their own: Jeff Bezos’ Balls, referring to Amazon’s founder and CEO.

And when Amazon announced last year that it was seeking a second headquarters, photos of the Spheres, still under construction, found their way into news coverage around the world as a symbol of a corporate giant so massive that it was hunting for a second home.

The flora inside the domes is the work of a team of Amazon horticulturists who were charged with scouring the globe for interesting plants and growing them in a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse in Woodinville . Four years of growth later, and supplemented by a few older plants acquired from other conservatories, the Spheres feel like a mature, if unusually well-manicured, jungle.

Unlike most jungles, the Spheres are a workspace. Banks of tables, secluded meeting nooks and benches strewn throughout the complex can seat up to 800 people. Amazon envisions the building as a change of pace for its workers, a place to “feel differently, to think differently,” said Ron Gagliardo, the Spheres’ lead horticulturist, who leads an in-house team of four others.

To keep the aisles clear for that feeling and thinking, Amazon’s gardens will be, for the most part, private space. And to avoid a crush of people when the Spheres first open, Amazon has a reservation system for employees who’d like to enter. It is booked solid through April, with reservations from 20,000 people, roughly half of Amazon’s workforce of more than 40,000 Seattle employees.

The general public can sign up for free tours of an exhibit area on the ground floor of the Spheres , and Amazon’s guided, twice-weekly headquarters tours will soon include a stop inside the Spheres. The company also aims to open the space to the public regularly, a spokesman said, but Amazon hasn’t finalized those plans.

Right environment

Bezos, during the planning process, looked at renderings showing the development of the Spheres’ trees — starting at a relatively sparse Year One, and onward to a more lush Year Five. Instead, the famously demanding chief executive ordered up the denser, green look of Year Five on Day One.

Employees who enter from the Sixth Avenue side of the Spheres will encounter a living wall, 60 feet high and packed with 200 plant species, that extends vertically through the central dome’s four stories.

Just to the right is a tank with aquatic plants and animals native to the Amazon.

(The similarity between the South American river and the garden of the company named after it ends there, Schoettler said. “We weren’t trying to re-create the Amazon.”)

More than 400 species of plant life are divided, roughly, into two sections.

A garden centered in the Seventh Avenue dome evokes the New World, with plants like the plinia cauliflora, or Brazilian grape, of mostly Central and South American origin. The centerpiece, though, is a native of Australia by way of a California tree farm: the four-decade old Port Jackson fig, nicknamed Rubi, lowered by crane into the sphere in June .

The Sixth Avenue sphere holds an Old World garden, which draws primarily from Africa and Southeast Asia, including an Australian tree fern, the first plant to arrive when it was set down in May 2017.

The plants, many native to the cloud forests of Central America or Southeast Asia, were selected because those environments match what Amazon was looking for in its Seattle Spheres: a space cool enough for humans in work attire to be comfortable, yet warm and humid enough for tropical plants to thrive.

The Spheres are kept at 72 degrees and 60 percent humidity during the day, and 55 degrees with 85 percent humidity at night.

The Spheres’ mechanics

The architect behind the project, NBBJ, designed a complex system to keep that balance.

“We were definitely in a lot of uncharted territory,” David Sadinsky, an architect at NBBJ, said of designing a hybrid conservatory and workspace. “There weren’t a lot of places to draw from.”

Like Amazon’s skyscrapers, the Spheres are warmed in part by recycled heat generated from a nearby data center , with the heat piped through the concrete floors and, on the upper floors, handrails.

Interspersed in the main plant areas are fake logs and tree stumps that conceal air-circulating pipes.

The spheres are made up of about 2,600 angular glass panels that have a coating designed to let in light for plant photosynthesis and reflect unnecessary heat back into the environment.

Amazon supplements the sun’s rays with dozens of stadium lights designed to make up for Seattle’s dark winters. Sensors automatically adjust the light levels inside for an even 12 hours of simulated daylight to feed the plants.

Feeding the humans will be Renee Erickson, the award-winning Seattle chef, who will operate a restaurant, as well as a doughnut-and-coffee bar, inside the Amazon employees area.

The occupants of two retail areas open to the public haven’t been announced.

Rare Amazonian perk

In contrast to many of its rivals, Amazon offers its workers comparatively few corporate perks. Employees make their own coffee and pay full freight at the company cafeteria. A major element of Amazon’s sales pitch to job candidates is its home in an urban core, something suburban rivals Apple, Google and Microsoft can’t match.

As of next week, the retail giant adds another benefit: a curated slice of nature inside three geodesic domes, called, at various stages of design and construction, fly eyes, glass orbs, melted-together Milk Duds and biospheres.

For Schoettler, who says naming buildings can be a harder enterprise than naming children, the shortening to Spheres seemed a natural moniker for Seattle’s newest corporate landmark.

“Just like the Space Needle, it is what it is,” he said. “Spheres felt right.”

The Spheres as they were being built:

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Amazon tours

On each of our guided tours to the Amazon, you’ll enjoy a balance of sightseeings led by locals and free time to follow your interests. All our Amazon tour packages include an expert Tour Director, breakfast daily, select lunches and dinners, comfortable transportation, and accommodations hand-selected by our staff.

Showing 1–18 of 224 tours

A Week in Greece: Athens, Mykonos & Santorini

9 days | 12 days with Rome extension

4.7 out of 5 stars

A Week in Italy: Venice, Florence & Rome

9 days | 11 days with Sorrento Peninsula extension

4.6 out of 5 stars

Save up to $350† by 7/31

Travel to a world wonder or a place that sparks wonder in your eyes (hello, Santorini!).

London, Paris & Rome

11 days | 14 days with Madrid extension

Highlights of England, Scotland & Ireland

12 days | 14 days with London extension

The Greek Islands: Mykonos, Santorini & Crete

14 days | 16 days with Athens extension

A Week in Ireland: Dublin, Cork & Galway

8 days | 11 days with London extension

A Week in Switzerland, Germany & Austria

9 days | 11 days with Prague extension

Grand Tour of Italy

15 days | 17 days with Rome extension

Germany, Switzerland & Austria

14 days | 16 days with Budapest extension

Barcelona, Southern France & the Italian Riviera

12 days | 14 days with Rome extension

4.4 out of 5 stars

Landscapes of Scotland & Ireland

15 days | 18 days with London extension

Italy & Greece

11 days | 15 days with Santorini & Athens extension

Grand Tour of Ireland

14 days | 17 days with Glasgow & Edinburgh extension

Kenya Wildlife Safari: Mount Kenya, Maasai Mara & Amboseli

13 days | 18 days with Tanzania extension

Costa Rica: Rainforests, Volcanoes & Wildlife

9 days | 12 days with Manuel Antonio & San José extension

Scandinavia: The Capitals & the Fjords

14 days | 17 days with Iceland extension

4.5 out of 5 stars

Iceland: Reykjavík & the Northern Lights

6 days | 8 days with West Iceland & Reykjavík extension

Food & Wine: Flavors of Tuscany & Umbria

11 days | 13 days with Rome extension

What travelers are saying about our tours of the Amazon

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Pick your perfect trip

We offer 200+ immersive, guided tours around the world. Wherever you choose to go, you’ll enjoy lots of advantages that make traveling with us different.

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Prep your packing list

While you’re deciding what to take, we’ll be busy arranging your hotels, meals, tickets, and more tour essentials. That’s what going guided is all about.

Go far (and get rewarded)

Take off on your big adventure— but why stop there? Every trip you book with us earns rewards that you can use to keep expanding your horizons.

Not sure which Amazon tour is right for you? We're here to help.

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Chat instantly with us during our normal hours, or leave a message and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

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5 out of 5 stars

2nd-time traveler Amy

Where should I begin? Everything was absolutely magical. This was my second EF trip but my first solo. I loved both trips and would not be concerned about going solo on a regular... Read more of Peruvian Magic

Traveled in Jul 2024 on Peru for Solo Travelers: Lima, Cuzco & Machu Picchu

1st-time traveler Silvia

Great Trip a 100% recomended

Traveled in May 2024 on Grand Tour of South America: Brazil, Argentina & Peru

3rd-time traveler Annemarie

I’ve wanted to go to Machu Pichu for 40 years and I finally did it! I loved every part of the tour- Lima ( beautiful downtown, hotel in Miraflores next to shopping, Kennedy Park... Read more of Peru Trip of a Lifetime!

Traveled in Jun 2024 on Ancient Peru & Machu Picchu

2nd-time traveler Elizabeth

I would like to say this was a trip of a life time. Despite some minor glitches, which were expertly handled by our tour director , Edwin. Edwin could not have been more... Read more of Machu pichu trip 2024

1st-time traveler David

We had a great tour, our director Edwin was a great guide and the tour has a great balance of activities and free time to go out on your own or go shopping. The only downside is... Read more of Great tour, we saw lots of Peru in only a few days

1st-time traveler Joseph

This was the most educational excursion of my life. There were a couple of snafus, but overall EF Tours did a great job of keeping us safe and getting us from point A to point B... Read more of An adventure, NOT a vacation.

3rd-time traveler Lorie

It’s not called a Grand Tour for nothing! This is not for those with lazing on the beach, leisurely mornings in mind. You cover a lot of ground. Read the info Go Ahead provides.... Read more of Be Prepared !

2nd-time traveler Sandra

It is our pleasure to write this feedback on Augusto, our outstanding tour director. He made our EF tour experience enjoyable and unforgettable since day one with a great sense... Read more of Tour Director: Augusto

Traveled in May 2024 on Ancient Peru & Machu Picchu

Amazon Puget Sound Headquarters Tour

Start your tour.

How do I get started with a Puget Sound Headquarters Tour?

You can take this tour in any order, and visit as many or as few stops as you’d like. To get started, select a location of interest from the map (above) or the complete list of tour stops. Once you’ve arrived at your desired starting point, scan the QR code that will be present at each location or launch the tour stop directly from this website. Listen, learn, and then choose where you want to head next! If you plan to visit all 14 stops, we recommend starting at Doppler Stairway and working your way towards Bell Street.

Is there an option for a guide-led or group tour?

The Puget Sound Headquarters Tour is a self-guided experience and suitable for individuals or groups. There is currently no way to register for a guide-led experience. If you are a member of the press looking for a tour, please reach out to [email protected] with your request and we’ll work with you to arrange a visit.

Is there a map that I can follow? Where are the tour stops?

A digital map is available on each page of the website, and every stop has a “Get Directions” button that can help you navigate between locations. You can also see the closest next three stops at the bottom of each tour stop page.

Do I get to go into the Amazon buildings with this tour?

All stops along the Puget Sound Headquarters Tour are outside. While you can head inside the lobbies of many Amazon buildings, we unfortunately can’t accomodate tour guests beyond security checkpoints or in The Spheres. Guests can register to go inside The Spheres on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month here .

How long is the entire Puget Sound Headquarters tour route?

This tour will vary depending on how many stops you choose, the route you take, and how long you explore each stop. On most routes between Doppler Stairway and Bell Street, you’ll walk around 20 minutes and less than 1 mile. Listening to each stop’s audio will take approximately 40 minutes, so we recommend setting aside at least an hour for this full experience.

What will I see and learn on the Puget Sound Headquarters Tour?

The Puget Sound Headquarters Tour features 14 tour stops that highlight Amazon’s unique culture, a wide array of both indigenous and exotic plant life, and points of interest in the local community. From the history of the area to construction of some of Amazon’s most recognizable buildings, visitors will be taken along on a journey of creation, innovation, and cultivation. Photos, videos, and audio recordings on the website accompany each stop.

Does the Puget Sound Headquarters Tour cost anything?

This tour is completely free! We hope you enjoy learning about the unique culture and history of Amazon’s Puget Sound Headquarters.

Can I take this tour without a mobile device?

A mobile device is required to scan QR codes and launch information about each tour stop. If you’d prefer to explore these stops from the comfort of your home, photos and audio recordings can be accessed directly from the website (you don’t need to physically be at the stops).

How do I scan a QR code?

To scan a QR code, open your phone’s camera application and steadily point your camera towards the QR code. QR codes look like a pixelated box. Once your phone “reads” the QR code, you’ll see a small link pop up in your camera app. Click that link to launch information about the tour stop.

The QR code isn’t working. How do I report?

If the QR code isn’t working, you can also launch information about the tour stop directly from the Puget Sound Headquarters Tour homepage by clicking on your desired stop. We’d appreciate hearing about any QR codes that aren’t working here .

Can I tour any other Amazon Headquarters?

The Puget Sound Headquarters Tour is the only current public tour of our corporate offices. If you are a member of the press looking for a tour, please reach out to [email protected] with your request and we’ll work with you to arrange a visit.

I’m looking for a Fulfillment Center Tour, where can I find those?

In-Person and Virtual Fulfillment Center Tours are offered in select locations. You can find more information about them and register at https://amazontours.com/ .

I have a question that isn’t listed.

If you have a question that isn’t listed, please submit a request here and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

26 Best & Fun Things to Do in Globe (AZ)

The historic city of Globe is the county seat of Gila County, located in Southern Arizona. It is also located in the middle of the Tonto National Forest, bringing visitors and residents close to some of Arizona’s most breathtaking canyons and views.

The city’s population was 7,351 as of the 2020 census. The city is renowned for its mining past.

Spanish conquistadors swarmed the region in the 1820s because of the city’s vast mineral richness, which has a long history.

Mining is still a primary industry, but tourism and farming also contribute significantly to the region’s economy. Many seniors have chosen Globe as their retirement home since the area in Arizona offers the perfect ambiance.

Some breathtaking natural beauties encircle Globe. As a result, it has grown to be a well-liked location for people who want to enjoy the outdoors and its pleasures. It is located 100 miles east of Phoenix at 3,500 feet.

Are you planning an exploration of Globe? Here are the best and fun things to do in Globe, AZ.

Things to Do in Globe, AZ

1. seneca lake.

Seneca Lake, located just to the north of Globe, is a potential location to explore if you are seeking fantastic fishing.

This artificial Lake is a beautiful location to enjoy a picnic lunch, go for a stroll, or simply unwind and take in the scenery.

Various fishes abound in the Lake, making it a fantastic site for fishing. However, you will need a permit to enter and fish there because it is part of the San Carlos Reservation.

One of the earliest dams in Arizona is the Seneca Lake Dam, which was constructed in 1894.

The Seneca Lake spillway, one of the largest in the state, is a sight to behold. However, the Lake is not too far from Globe and is accessible by car. Exploring the Lake is one of the top things to do in Globe, AZ.

Buildings that have been abandoned are nearby. They were initially planned by the Apaches in the 1970s when they wanted to build a resort with a hotel, bar, restaurant, trading post, and rental cabins.

Address: Seneca Lake, Arizona, United States

2. Salt River Canyon Scenic Drive

Driving is an excellent method to gain an overview of some local features near Globe. The magnificent Drive displays the breathtaking Salt River Canyon formed millions of years ago. The Canyon is one of the best places to visit in Globe, AZ.

Wildlife from around the world, such as eagles, hawks, and ospreys, call the Canyon home. Some locations along the road will undoubtedly pique your interest, but that can wait for another day.

Pull over at the Canyon Overlook on this journey so you can park near the Canyon’s rim and observe the gorge below.

You will be treated to breathtaking views of the area’s rivers and mountains. Visitors can engage in additional activities in the Canyon, including hiking, picnics, and fishing.

You will require permission from the White Mountain Apache Tribe if you choose to hike there later.

To fish in the river, you will also need permission. It takes around an hour to finish the approximately 30-mile drive.

Address: Route 60, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

3. Round Mountain Park

Round Mountain Park is an excellent area to go hiking or enjoy the landscape.

The circular paths in this Park are something to think about if you’re seeking some hiking inspiration. Five options might work for you, whether you are a seasoned hiker or want a casual stroll.

Amazing views may be seen from the mountain’s summit. At the hill’s peak, a few tiny lakes are ideal for a picnic lunch. However, the West Trail, which leads to the flag, is considered the most spectacular.

You will enjoy a fantastic view of Globe and distant mountain ranges from the summit. Lovely hiking trails lead through the woods and to the mountain’s peak.

The longest hike is slightly over three miles long, but because they are interconnected, you can walk parts of several trails in a single day.

The Park is a fantastic location for bird-watching. The woods and lakes are home to a wide variety of bird species. Spend a day or two at Round Mountain Park, as it’s one of the best things to do in Globe, AZ.

Address: Round Mountain Park, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

4. Hollis Cinema 4

Hiking and exploring Globe’s streets are always enjoyable ways to spend a holiday in the city but don’t forget to catch the newest releases in theaters.

One of the fun things to do in Globe, AZ, is to spend the day at Hollis Cinema 4, watching movies and enjoying popcorn.

Alongside your friends and family, enjoy watching the newest movies on a massive screen while having fun.

You might want to look up the movie’s playing times before you go to make sure they are available.

Address: 161 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

5. Historic District of Globe

Exploring Globe’s Historic District is a pleasure and one of the top things to do in Globe, AZ. Numerous historic homes and buildings have been conserved and are available for visitors.

Globe residents take great pride in their city’s past, and on specific historical tours, it’s easy to observe that not much has evolved for many years. You will quickly understand if you stroll along Broad Street.

The 1918-opened Holy Angels Catholic Church is situated in the Historic District. Twenty years after it was first opened, it was added to the Register of Historic Places. You can enter when there is no service and discover it is a fascinating location inside and out.

A few stores and eateries are also nearby. You’ll also appreciate public art while visiting Globe’s Historic District. Small side streets can be found, and a clock boldly displays Globe’s age.

The neighborhood has several sculptures and murals that have been installed. Additionally, there is a ton of street art on the buildings and walkways.

Address: Globe, AZ 85501, United States.

6. Giorsetti Park

Giorsetti Park is a lovely destination suitable for the entire family. It was established in 1993. The Park is rated as one of the biggest neighborhood parks in the city.

Giorsetti Park is perfect for picnics, as it has three picnic areas. The picnic areas are furnished with barbecue pits. If you want to engage in other activities, there’s a large open space on the ground for that.

Keeping fit is good business. To that aim, the Park has an extensive jungle gym. Visit and burn those excess fats you have accumulated from consuming so much junk during your stay. You will undoubtedly enjoy your stay in Giorsetti Park.

Address: N 5th St & E Apache St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

7. Globe Community Center Park

The Globe Community Center is a large complex covering over 30 acres. It has many recreational facilities, including a skate park, baseball and softball fields, shuffleboard area, basketball and tennis courts, picnic tables, barbecue grills, and playgrounds.

Beautiful features surround the Park. Its aesthetics and picnic facilities make it famous for events and gatherings.

Additionally, there are restrooms, making it perfect for spending the whole day. Due to the heterogeneity of the attraction, there is something for every preference.

Address: 1370 S Jesse Hayes Rd, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

8. Hill Street Mall Inc

Hill Street Mall was erected in 1916. The shape of the building resembles Arizona. This edifice has been used for several purposes over the years, but in 2006 it became Hill Street Mall.

This shopping mall is renowned for offering the widest array of fabrics in the state. You can also get furniture from several eras, collectibles, home decor, pieces of jewelry, antiques, and vintage items here.

Hill Street Mall Inc. is open Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. A memorable shopping experience awaits you in this historical shopping mall.

Address: 383 S Hill St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

9. The Huddle

Nothing like hanging out at your neighborhood bar with your buddies, downing a few drinks, and chatting the night away to unwind after a long day.

Go to The Huddle on North Broad Street to unwind after a hard day exploring Globe’s streets and sip on a few cold ones while singing along to the jukebox.

The Huddle is reportedly housed in one of Globe’s oldest structures and was designed in the vernacular commercial style.

The 1898 construction of the one-story brick structure included a cafeteria and a store for men’s furnishings in its early years. Tracy and Steve Quick bought the tavern in 2004 and renamed it The Huddle.

After a few years in operation, the sports bar underwent a renovation by having the outdated carpets and paneling removed.

Some traces of the bar’s ancient interior are still visible today, particularly the lower half of a mural created in the 1950s.

Address: 392 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

10. Cobre Valley Center for the Arts

Are you indecisive about what to do in Globe, AZ? Visit the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts, especially if you are interested in art or culture. It is a fantastic location to see changing artwork exhibitions by regional and Native American artists.

Since this institution launched in 1984, its volunteers have worked on various initiatives and given local artists a platform.

The Center also provides a wide range of workshops and classes for people of all ages. Even better, you can attempt your hand at creating some artwork.

The setting will make an impression on you. It’s the Old Gila County Courthouse, which people have renovated so that events and exhibitions can be held inside.

Rose Mofford, a local heroine who was the first female governor of the State of Arizona, is honored in one permanent installation.

Her career began at the building’s predecessor, the Courthouse. She currently resides in Globe as one of the retired residents.

Address: 101 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

11. Globe Public Library

You should check out the Globe Public Library if you enjoy reading. There is something for everyone to appreciate in their collection of more than 50,000 books.

Additionally, the library has free WiFi, allowing you to finish reading while you’re there.

 The Globe Public Library is guaranteed to have a peaceful area where you can unwind.

 It’s the ideal location to unwind for a while, with a ton of cozy sitting and a wide selection of books.

Address: 339 S Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

Also, check out our list of  things to do in Payson  and cool  things to do in Maricopa , if you are planning an Arizona road trip.

12. Gila County Historical Museum

Visiting local museums is an excellent opportunity to fully immerse oneself in a location’s history and culture.

Visit the Gila County Historical Museum in Globe to learn more about what awaits tourists like you.

Explore Arizona’s mining and rural origins at the Museum. As part of the Museum’s Arizona Memory Project, you may even read accounts of the most famous infrastructures in the state and city.

Numerous displays and exhibits showing famous people and timelines of important events can be seen as you walk the corridors.

At the Gila County Historical Museum, you may see, among other things, displays on Arizona governors, including Rose Mofford, a racing exhibit room, newspaper exhibits, Native American antiques, and a mine rescue room.

Address: 1330 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

13. Tonto National Monument

To learn more about the local history, you should go to Tonto National Monument. The monument has a great perspective of the area because it is situated on a hilltop.

The monument is a popular tourist destination since it creates a beautiful photo backdrop. Additionally, ranger-led excursions are an excellent chance to discover more about the monument and the surrounding area.

If you’re looking for a spot to hike, check out the Tonto National Monument. Numerous paths range in difficulty from easy to moderate.

There is a picnic spot at the monument where you can eat outside while admiring the scenery. It is one of the best places to visit in Globe, AZ.

Address: 26260 AZ-188, Roosevelt, AZ 85545, United States

14. Casa Reynoso

Visit Casa Reynoso on East Ash Street to sate your appetite for Mexican food. The best part about the authentic Mexican restaurant is that everything on the menu is produced from scratch.

The kitchen’s Wild West theme, classic Mexican color schemes, and arches will also appeal to you.

You can be confident that everything, from enchiladas and quesadillas to chili platters and tamales, is made with the finest and freshest ingredients.

Since 1938, Casa Reynoso has provided excellent food to Arizonans utilizing traditional family recipes that have been passed down through the generations.

Address: 5865 W. Ray Rd Chandler, AZ 85226, United States

15. Historic Gila County Sheriff’s Office and Jail

Arizona’s oldest active law enforcement facility is the Historic Gila County Sheriff’s Office and Jail, which dates back more than a century.

The structure, formerly used as the county jail until 1969, is now a public museum.

Many tourists visiting the Old County Sheriff’s Office and Jail are persuaded that ghosts are still present because they have been seen extensively throughout the years.

Many of the Museum’s displays highlight Gila County’s law enforcement history.

Additionally, there is a gift shop where you can get souvenirs. Learning about the history of this structure and seeing how well the jail cells have been preserved are both quite interesting.

Address: 177 E Oak St #171, Globe, AZ 85501, United States.

Considering an Arizona road trip, check out our guides on  things to do in Tombstone , and  things to do in Bullhead City  for a memorable trip .

16. Besh-Ba-Gowah Park

Nearly 800 years ago, the Apaches lived in a historic settlement, now the archaeological park and Museum.

You’ll be exposed to various Salado Civilization-influenced antiques, pottery, and botanical gardens as you stroll around the Park.

The Salado, farmers and hunters who resided here for many centuries, was previously called the village in this Park home.

There must have been a sizable population because the pueblo has 200 rooms spread over two stories.

Besh-Ba-Gowah, often known as the “place of metal,” is renowned for housing the most extensive collection of Salado ceramics and antiques.

According to estimates, issues started in the 14th century when food supplies became more scarce. They eventually abandoned their community as a result, and it became a ghost town.

The Museum offers exciting artifacts and more details about living back then. There is a display of stone tools, household items, ceramics, jewelry, some textiles, and a replica of a Salado Room.

Explore the ruins thoroughly and take in the breathtaking vista of Pinal Creek.

The Besh-Ba-Gowah Park is open from dawn until dusk. There is no cost to enter the Park; however, there is a parking cost.

Address: 1324 Jesse Hayes Road, Globe Community Center, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

17. The Serenity Room

The tour of the city can be exhausting when it’s hot outside. Popular locations for yoga and meditation classes include The Serenity Room. This is the location for you if you want to unwind and revive.

After a long day of exploring, one way to unwind is to come here and choose from various treatments.

The instructors are pretty educated, and the classes are appropriate for students of all skill levels.

How much fun you will have at this location will surprise you. Yoga, meditation, and even dancing courses are available in the Serenity room.

The instructors have great passion for what they teach and are always eager to assist you.

Don’t be concerned if you are a beginner because the classes are appropriate for all skill levels. You will be capable of following along without any problems.

You can also get a massage and pamper yourself with a facial at this location. You can choose from various skin treatments and body scrubs; as a bonus, you’ll get tips on taking better care of your skin.

After a session at the Serenity Room, you will undoubtedly look your best for dinner.

Address: 1177 E Ash St, Globe, AZ 85501-1407, United States

18. Ghosts of Globe Paracon

The untamed west is rich in ancient history and legends passed down through many generations, so it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that some of the first settlers’ souls may have lingered a little longer than they would have wished.

Searching for evidence of the afterlife has grown so popular in the region that a special occasion was created for a night of paranormal research.

In search of evidence of paranormal activity, investigators comb the city during the Ghosts of Globe Paracon paranormal conference, paying particular attention to old jails, train depots, and structures.

If you are wondering what to do in Globe, AZ, to liven up your trip, join the group and find out if you have what it requires to be a paranormal investigator.

Additionally, Ghosts of Globe Paracon has famous hosts who participate in ghost-hunting activities with all the appropriate equipment; sure, it’s just like in the movies.

Address: 1565 E South St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

19. Pickle Barrel Trading Post

While you may purchase souvenirs like shirts and keychains elsewhere, you might also want to try out the Pickle Barrel Trading Post if you’re looking for something unique.

This Trading Post, which housed supplies and equipment over a century ago as the Old Dominion Commercial Co. Warehouse, is the best place for souvenir shopping.

It’s your one-stop store for unique trinkets, food, and specialized goods in downtown Globe. The Old Dominion Copper Co.’s former warehouse was an 8,000-square-foot shop.

Former owners converted it into an art and antique shop with lodging. An enormous lit sign on the roadway makes it impossible to miss it. Despite having nothing to do with pickles, it was given the name it uses today at that point.

As you walk in, you’ll be mesmerized by the enormous displays of items you may take home, many of which have a nod to the old world and the Globe.

Pick from various Native American arts and crafts, like kachinas, weavings, and beadwork, or Pickle Barrel Trading Post products, including conchos, enamelware, and sunrise dance gear.

Check out the store’s assortment of Native American jewelry, especially the Sleeping Beauty or Specialty Turquoise pieces, if you’re looking for something more unique.

Even if you choose not to make a purchase, you will be impressed by the 8-foot by, 10-foot original pencil drawing of Geronimo that is shown there.

 If you’re shopping for gifts or souvenirs, you should have a peek at the Trading Post’s many Native American handicrafts and artworks.

Address: 404 S Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

20. Bravo Americano Moderno

There are many fantastic restaurants in Globe, but if you want to sample some of the best fares in the area, head to Bravo Americano Moderno on North Broad Street.

Take a mouthful of contemporary American cuisine that draws inspiration from classic European and Asian cooking methods.

You’re sure to enjoy your time at Bravo Americano Moderno while spending quality time with your loved ones because they only use the best ingredients.

Before going on to classics like the Butcher’s Block, garlic lobster ravioli, stuffed portobello, and a plate of wings and tenders dressed in the restaurant’s trademark sauces, start with a Caesar salad.

The restaurant’s relaxed ambiance and exposed brick walls make you want to linger out there.

Address: 333 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

21. San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation & Golf Resort Casino

The well-known Apache Gold Casino and many other fantastic attractions are located on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation.

There is a ton of entertainment available every day of the year. There is a casino with various games, a pro shop, a huge driving range, and a putting green at the Stronghold Golf Course. You can reserve a place to stay.

In addition to blackjack, poker, and other table games, the casino has approximately 500 slot machines. The resort also features a spa and a variety of dining options.

You may explore many Apache-owned territories surrounding Globe, but some of the walks require permission.

Additionally, an Apache Cultural Center on the reserve is worth a visit.

Permits for camping, fishing in one of the area’s four lakes, and hunting can be purchased at this office.

Address: 777 Geronimo Springs Blvd, San Carlos, AZ 85550, United States

22. Old Dominion Historic Mine Park

If you’re interested in discovering more about the region’s mining history, this is a fantastic location.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of copper to Globe’s economy. The metal extracted from this mine between 1880 and 1930 was crucial to Globe’s prosperity.

The choice to establish this Park as a piece of the city’s history was made locally, and it has turned out to be wise.

A blacksmith shop, an assay office, and a miners’ barracks are the reconstructed structures in the Park.

Other exhibits and mining machinery are also on display. You can either go on a self-guided or ranger-led tour of the Park.

Visitors may envision what it was like when the mine was still operating, thanks to the efforts of the Gila County Historical Society and the City.

From October to April, guided excursions are offered. The most admirable aspect is that exploring the entire park does not require much time. As a result, if you only have a little quantity of time in Globe, Arizona, it makes a fantastic activity.

Address: 161 N Murphy St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States.

23. Gila County RV Park & Batting Range

An episode at the batting range allows kids to showcase their talents. Bring your kids to Gila County RV Park & Batting Range to enjoy themselves in the batting cages, as it is among the fun things to do in Globe, AZ.

The players only need to swap their tokens for the balls in the family-run batting cage to start using the fantastic batting gear.

Even complete beginners can have fun because the three cages are equipped to deliver the ball at various speeds.

Players can rent the cage for 30 minutes or an hour.

The top speed in softball is an astonishing 70 mph, with average speeds of about 50 mph. If they choose, visitors are free to use their equipment.

You can bring your RV to the location after your activities at the batting cages are finished for a weekend escape with your family.

You can also hire grassy tent sites if you like to engage in outdoor activities and stroll through the Globe Historic District

The recreation spaces, picnic spots, and concessions further enhance the family-friendly activities offered here.

Address: 130 W Ash St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

24. Splash of Copper

Check out the goods at Splash of Copper on North Broad Street if you’re searching for something distinctive to buy as a gift or souvenir.

When you walk into the store, you’ll see a wide variety of vases, bowls, tree sculptures, and other items. However, don’t assume that these are your typical store displays.

The family that owns Splash of Copper has a long history in mining, notably in copper mines.

You’ll see that each product is created by splashing molten copper on steel plates after being mixed with iron ladles.

This method produces a polished, abstract design that makes a lovely house centerpiece.

Address: 656 N Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

25. Holy Angels Church

Holy Angels Church is one of Globe, Arizona’s most picturesque and peaceful locations.

The Church, constructed in 1881, is a superb illustration of Gothic Revival design.

A stunning stained glass window erected in the Church in 1884 is also housed there.

The window, which portrays Christ’s life, is an exquisite artwork. When you visit, you’ll recognize the beauty and tranquility of this Church.

Address: 201 S Broad St, Globe, AZ 85501, United States

26. River Of Life Pentecostal Church of God

Most people traveling through the region stop by the River of Life Pentecostal Church of God.

The Church is one of the few structures from the old era still standing. It is situated in an old mining village.

The Church is a stunning sight and has a long history. The church welcomes visitors and gives tours of the interior.

If you take the time to attend this Church, you won’t be sorry. It’s a wholly distinctive experience.

Address: 5667 E Golden Hill Rd, Globe, Arizona, 85501, United States.

Check out more cities in Arizona, here is  a guide on things to do in Peoria ,  things to do in Tempe , and  fun things to do Buckeye  in for a fun time

Plan Your Trip to Globe

Globe city offers so many adventures and exciting experiences. These attractions will surely pique your interest, as they are unique and captivating.

There won’t be a dull day while you’re here because the city is truly a distinctive, historic, and culturally rich destination.

So get ready for a spectacular experience by making travel arrangements to Globe, Arizona, right away.

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Let's Tour The World: A Globe Adventure Paperback – May 6, 2021

Purchase options and add-ons.

Imagine spinning the globe and finding yourself in many wonderful places around the world. A family is making plans for a summer trip. A young boy grabs his globe and gives it a spin. He realizes this is not just an ordinary globe. As it spins and glows, he is whisked away to many fun and exciting places. He is on a journey to find ideas for summer vacation.

• Print length 34 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Fulton Books
• Publication date May 6, 2021
• Dimensions 8 x 0.09 x 10 inches
• ISBN-10 1649529163
• ISBN-13 978-1649529169
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Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fulton Books (May 6, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 34 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1649529163
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1649529169
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.09 x 10 inches
• #12,887 in Children's Explore the World Books (Books)
• #47,064 in Children's Activity Books (Books)

About the author

Theresa lynn.

Theresa has taught elementary education for 29 years and published her first children’s book with the publication company Fulton Books, entitled: Let’s Tour the World: A Globe Adventure. Her second book is Beyond the Clouds: A Space Adventure. Her Third book is Up Close: A Sports Adventure. Theresa enjoys writing children’s poetry and her message for children is to, “Enjoy the adventure of reading and have fun learning new things!”

Author Website and Trailer Video Preview: fultonbooks.com/books/?book=lets-tour-the-world

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What is Amazon Explore?

How much is amazon explore, how is amazon explore different from other virtual experiences, my experience with amazon explore, some of the best amazon explore experiences to try, prime members can try amazon's new virtual travel experiences for free — here's what the platform is like to use and some of the best tours to try.

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• Amazon Explore was recently launched to offer interactive, one-on-one virtual travel experiences.
• Hosts are located around the world and for some, you can even shop for local items in real time.
• Amazon Explore experiences range from $10 to $99, but Prime members can try it for free.

The other night I walked through the streets of Tokyo, stopping in at small shops, exploring handmade ceramics, saying hi to a local shopkeeper, and filling a basket with new treasures to display in my home — all while sitting in my living room in New Jersey. This was possible thanks to one of the new virtual tours from Amazon Explore . 

For the last long year, I've been trying to scratch my travel itch with virtual experiences, with mixed success. I tried online cooking classes, virtually toured museums and historical sites around the globe, and even bought my son and his cousin a small group online tea ceremony with EF Tours. And I've followed along as Airbnb added online interactive tours with guides. 

After all of that, I was surprised to hear that Amazon was jumping into the game. After a year of online experiences, why now? And how would this be different? 

To find out, I bought a virtual ticket for a first-hand Amazon Explore review to see exactly what they were offering. 

Amazon Explore is a series of live, virtual one-on-one experiences with hosts located around the world. You can access the program on the Amazon website. However, as a brand new offering that is technically still in beta, it's a little hard to spot tucked away as the very last entry on the "Programs and Features" tab.

Perusing Amazon Explore you'll find experiences ranging from hands-on cooking to tours of Paris and Berlin to virtual trips to the beach. Before I jumped in and booked my own tour, I was given an opportunity to do a short media "sampling" of Amazon Explore for review purposes. Highlights included two cooking experiences (salsa in Mexico , $28, and pasta making in Italy , $52) and two shopping and culture tours (one in Tokyo for only $9 and Quebec City at a pricey $62). They were all fun and exciting enough that I was eager to sign up for a full experience myself after. 

Other available options range from learning about the legends of alchemy in Prague ($56) to getting up close with sloths in Costa Rica ($27). No matter your travel interests, it's easy enough to find an experience catered to it. You can also filter by place, price, ratings, experience duration, and more to help narrow down the options. 

Everything takes place within the unique Amazon platform, and on the shopping experiences, you have the added benefit of being able to pick items out in real time to be sent to you later. 

Prices run the gamut from $10 to $99. Sometimes you'll find multiple prices for similar experiences (individual guides set their own prices, according to Amazon). Those who have Amazon Prime can try their first experience up to $50 completely free using the code FREEFUN . If you're not already a Prime member, you can sign up here . 

Before you get started, shop around to make sure you're not overpaying, just like you would if you were actually in the destination. 

Like purchasing any other item on Amazon, you can use your preferred stored payment method, add a new card, or use gift cards.

One additional way you can pay is with travel points — which is especially great since many of us have been sitting on a pile of unused points due to the pandemic. Hilton Honors has expanded its collaboration with Amazon so you can now use your Hilton points to book experiences. You just need to link your Hilton account with your Amazon one before you book. 

I noticed that the charge for my session wasn't processed until I had successfully completed my experience, and I also had the option to cancel right up until the time slot began. If there are tech difficulties that force a cancellation, you'll automatically be refunded. 

There are a few things that make Amazon stand out from other online virtual tours and experiences. First, every tour with Amazon Explore is a one-on-one experience. If you're hoping to sit back with your microphone turned off, this isn't going to be your cup of tea. However, if you miss chatting with someone new, asking questions about what you're looking at, or trying out a few words of a new language, this is a great option. 

Another difference you'll notice right away is the high production value. While other experiences use a regular Zoom log-in, Amazon has created its own unique platform. This high-tech option has integrated graphics, including maps and labels; the ability to touch an item on your screen and have your guide see what you're pointing to; and one-touch buttons for taking screenshots and to use a "megaphone" to talk to locals (for example, a shopkeeper) near your guide.

One thing to note: Currently, there's no dual camera. Amazon's platform allows you to see your guide, but they can't see you. However, you can still easily converse in real time.

Another intersection where Amazon Explore detours from Airbnb and other virtual tours is with the shopping experiences. Your guide will shop for you if your experience is marked with an "In-Session Shopping" tag. 

On a shopping itinerary I tried, this was a revelation and an entirely new way of interacting with the destination. The guide entered a local store, held up items, and after we chose one, brought it to the register, photographed it, and purchased it for me. The itemized charges appeared in my Amazon orders immediately. Genius. 

However, shipping is extra, so don't assume you'll have free Amazon Prime delivery for this program. 

Additionally, for one of the cooking experiences, I was able to have all of my fresh ingredients delivered from Amazon Fresh. Although this service isn't fully integrated into the program yet (it's not a one-click option), it's easy enough to copy and paste the ingredient list into your Whole Foods or Fresh shopping basket. 

While you're at it, you can also order any suggested kitchen equipment for your recipe from the Amazon site (if you're wondering, like I was, why Amazon is getting into experiences, this was an "Aha" moment).

I was interested in trying Amazon Explore 's live shopping options, and my son, who was joining me for this experience, is interested in Japanese culture, so it was an easy jump to choose a Tokyo shopping experience. There were three options that worked for us timing-wise (we had to choose a late-night time slot on the East Coast to coincide with stores opening in Japan in the morning) for $10, $20, and $39 price points, all 45 minutes long. I chose the mid-level option: Shop Like a Chef . It was a tour of Kappabashi, an area of Tokyo that specializes in cookery and kitchenware, and $20 for a 45-minute private session seemed like a good value.  

Our session started out strong. Explore has an interface that can only be accessed via Amazon on a laptop or desktop computer. The graphics were great, and the short intro of technicolor experiences around the world created Disney-level excitement. This was definitely not a Zoom chat. 

Our guide Giulia (a friendly, trilingual Italian, Japanese speaker), jumped right in with introductions and gave us a quick intro to the cooking district complete with a map of the area displayed across our screen and crisp graphics that showed four shop choices available to tour — Chopsticks, Ceramics, Fake Food, and Knives. Giulia said we'd have time for two, and we chose Ceramics and Fake Food, because plastic ramen was something we needed to see.

One note I quickly realized is that you need to be decisive on these tours. It helps to be able to pull the trigger quickly on a purchase since time is quite literally ticking while you shop. After I (finally) committed to a lovely hand-painted teapot and two teacups halfway through the session, Giulia brought them to the register and photographed them so she could return after the tour to process payment. 

We then tagged along on a quick walk through Kappabashi, listening to the sounds of shoppers and background store music on our way to an "only in Japan" shop filled with hand-painted food replicas. 

Several magnets and key chains shaped like raw fish later, our 45-minute tour was over and it was time to say sayonara . All around, it was a really fun, truly unusual, and rewarding virtual experience.

My receipt arrived immediately, and although shipping can take as long as four weeks, my package arrived in just five days. However, be aware that prices can quickly add up on top of the initial experience price. I ended up spending $80 while shopping and the shipping was an additional $25. 

"Souvenirs are memories," enthused guide Mizuki in Japan at the end of our tour, which seemed to perfectly sum up why these experiences seem so special. Staying at home this year I have neither new memories nor new souvenirs, and I was happy for an opportunity to get both. 

Overall, I found the Amazon virtual experiences I tried to be superior to other online travel options I've tried. From the unique interactive platform to the personal, one-on-one interactions to the real-time shopping options, these virtual offerings truly stand out in a crowded field.  I'm guessing that when Amazon Explore comes out of beta there will be a dual video option, which would be very helpful. 

Still, I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the Amazon Explore programming and the tech which delivered it to my home. 

Ready to try out Amazon Explore and take a virtual vacation yourself? Consider some of these top Amazon Explore experiences. And don't forget, if you have Amazon Prime you can try your first experience up to $50 for free using the code FREEFUN at checkout.

• Explore Florence, Italy's historic city center, including Piazza del Duomo, San Lorenzo Church, and more ($10)
• Visit Costa Rica's Las Pumas Rescue Center and meet jaguars, monkeys, sloths, and more ($27.30)
• Cook authentic Manchmanteles Mole with a Mexican chef ($28)
• Tour a foodie's paradise and visit one of Singapore's famed hawker centers ($24)
• Take an iPhone photography class with an award-winning photographer and filmmaker ($45)
• Sip on Malbecs and wine taste your way across Argentina ($20.30)
• Get up close with cuddly kangaroos and koalas at a Sydney wildlife park ($59)
• Learn to make delicious French macarons from The Lincoln Apartment Bakery in Montreal ($69)

• Main content

Amazon launches a virtual tours and experience platform, Amazon Explore

Amazon today is launching a new service called Amazon Explore that allows customers to book live, virtual experiences led by local experts. The experiences may be focused on creativity, learning DIY skills, taking virtual tours of far-off places or cultural landmarks or, in some cases, shopping local boutiques from around the world.

For example, you could book a virtual wine tasting experience in Argentina, learn how to make smoked fish tacos in Mexico, take a virtual tour of Kyoto’s Nanzenji Temple, tour a 500-year-old mansion in Peru, learn about coffee creation in Costa Rica, learn how to make sushi from a home kitchen in Tokyo and more.

Though the tours and experiences offer the ability to virtually travel the globe, the ability to sign up for an Amazon Explore session is currently offered on an invite-only basis for customers in the U.S. only.

The virtual experiences themselves will be guided by local experts who are trained and supported by Amazon, the company says. While there are other ways to virtually tour the world — like watching YouTube videos or perhaps taking guided tours via Google Earth — the Amazon Explore experience is different because it’s a one-on-one session between the host and the viewer, enabled by one-way video and two-way audio for real-time communication. This is meant to give the viewer more of the feeling of really “being there,” compared with experiences where you more passively watch the video on the screen.

The sessions themselves range 30 to 60 minutes in length and can be canceled or rescheduled with up to 24 hours’ notice. When it’s time to begin your tour, you’ll just sign into your Amazon account online, then click in to Your Session page from the “Your Orders” section to get started.

Anyone can now create maps and stories on Google Earth

The sessions will require you have a laptop or desktop, as they’re not mobile-friendly at this time. You’ll also need to have a Chrome, Edge or Safari web browser, functional microphone (the built-in one is fine) and a set of headphones or speakers, as well as an internet connection of 5 mbps or higher.

During the session, you can ask questions or further direct the experience by asking the host to spend more time on one aspect of the experience or skipping another. You can also use the camera icon at the bottom of the live stream to take photos.

Some, but not all, experiences are also shopping-enabled. In these cases, customers are able to visit local stores and markets, browse items and ask questions of the shop owner as if they were there in person. They can then choose to make a purchase and receive the items they bought as if they had been shopping on Amazon.com directly. When they make a purchase, the payments are handled within Amazon’s secure payment system using the payment method associated with the customer’s account. It then will reimburse the host for the item purchased, accordingly.

In these shopping-enabled experiences, Amazon is somewhat tapping into the live-stream shopping trend, but instead of having an influencer talk about and demo a product — as is often the case on Amazon Live, for example — you can actually ask the shop owner questions or have them zoom into the product or turn it over and around for a better look.

Though Amazon has built live-streaming tools for its Live platform, the company says the Amazon Explore experience uses unique technology.

‘Amazon Live’ is the retailer’s latest effort to take on QVC with live-streamed video

Amazon says the new platform enables more opportunities for small business owners looking to generate additional income, including shop owners, local guides, chefs, stylists, artists and artisans, for example. Many of these businesses have been impacted by the pandemic, of course, which may prompt their participation.

Pricing for the sessions is variable. At launch, there’s a virtual styling session being offered for just $10, for example. Meanwhile, a virtual tour of NYC’s Central Park is going for $150. Amazon says the hosts set their own prices and hours, without having to abide by any set minimum or maximum price. However, the company declined to detail any revenue-sharing agreements.

At launch, many of the experiences on the site offered are being offered by local tour operators, though any business that has a tour idea is invited to apply. Others who could host experiences include historians, artists, musicians, master craftsmen, chefs, personal shoppers or anyone with a skill or adventure to share, says Amazon.

There are currently 86 total experiences available across 16 countries, with the plan to grow the selection in time.

The feature is now being offered in public beta to users in the U.S. on an invite-only basis.

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Peso Pluma Just Launched an Official Tour Merch Shop on Amazon: Here’s What We’re Adding to Our Carts

It features exclusive apparel and accessories you can show off in time for his next tour stop.

By Rylee Johnston

Rylee Johnston

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See latest videos, charts and news

Trending on Billboard

Special urban outfitters jeans sale: buy one, get one 50% off this summer.

Within the Amazon-exclusive shop is two graphic shirts, two hoodies, a crewneck, a tote and a ski mask. Prices range from $30 to $120, with apparel available in sizes SM-XXL.

Can’t decide what to get? Below, Billboard has rounded up our favorite styles you can buy online now.

Peso Pluma Official Merch Éxodo Tour Cross T-Shirt

Ditch the classic white T-shirt for this cream style that also puts the star front and center. On the front, you’ll rock Pluma’s name while the back spotlights a graphic with a hint of the singer peeking out.

Peso Pluma Official Merch Éxodo Tour La People Hoodie

Cooler temps can be more bearable in this Peso Pluma hoodie featuring lyrics to “La People” on the back. The design aims to embody the quote “business in the front, party in the back,” as from one side, you’ll see a simple black hoodie while the other side features a graphic that’ll have you belting out the lyrics to the hit song.

Peso Pluma Official Merch Éxodo Tour Tote Bag

Carry the singer and your travel necessities in a stylish tote bag inspired by the “Ella Baila Sola” singer’s tour. One side features text with his logo, while the other shows off a graphic of Pluma’s face to admire whenever you want.

Peso Pluma Official Merch Éxodo Tour Crewneck

If you prefer hoodless fit, this Peso Pluma crewneck shows off an edgy script with the singer’s logo and album name printed on the front and back. You’ll also be able to use it as a trendy layering piece that’ll tell everyone exactly whose music you love to listen to.

Tickets are still available to attend Pluma’s Éxodo tour, which you can find on Ticketmaster , StubHub , Vivid Seats (get $20 off purchases of $200+ with the code BB2024 at checkout), Seat Geek (first purchases can get $10 off order of $250+ when you use the code BILLBOARD10) and Gametime (score $20 off ticket purchases of $150+ with the code SAVE20 at checkout).

Peso Pluma Tour Dates 2024

Pluma is still traveling around the U.S. for his Éxodo tour and you can check below to see where he’s stopping next or click here .

• July 26: Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
• July 27: Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas
• July 28: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas
• July 31: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
• Aug. 2: Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Aug. 3: CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
• Aug. 6: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.
• Aug. 9: Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
• Aug. 11: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Aug. 16: Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash.
• Aug. 17: Moda Center in Portland, Ore.
• Aug. 22: Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
• Aug. 24: Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
• Aug. 28: SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, Calif.
• Aug. 30: Golden I Center in Sacramento, Calif.
• Aug. 31: Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.
• Sept. 5: Pechanga Arena San Diego in San Diego, Calif.
• Sept. 6: Acrisure Arena at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, Calif.
• Sept. 7: Sace Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.
• Sept. 13: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
• Sept. 14: Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
• Sept. 28: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
• Sept. 30: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Oct. 3: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Oct. 6: United Center in Chicago, Ill.
• Oct. 9: Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
• Oct. 11: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
• Oct. 13: Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C.
• Oct. 16: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
• Oct. 18: Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

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September 10, 2021

Written by Amazon Staff

Amazon Explore launches group experiences

• Virtually tour Hong Kong's working-class neighborhood in Sham Shui Po . This experience is led by local Hong Kong experts who will take guests through the world's most expensive housing market. In this tour, the experts will share the history on the housing market in Hong Kong, take guests through the markets in this urban area, and even introduce guests to Tin Hau, the Chinese sea goddess.
• Learn to make savory Argentinian empanadas from Buenos Aires . These savory turnovers are commonly found on the Argentine table, which is heavily influenced by Creole, native, Spanish, and Italian food due to an immigration boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this crash course on Argentinian cuisine, your warm, friendly host will tell you about local food traditions (like Sunday asado) as well as details about Buenos Aires life as she walks you through the preparation of one of the nation's most beloved dishes.
• Perfect your morning coffee by learning about Mexican coffee from a traditional family roaster . Guests will dive right into coffee history by visiting a family-owned shop in the heart of the coffee region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Guests will learn about different coffee types, coffee cultivation, and the roasting process in this region.
• Master your mixology skills in this Peruvian Pisco: A Virtual Cocktail Class . Guests will learn to make the national drink of Peru, the Pisco Sour, as well as the Chilcano drink.
• Go Down Under: Life in the Southern Hemisphere . Take a trip south of the equator to Australia. Guests will learn about modern Australian life while sightseeing in Melbourne.
• Meet the playful pups at Costa Rica Dog Rescue . It's always an adventure at Costa Rica Dog Rescue. This experience will satisfy any doggy itch you may have and will leave you smiling for the rest of your day.

Watch: How to explore famous museums around the world with Google Arts & Culture

Museums, galleries and landmarks house massive amounts of content to look at, learn from and interact with.

However, taking a trip to visit some of these places, whether it's in your city or halfway around the world, can be expensive. Plus, you might run out of time before you get to see everything. For example, the large crowd of people admiring the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting may mean you don't get as good a look as you hoped for while visiting the Mauritshuis Museum in the Netherlands. Or maybe you have one child who wants to see the dinosaur exhibits at the Smithsonian while another one wants to see rocket ships. 

Well, if anything gets in the way of your culture vulture experience, you can forget the hassle and expense of a return visit and grab your laptop instead, because all you need to visit some of these museums and galleries is a computer with an internet connection. 

Watch this video to see how to tour a museum from your couch.  

Google Arts & Culture

You’re probably familiar with using Google Street View to look at a house or scope out the parking situation before checking out a new restaurant. Google Arts & Culture essentially uses that tool to invite you inside museums and galleries to explore more than 3,000 collections, including art in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico. No passport required!

Google Arts & Culture also offers 3D Immersive Experiences , online exhibits, augmented reality games and so much more. 

Reviewed-approved tech accessories  

Purchases you make through our links may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.   

Reviewed helps you find the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of tech experts test everything from Apple AirPods and screen protectors to iPhone tripods and car mounts so you can shop for the best of the best. 

• A rugged iPhone case:  Casekoo Crystal Clear Protective Case  
• A top wireless charger: Yootech Wireless Charger  
• Our favorite screen protector: Ailun Glass Screen Protector  
• Top-rated iPad: Apple iPad (9th Generation)  
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Virtual Tours

The Smithsonian allows virtual visitors to digitally roam around some of its museums, including the Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum.  

If historical landmarks or the great outdoors are more your style, let the National Park Service show you around. The NPS website offers virtual and narrated tours of sites like the Wesleyan Chapel at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park and places that aren’t open to the public, like the Nathan and Polly Johnson House.

You can also explore some of the country’s most beautiful national parks from your couch. Take a walk in Yellowstone National Park or climb a 300-foot Redwood Tree in virtual reality. Now, that's not something you get to do every day.

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The Global Profile

Is She the Oldest Person in the Amazon?

The life of Varî Vãti Marubo shows how much life has changed for the rainforest’s Indigenous tribes — and how much has stayed the same.

Varî Vãti Marubo is likely one of the oldest people still living deep in the Amazon rainforest. Credit...

Supported by

By Jack Nicas

Photographs by Victor Moriyama

Jack Nicas and Victor Moriyama hiked 50 miles through the Amazon rainforest to reach remote Marubo villages, where they met Varî Vãti Marubo.

• July 19, 2024

After more than 100 years in the rainforest, Varî Vãti Marubo walks with a stick and, as she always has, barefoot.

So when her Indigenous tribe, the Marubo, gathered for meetings this year in a village that would require a 13-mile hike across streams, fallen logs and dense forest to reach, everyone knew it would be difficult for her to attend.

But, as she has for a century, Varî Vãti dealt with the elements. She caught a ride on the only transportation available: her son’s back.

“Be careful with me!” she shrieked to her son, Tama Txano Marubo (all Marubo use the same surname), as he climbed down a muddy embankment with a machete in one hand and his mother on his back. Her weight sat on a blue strip of fabric that stretched tight across his forehead. “Call a truck to come get me!” she shouted to laughing relatives. “This is too much.”

She made it just fine.

Beyond being the senior elder in the 2,000-member Marubo tribe, Varî Vãti is likely one of the oldest people still living deep in the Amazon rainforest. Her official government document, based on an estimate from an anthropologist, says she turns 107 in September, though her family believes she is even older. Fellow tribe members describe her as over 120.

Maria Lucimar Pereira Kaxinawá of the nearby Huni Kuin people was 131 when she died in 2022 , according to a government document. If that age was accurate, she would have been the oldest person in the world . Researchers have attributed the longevity of some Indigenous people in the Amazon, despite the sometimes harsh environment, to their active lifestyles and natural diets.

Varî Vãti is part of a seasoned group of Indigenous elders who have helped preserve their people's culture and customs in the face of tremendous change and challenges inside and outside their forest home.

The arc of her life has tracked a century of transformation for the Amazon's Indigenous people, when many have confronted new contact with outsiders and their technology, as well as vast destruction of the jungle.

And yet her day-to-day routine shows how some Indigenous groups have been able to preserve a way of life that still resembles that of their ancestors.

Varî Vãti has spent all her life in one of the most isolated stretches of the planet, surrounded by miles of forest in every direction. She has slept in a hammock in a maloca, a 50-foot-tall communal hut where the Marubo cook, eat and sleep together.

She has crafted jewelry and clothes out of material from the forest, including cotton, seeds and animal teeth. And she has cooked traditional dishes over a fire, including banana porridge, roast lizard and fish roe wrapped in banana leaves.

Varî Vãti also remembers a time as a child when seeing a white person could send her people running to hide. But now, an increasing number of Marubo live outside the forest. They speak and study in Portuguese, and some have become lawyers and engineers, activists and academics. The latest Marubo generation — connected in their remote villages via Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service — are on TikTok.

“Since our birth, we’ve kept the traditions alive. But now I see everything changing,” Varî Vãti said in her native language, spoken by just a few thousand people. “Many young people have forgotten the wisdom of our elders.”

She said she understands the search for new knowledge but also worries that migration to the city could erase the culture bred in her tribe’s forest villages. “I like being in the forest, being at peace and in harmony,” she said. “Waking up to the dawn breeze, catching the tasty fish. All of this makes me feel alive.”

Varî Vãti is a calm presence. She moves slowly, and listens intently. She wore floral dresses and layers of Marubo jewelry, made from coconut and snail shells, including some that loop around her ears and hook to a piercing in her nasal septum. Her hair is thick and only partially gray.

Her exact age is unclear. For generations, Indigenous groups in this region did not track years, so estimating ages often requires clues. One of Varî Vãti’s clearest memories from her childhood is visiting the nearest white settlement, Cruzeiro do Sul.

“There weren’t many houses,” she said. “There were many trees.” Cruzeiro do Sul, today a city of 92,000, was founded in 1904 and photos from that period appear to match her descriptions, her family said.

The Marubo first made contact with outsiders near the end of the 19th Century when rubber tappers pushed into their section of the Brazilian Amazon, near the border with Peru. “When we saw white people we were very afraid,” Varî Vãti said. “Our medicines only cured our diseases, not unknown diseases from the outside.”

Many Marubo died — from disease and violence. Varî Vãti likely was in her 20s during World War II, but when asked, she had never heard of it. “The only war I witnessed was that of the Peruvians against the Indigenous people,” she said.

Varî Vãti, a daughter of the Marubo's past chief, married three times and had nine children, the oldest of whom is now believed to be nearly 90. Her first husband left her. Her second was murdered, her family said. And her third later married her niece and now lives in a different village. (In Marubo culture, men are allowed to marry multiple women; women may only marry one man.)

The Marubo live collectively, with everyone in a village pitching in with different responsibilities, from farming, hunting, cooking and cleaning, and everyone eating the same food from the same bowls.

There are also clear gender roles — and privileges. The men hunt and the women cook. The men eat with forks and spoons at one end of the maloca, sitting on logs. The women eat with their hands at the other, sitting on mats woven from palm fronds. The men take ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew made from an Amazonian plant, to connect with spirits; the woman may not.

Several Marubo lamented the inequality. Varî Vãti suggested it was how life was. Still, the tribe recently elected its first woman as part of the leadership and is now starting its first women's association.

At the meetings this year, part of periodic tribal gatherings to resolve problems and discuss new plans, Varî Vãti rose to speak. Nearly everyone stopped to listen.

“Let us not focus on conflicts or hate, but on a collective good, on what is best for our people, on living in peace and harmony,” she said, holding on to her son for support. “We are Indigenous. We can’t live like the non-Indigenous people.”

She added that she was happy she had the chance to address the tribe. “I won’t always be here,” she said. “And I’m fearful you will be lost in the future.”

Varî Vãti has some of the tribe’s deepest knowledge on cooking, medicinal plants, weaving cotton and painting body art, said her daughter-in-law, Raimunda.

“These village elders are the library of the forest,” Raimunda said. “When they die, some of their knowledge goes, too, because it’s not easy to pass it on.”

On the way back from the meetings, Varî Vãti and her family stopped to rest. She sat on a log, crouched over, her head in her hand. She swatted at flies circling a cut in her foot.

Her son, Sebastião, who lives part time in the city, said he tries to encourage his mother to take better care of herself, including by wearing flip flops and taking more Western medicine. But she resists.

“She's always saying, ‘Who cares for us is the forest,’” he said. “‘The spirits of the forest. We don't need to worry.’”

Jack Nicas is the Brazil bureau chief for The Times, based in Rio de Janeiro, where he leads coverage of much of South America. More about Jack Nicas

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The Amazon’s Oldest Person?: The life of Varî Vãti Marubo , estimated to be well over 100, shows how much life has changed for the rainforest’s Indigenous tribes — and how much has stayed the same.

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In Kenya, a Killer or a Coerced Confession?: After body parts were found in a dump, a suspect was said to admit to 42 murders . But some doubt the case, which has brought intense scrutiny of the police.

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Brazil to allow miles of selective logging in effort to preserve the Amazon

BRASILIA — To combat ongoing destruction in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil announced a plan Tuesday to dramatically expand selective logging to an area the size of Costa Rica over the next two years.

In Brazil, vast forest lands are designated as public yet have no special protection or enforcement and are vulnerable to land grabbing and illegal deforestation. Criminals frequently take over land and clear it, hoping the government will eventually recognize them as owners, which usually happens.

“The main goal of forest concessions is the conservation of these areas,” said Renato Rosenberg, director of forest concessions for the Brazilian Forest Service, during an online press conference. “They also create jobs and income in parts of the Amazon that would otherwise have little economic activity.”

Companies that get timber concessions have to follow strict rules. They can log up to six trees per 2.5 acres over Protected species, such as Brazil nut, and older, seed-producing trees are off limits.

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The idea is that granting permission to timber companies to take a limited number of trees gives them a stake in overseeing the forest, something the Brazilian government cannot afford to do. Several studies show that illegal deforestation in concession areas is significantly lower than outside them.

Eventually, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva plans to treat as much as 112,000 square miles of public undesignated Amazon rainforest this way — an area the size of Italy.

A working group is assessing which areas should be designated as conservation areas, Indigenous territories or forest concessions.

Currently, there are 22 such timber lease areas in the Amazon, covering more than 5,000 square miles. Since the country initiated its first timber concessions, only two companies have declined to renew their leases, which shows the model works, according to Rosenfeld. Still, the program is much smaller than first envisioned when Brazilian legislation established it in 2006.

Brazil’s Forest Service is part of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. It was created that same year to promote sustainable activities in public forests by private organizations.

The government plan is a partnership with two private institutions — Imaflora and Systemiq — that will help do research and design community forest management, according to an official statement.

Funding comes from Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions, the primary program of the United Kingdom´s International Climate Finance to address climate change.

The announcement was met with skepticism by the National Forum of Forest-Based Activities, representing some 3,500 companies with interests in the timber industry.

“Forest management is the best way to halt environmental crime, from land-grabbing to illegal logging,” Frank Almeida, president of the National Forum, told the AP. “But there is no use in creating a project that won´t become a reality,” he said, referencing recent government actions related to exports that have generated business uncertainty.

The main one is that two of Brazil´s leading timber products — ipe wood and tonka beans — were listed with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora for species requiring export permits. Unless Brazil meets a November deadline for submitting a so-called non-detriment finding, Almeida said exports of these species will be halted.

In a press statement, Brazil’s environmental law enforcement agency, known as Ibama, said it will address this issue before the November deadline.

Maisa Isabela Rodrigues, a forest engineering professor at Brasilia National University, said the plan is the right approach, but needs some adjustment. Forest management is the best way to reconcile forest preservation and logging, she told the AP. But research indicates the 30-year period between timber harvests is not long enough for the recovery of some of the most valuable species. She said the program probably won’t work in remote areas, because sky-high transportation costs could make them economically unattractive.