- Suggested Itineraries
- The Top Attractions
- Museums & Cultural Centers
- Architectural Highlights
- Beaches, Parks & Plazas
- Rio After Dark
- Everything You Need to know About Carnaval
- Shopping in Rio

CENTRO

Ilha Fiscal If you ever take the ferry to Niterbi or Paquetd, you'll see a blue-green ceramic castle afloat on its own little island in the bay off Pra~a XV It looks like the dwelling place of a fair elfin princess, but in fact was built as the headquarters for the Brazilian Customs Service. Initially a quite prosaic building was planned, but Emperor Pedro II intervened, demanding that the gem of a site be given a jewel box of a building. Designer Adolpho Del-Vecchio complied, making charming use of the Gothic Revival then sweeping Europe .

The building is a gorgeous piece of work; much of the interior is given over to a reasonably interesting small museum focused almost solely on the Brazilian navy (it is their island). The tour lasts about 2 hours. If you take the tour on a weekday, you get to go by boat, while weekend tours travel by bus over the causeway connecting the island to the rest of the navy base.

The navy also offers a separate 90-minute boat tour of four small islands in the Bahia Guanabara bristling with destroyers, aircraft carriers, and lots more military hardware. The voyage to Ilha Fiscal, Ilha das Cobras, Ilha dos Enxadas, and Ilha Villagagnon takes place aboard a World War I-era tugboat.

Av. Alfredo Agache s/n, Centro. Tel: 021/3870-6025. Admission R$6 (US$2) adults, R$3 (US$1) children 12 and under. Guided tours only. Departures are

Thursday through Sunday at 1:15 and 3:15pm with an additional departure at 2:30pm on Sat-Sun. Call ahead (a good idea) to confirm at t 021/2233-9165 or 021/3870-6992.

Bus: 119 or 415 (Pra4a XV).

Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) It's impossible to miss the MAM. Located in the large waterfront Flamengo park, it's a long, large, rectangular building lofted off the ground by an arcade of concrete struts, giving the struc­ ture the appearance of an airplane wing. The elegance of the design is marred only somewhat by the dirt streaks and cracks in the concrete. Inside, like the arches of a Gothic cathedral, the concrete struts do all the load-bearing work, allowing for walls of solid plate glass that welcome in both city and sea. Not inci­ dentally, the structure also provides a vast interior display area free of pillars and other obstructions. Displays change constantly-check the website to see what's on-but at all times the MAM presents the best of what's happening in Brazil and Latin America, as well as providing a temporary home to big traveling inter­ national exhibits. Signage-a rare bonus-is in both English and Portuguese. Allow an hour to 90 minutes.

At the end of your visit make your way out to the second-floor patio and look down: the garden, including the lawn with the cascading wavy shapes, is the work of Brazil 's great landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. The MAM also has a cafe, a bookstore, and a film archive containing over 20,000 Brazilian titles. Once a month the archive screens noncommercial and rare films in the museum auditorium.

Av. Infante Dom Henrique 85, Parque do Flamengo (Aterro), Centro. t 00211Z240-4944, www.mamrio. com .bc Admission R$8 (US$2.65) adults, R$6 (US82) students and seniors, free for children 12 and under. Open Tues-Fri noon-6pm; Sat-Sun noon-7pm. Metro: Cinelandia. Bus: 472 or 438 (get off at Avenida Beira Mar by the museum's footbridge).

Museu Historieo Nacional The place for anyone looking for a good overview of the era in Brazilian history from first colonization (Cabral's arrival in 1500) to the present. Housed in the former national armory, the National His­ tory Museum features seven permanent exhibits on themes such as Early Explo­ ration, Coffee Plantations, and Modernism, each of which is illustrated with abundant maps and artifacts. Even better, much of the Portuguese signage comes with often very opinionated English translation. Keep in mind that Brazilian museums haven't bought into the "interactive learning" idea. Instead, displays consist of glass cases and explanatory text. They're carefully curated-one case shows a mattock used in an 18th-century peasant rebellion juxtaposed with a bright red banner of the modern Sem-Terra movement, a telling evocation of the land distribution problem that has plagued the Brazilian countryside for 400 years and counting. Allow 2 hours (longer if you're a serious history buffl. Its crumbling concrete pilings make the street below look like a set from a Dirty Harry movie, but thanks to a significant police presence, it's actually quite safe.

PraSa Marechal Ancora s/n. Tel: 021/2550-9224. www.museuhistoriconacional.com.br . Admission R$5 (US$1.65) adults, R$3 (US$1) seniors and children 12 and under.Tues-.Fri t0am-5:30pm; Sat-Sun 2-6pm .

Bus: 119 or 415 (10-min. walk from the Pra4a XV).

Museu Nacional de Belas Artes A classic museum in the European tra­ dition, the Museu de Belas Artes houses a vast collection of European and Brazil­ ian art, with an emphasis on 18th- and 19th-century European work. The building itself is already worth a visit; built in 1908, it originally served as the school of fine arts. Up the grand staircase is the Rodin reading room with a statue of Rodin's Meditation Sans Bras in bronze. Though the floor layout is confusing, thc art itself is beautifully displayed. For those looking for something distinctly Itrazilian, the highlight is definitely the collection of Frans Post , Brazil 's first land­ ,ape painter. Also worthwhile seeing is the beautiful collection of Italian baroque paintings, some of these brought to Brazil by 1808 by the fleeing Portuguese King I,)ao VI. The center rooms are used for temporary exhibits, usually of Brazilian A fists. You won't find any signs in English. Expect to spend an hour and a half.

Av. Rio Branco 199, Centro. Tel: 021/2240-0068. R$6 (US$2) adults (free on Sun), free for children under 10 ind seniors. Tues-Fri t0am-6pm; Sat-Sun 2-6pm. Metro: Cinelandia.

PaEo Imperial For 155 years this was the administrative nerve center of Itrazil, serving as the governor's palace and then as the home and office of Brazil's , mperors from 1808 until the fall of the monarchy in 1888. It's a pleasingly sim­ FIle structure, long, low, and rectangular, its many high-ceilinged rooms arranged tround a pair of cool interior courtyards. Nowadays it serves as an exhibition Icdl for traveling cultural exhibits, some of which are excellent, but most of %% hich, alas, are in Portuguese only. Still, it's an extremely pleasant and interest­ ing building to walk through. A room on the ground floor charts the history of i he palace, with maps, paintings, and engravings. Allow about an hour. The cafe in the courtyard on the ground floor is a great place to take refuge on hot after­ noons in Rio (open the same hours as the museum).

Pra4a XV, Centro. ~f 021/2533-4407. Admission R$5 (US$1.65) adults, R$3 (US$1) students and seniors, free for children 7 and under. Open Tues-Sun noon-6pm. Bus: 119 or 415 (and many others).

SANTA TERESA

Museu Chaeara do Ceu A wealthy man with eclectic tastes, Raymundo Castro Maya had this mansion built in the hills of Santa Teresa, then filled with .ill manner of paintings, pottery, and sculpture. The house itself is a charmer, a stylish melding of hillside and structure that evokes Frank Lloyd Wright's work in the American West. Not surprisingly, the views from the garden are fabulous. I nside, you get a glimpse into the eccentric mind of the collector. Though he made short forays into books and silver, Castro Mayo seems to have had three , If ief interests-European painters (Impressionists like Monet and Matisse, and more daring stuff like Picasso and Dali); Brazilian art, particularly 19th-century Iandscapes; and Chinese pottery. He also seems to have felt some kinship between the three; certainly he displayed them together. Thus on an upper floor landing do we find a cubist painting by Dutchman Kees Van Dongen next to an 18th-century Brazilian landscape, both of them hung over an antique Chinese \ ase. See what you think.

Rua Murtinho Nobre 93, Santa Teresa. t 021/2507-1932. Admission R$2 (US654) adults, free for children under 12. Free admission Wed. Wed-Mon noon-Spm. Tram: Curvelo (Chacara do Ceu).

CATETE, GLORIA & FLAMENGO

Museu da Republica-Palacio do Catete It's gratifying to find a museum that works so hard to grab your interest. Located in a gorgeous baroque palace that from 1897 to 1960 served as the official residence of Brazilian pres­ idents, the three floors of exhibits in this museum try to engage visitors on the history and politics of the Brazilian republic. Some efforts are more successful than others. More traditional displays preserve the air of the palace in its admin­ istrative days-a formal ballroom with a long leather-covered table was where the cabinet used to meet (ho hum). The best-and most biased-exhibit is the three-room hagiography of President Getulio Vargas. It's a curious treatment for this museum, given that Vargas's coup brought the First Republic to an end in 1930. Still, they do a fabulous job, creating a multimedia sensory experience of Getulio's life and times with audio clips, newsreels, photos, and personal effects. One room of the exhibit has a video montage with 14 talking heads-all men named Getulio-talking about what it's like to bear the same name as the great (strong) man. Behind that, in a softly backlit glass case, is the pearl-handled 32­ caliber colt that Getulio used on the night of August 24, 1954 , to blast a fatal hole in his heart. Allow an hour to 90 minutes.

The formal gardens surrounding the palace are well worth a walk. There's a cafe in an artificial grotto and a small branch of the wonderful Folklore Museum containing puppets and folk art from around Brazil . Admission is free. Rua do Catete 153, Catete. CJ 021/2558-6350. www.museudarepublica.org.br . Admission RS5 (US$1.65) adults, free for seniors and children 11 and under. Free on Wed. Open Tues-Fri noon-5pm; Sat-Sun 2-6pm. Metro: Catete.

BOTAFOGO & URCA

Museu do Indio Housed in an elegant 19th-century mansion in a quiet part of Botafogo, the Indian Museum's collection is one of the most important in Latin America, with over 14,000 artifacts, 16,000 papers and books on indigenous topics, and over half a million historic documents on Brazilian Indian tribes. All that sounds a little dry, but the museum is anything but. Instead, its exhibits are some of the most innovative and artistic I have come across in a Brazilian museum, including striking wall-size black-and-white pho­ tos adorned with colored feathers and a display on kids' toys where the objects dangle from the ceiling at various heights. The symbolism of the hunt is por­ trayed in a dark room with just a ray of light illuminating the floor, casting an eerie glow on spears and animal skulls. There are no signs in English, but the exhibits are so vivid they speak for themselves. For kids there is a gallery with (washable) body paint and a large selection of stamps so they can practice adorn­ing themselves as warriors, hunters, chiefs, or shamans. It's a great spot for chil­ dren and an easy place to spend 2 hours. As a good portion of the displays are outside, avoid going on a rainy day.

Rua das Palmeiras 55, Botafogo. ((D 021/2286-8899. www.museudoindio.org.br . R$3 (US$i) all ages (chil­ dren in strollers are free). Tues-Sun 9am-5:30pm ; Sat-Sun 1-Spm. Metrb: Botafogo.

Sugarloaf (Pao de A4uear) ~~ Along with samba, beaches, and beautiful women, the Sugarloaf remains one of the original and enduring Rio attractions. Deservedly so. Standing on its peak, the entire cidade maravilhosa lays at your feet: the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, the favelus of Babylonia , the Tijuca Forest , Christ the Redeemer on his mountain, the old downtown, the bridge, the Bay of Guanabara , and the fortresses at the edge of far-off Niteroi . It's a truly beautiful sight. The cable car leaves every half-hour from 8am to 10pm daily, more frequently if there are enough people waiting. The ascent takes two steps, the first from the ground station in Urca to the 220m (721-ft.) Morro de Urca, the second up to the 396m (1,299-ft.) Sugarloaf itself. Trams are timed so it's next to impossible to make both trips without spending transition time on the Morro, so better to relax and enjoy life. The Morro offers excellent views, as well as a cafe, snack bar, restaurant, souvenir stands, and children's play area.

Tip: If you're feeling active, hike up. The trail is challenging, but the rewards! You start at a point just above the crashing waves, and the views just keep getting better as you go up. See "Hiking" under "Outdoor Activities" later in the chap­ ter for details.
Av. Pasteur 520, Urca. C~C 021/2546-8400. www.bondinho.com.br . Admission R$30 (US$10) adults, R$15 children 6-12, free for children under 6. Daily 8am-10pm. Bus: 107, Note: This bus goes by only infre­ ; wntly. Better to take any of the hundreds of buses that stop at the Rio Sul shopping center. From the bus ' ,p, it's a RS5 (US$1.65) cab ride to the cable-car station. Coming back, you can catch an expensive tourist ~h outside the cable-car ground station, or else walk out to Avenida Pasteur, turn left and walk 100m (328 '! ~ to Rua Ramon Franco and get one of the normal city cabs for half the price.

LAGOA

lardim Botanieo A photograph of the main avenue of the Botanical Gardens-a procession of stately imperial palms punctuated by a splashing classical fountain-graces nearly every tour brochure of Rio . Fortunately, the reality lives up to the photos. In the nearly 2 centuries since Emperor Dom Joao VI IMunded the original, the botanical garden has grown to 348 acres and added (,.000 species of tropical plants and trees to its collection. It's now one of the few places near Rio to see standing Brazilwood (Pau Brasil) and other species from ihe Atlantic rainforest. Many trees and shrubs are labeled with common and I,irin names, but there's not much in the way of explanation (be sure to ask the ,.r,hier for a map). Instead, do what most people do, and just enjoy the peace and beauty of a meander along the many little paths, garden trails, and green­houses. The bromeliad and orchid greenhouses are especially nice. My personal favorite was a greenhouse full of tropical carnivores-pitcher plants and Venus tlvtraps. There's a cafe and a small bookshop on-site. The botanical museum/ , ultural center has been closed with no reopening date planned. Nua Jardim Botanico 1008. q!) 021/2294-9349. www.jbrj.gov .bc Admission R$4 (US$1.30) adults, free for , hildren 7 and under. Open daily 8am-5pm. Bus: 170 (from Centro), 571 (from Gloria-Botafogo), or 572 (from zona Sul).

ZONA SUL

Forte de Copacabana Simply massive. Built on the eve of World War I by the German arms-maker Krupp, Copacabana Fort boasts walls of reinforced concrete 12m (39 ft.) thick. They protect a whacking great cannon (305mm) (hat could fire a deadly shell 23km (14 miles) out to sea. The army has done an ~xcellent job presenting the interior as it was when it was a working bastion. t)ne of the first things you see as you enter is the commander's quarters, pre­ .rrved pretty much as it was in 1930 when it was used to lock up President V'ashington Luis after a bloody coup. Other rooms contain then-state-of-the-art instruments (lots of brass wheels and finely scaled calipers) for targeting and iifiling the great guns. And down in the very bowels of the fort the cannon are ~riLl in place. Best of all, the bored soldiers guarding the place never leave the ~ate, so you're free to touch, fiddle, and play as much as you want. Twirl the knobs on the great cannon until its muzzle points towards your hotel, trundle a dhcll over from the magazine via the overhead conveyer belt, stuff it in, and let tlv. (Actually the gun probably doesn't fire, but you can certainly have fun pre­imding.) Back outside, you can wander across the fort's thick concrete roof, admiring either the view or the surfer kids trying to sneak around the armed :;uards to get to the truly excellent waves on the far side of the point. Allow about an hour.

A nuanced evaluation of the army's role in Brazilian history would be a fasci­naring thing, but you won't find it at the laughable Army History Museum . l)isplays consist of waxwork dioramas, with ridiculously one-sided commentary from multimedia kiosks. Curiously, army history seems to end around 1960, just 4 years before the army (once again) put an end to democracy.
Pra4a Coronel Eugenio Franco 1, Copacabana. Z 021/2521-1032. Admission R$3 (US$t) adults, free for seniors and children 8 and under. Price includes admission to the Army History Museum (see above). Open Tues-Sun 10am -4pm. Bus: 415 to far end of Copacabana Beach .

COSME VELHO

Corcovado The price is a bit steep but then so is the rail line, its nar­row gauge winding upwards past hillside shacks, through trees and tangled rain­forest creepers, up and ever up, yea unto to the very feet of Christ. A stylish Art Deco Christ, 30m (98 ft.) high on a mountaintop 710m (2,329 ft.) above sea level. The view from his toes is definitely worth the money. The mountains, the bay, and the city all lay revealed beneath your feet. It's enough to give you a feel­ing of omniscience. The statue was originally intended to mark the 100th anniversary of Brazilian independence in 1922, but due to a funding shortfall, it didn't open until 1931. At the peak station there's a small refreshment and souvenir stand, but not much else. And those wretched stairs you had to climb before are a thing of the past with the installation of escalators to whisk you up to the base of the statue. Allow about 2 hours round-trip, including time spent gazing at the glory that is Rio . Note that touts at the ground station will almost certainly approach you offering a bus trip to the Corcovado plus another view­point a little lower down for R$30 (US$10). There's nothing dishonest about them and it's not a bad deal, but you do miss out on the nifty train ride. (Train Station) Rua Cosme Velho 512, Cosme Velho. (rD 021/2558-1329. www.corcovado.com.br . Admission R$25 (US8815) adults, R$12 (US$4) children 6-12, free for children 5 and under. Trains going up depart every 30 min. from 9am-6pm daily. Last train down 7:30pm . Bus: 422, 583, or 584 to Cosine Velho.

Museu Internacional de Arte Naif do Brasil Don't miss the Museu de Arte Naif, located just a few hundred yards from the Corcovado tram station. Sometimes known as primitive or ingenue art, its practitioners paint from the heart, portraying the daily life of common folks. Whatever they may lack of tech­nical skill they more than make up for by the cheerful and expressive drawing and the vibrant use of color. Two of the largest naTve art paintings in the world are on display here: one a massive 4mx7m (13-ft.x23-fr.) picture-postcard view of Rio, the other a mural that in portraying the history of Brazil since 1500 wraps itself around three of the mezzanine walls. The top floor is exclusively reserved for local artists. Visitors will recognize many popular scenes from Cariocas' daily life, such as a Flamengo-Fluminense soccer game at the Maracana stadium, the samba parade, the beach, and the small neighborhood botequim cafes. The lower level is reserved for international artists, with constantly changing exhibits. A number of picces are for sale, but be aware that "naive" doesn't mean cheap. Prices range , I,, III R$200 to R$6,000 (US$6CrUS$1,980). Expect to spend 45 minutes.

Rua do Cosme Velho 561, Cosme Velho. Ct 021/2205-8612. wwwmuseunaifcom.bc R$5 (US$1.65) adults, S t(USS1) children. Tues-Fri 10am-6pm ; Sat-Sun noon-6pm. Bus: 422, 583, or 584 to Cosme Velho.

FURTHER AFIELD

Jairdim Zoologico-Rio City ZooIf you haven't got time to get to the Amazon, this may be the place to come. Though not huge, the zoo is green, leafy, ~nd pleasant, and has about 2,000 different species on display, most of them I~ r,rzilian. It's particularly good for birds. There are toucans (of Fruit Loops cereal 1.mie), macaws, and other colorful tropical species, some in an open aviary so you can walk among them while they fly around. (That doesn't apply to the harpy eagle: the zoo's example of the world's largest raptor sits caged and alone, looking I,„rh ominous and forlorn.) The reptile house and primate displays are also quite pod. Some displays are inevitably small and cramped, which may produce cries d ( pity from your young environmental activist, but all in all the zoo does a creditable job reproducing habitats while providing access to the public.

Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, Sao Cristovao. C~ 021/2568-7400. Admission R$6 (US$2) weekdays, R$5 (US$1.65) ,veekends. Free for children less than 1 m tall. Open Tues-Sun 9am -5pm. Metro: Sao Cristovao.

Museu de Arte Contemporanea-Niteroi Oscar Niemeyer's space­dhip design for Niteroi's new Contemporary Art Museum has done for this bedroom city what Gehry's Guggenheim did for Bilbao, Spain: Put it on the map (at Icast in Brazil). Set atop a promontory with a stunning view of Rio , the all-white living saucer says clearly yet elegantly that here is a landmark structure. The magic continues inside with an observation gallery following a band of picture windows around the outside circumference, inviting patrons to gaze on Rio , the Sugarloaf, Guanabara Bay , and the city of Niteroi itself. As a gallery, however, the museum has drawbacks. Circular buildings are inherently difficult to make func­i ionaL Still, curators do their best, bringing in a constantly changing selection of the best of Brazilian contemporary art (think abstract sculpture, textiles, and painting). Even so, one can't help thinking the best piece of work on display is che building itself. Allow about an hour.

Mirante de Boa Viagem s/n, Niter6i. CJ 021/2620-2481. www.macniteroi.com . Admission R$5 (US$1.65) adults, R$3 (US$1) students and seniors, free for children 7 and under. Open Tues-Fri and Sat 11 am-7pm ; Sun 11 am-6pm . From Pra4a XV take the ferry to Niteroi , then take a short taxi ride along Niteroi 's waterfront and up the hill to the museum.

Museu Nacional (Quinta da Boa Vista ) (j~ In the center of a grand romantic park, approached by a long tree-shaded boulevard lined with statuary, stands the pretty pink baroque palace that was once the royal palace and is now home to the National Museum . Inside the collection is vast and incredibly varied; many items were originally acquired by the Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa, who dabbled respectively in botany and archaeology. Assembled in the grand entrance hall are many of the more exotic items: mastodon trunks, a saber-tooth tiger skull, the full skeleton of a giant Pleistocene sloth (5m/16 ft. long!), and a huge multiton meteorite cut in cross section so visitors can run their hands across its polished iron-nickel surface. Beyond that main hall the col­ lection becomes a bit more ordered. One vast wing is devoted to the works of man (mostly homo brazilienses). On display are dolls dressed in regional cos­ tumes, weapons and masks of aboriginal tribes, whips and saddles from interior cowboys, and much more. The other wing attempts to present all of life, begin­ ning with the smallest protozoa. The displays here are old-many seem to date from the '50s-but what makes it worthwhile is the quality of the specimens: pretty corals, a giant crab that looks like a monster from a'SOs horror movie, tarantulas in abundance, a vast collection of fish, and stuffed specimens of most of the mammals found in Brazil. A particular gross-out favorite was the proto­ zoa room, chock-full of models and photographs of all the various nasty buggies that feed on live human flesh. Signage is all in Portuguese, but is not essential to see and enjoy. I spent a good 2 hours here; others less keen on natural history could probably do it in an hour.

Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, 5ao Crist6vao. C~ 021/2568-1149. Admission RS3 (US$1) adults, free for seniors and children 10 and under. Open Tues-Sun 10am --4pm. Metrb: Sao Cristovao.