Travel
Information to Curitiba, Brazil – Lonely Planet
Brazil’s showcase “inexperienced” metropolis, Curitiba (pronounced kr-uh-CHEE-buh) has lengthy drawn kudos for its dedication to mass transit and revolutionary city planning, a lot of it courting from the Seventies.
Because the nation’s eighth-largest metropolis, it’s additionally a surprisingly numerous place, with residents claiming Polish, Italian, Jewish and Japanese heritage. Though not often touted as a vacationer metropolis per se, Curitiba deserves an elongated go to for its parks, structure and pioneering makes an attempt to nurture real sustainability. Heart stage is a necklace of unpolluted, well-kept inexperienced areas, with the centerpiece a very elegant botanic backyard. In between all of the greenery, a small historic downtown district boasts good-looking artwork nouveau and neoclassical buildings among the many numerous monolithic high-rises.
Curitiba can be a great base camp for exploring a wealthy hinterland. Monumental sandstone rock formations misinform the west, whereas coastal rainforest and browsing seashores await within the east.
Right here’s every little thing a first-time customer to Curitiba must know.
When ought to I am going to Curitiba?
Curitiba enjoys a spring-like local weather all yr lengthy – which signifies that you’ll by no means discover the stifling warmth and mountain chill skilled in different components of South America right here.
Nice heat and manageable quantities of rain make February and March the very best months to go to. This additionally coincides with the town’s comparatively modest (by Brazilian requirements) carnival, a moveable feast that normally falls someday in mid-to-late February.
Merely put, there’s no undesirable season to go to Curitiba. Whereas it rains barely extra in summer season (December to March), it’s somewhat cooler and drier within the winter (June to August). Retreating chilly and mugginess in August makes for comfy days. For cheaper lodge costs, think about the shoulder months of Might and September.
How a lot time ought to I spend in Curitiba?
Whereas Curitiba is usually used as a staging put up by vacationers heading elsewhere, you would simply spend three days exploring the town and its environs.
Spend day one utilizing the town’s celebrated public transport system to go to headliner sights such because the botanical gardens and the Oscar Niemeyer Museum.
Dedicate day two to a journey on the Serra Verde Express, one of many world’s most fabulous train journeys. The ten-hour round-trip features a lunch cease in Morretes.
On day three, think about taking a bus west to Vila Velha State Park, returning to the town within the night for dinner at deluxe Restaurante Manu.
Is it simple to get in and round Curitiba?
Curitiba’s Aeroporto Internacional Afonso Pena, 18km (11 miles) southeast of the middle, is massive and fashionable, providing common connections to cities all through Brazil in addition to to Argentina and Chile.
The mixed long-distance bus and practice station types a single three-block advanced referred to as the rodoferroviária, which sits a brief distance southeast of downtown. Various non-public bus firms have ticket counters for interstate and state journey. (Bus journey in Brazil is secure, comfy and comparatively environment friendly.) The practice station sits instantly behind the bus station, although the one common service is the three-times-a-week heritage practice (the Serra Verde Categorical) to Morretes.
Curitiba is famed worldwide for its much-studied and -copied fast bus community, run by URBS. The cutting-edge bus system, which has its personal devoted lanes, makes use of built-in station pods often called tubos, which permit super-fast entry and exit. You may see how nicely the system works by catching a journey on any of the double-accordion, 270-passenger buses – a lot of which are actually electrical/biodiesel (Hibribuses) – for a flat fare of R$6 (US$1.60).
Prime issues to do in Curitiba
Savor the peace and tranquility of the Jardim Botânico
Away from the cacophony of the town middle, Curitiba’s botanical garden is a sweeping, flower-filled haven enhanced by a small lake and centered round a sublime glass and metallic greenhouse containing tropical vegetation. Guests can admire a proper French-style backyard, earlier than taking to a community of trails that wind via a number of wooded areas. Carry your personal picnic, or go to the backyard’s small café for a chunk. You’ll need to linger some time.
Uncover the town’s roots in Largo da Ordem
Curitiba’s colonial coronary heart consists of a small internet of pedestrian-only brick streets anchored by the Largo da Ordem and lined with an eclectic number of restored buildings, a lot of which now home fashionable artwork galleries, pubs and cafes. Of notice is the cupola-ed Presbyterian church, and the Casa Romário Martins, a small museum within the metropolis’s oldest constructing that explores the work of Cândido de Abreu, Curitiba’s authentic city planner and former mayor. On Sunday, the realm fills up with a big artwork and artisan market containing greater than 1000 stalls.
Embrace modernism on the Museu Oscar Niemeyer
Curitiba’s showcase museum is a putting modernist advanced that must be seen to be believed. This singular constructing was designed by and named for the well-known architect answerable for conceiving most of the civic buildings in Brasília within the Nineteen Fifties.
Open since 2002, the museum is dominated by an iconic eye-shaped tower that rises from a synthetic pond, painted with whimsical dancing figures in shadowy black. The museum focuses primarily on visible arts and design, with rotating reveals showcasing the work of Brazilian and worldwide artists from 1900 onwards. The small however succinct everlasting exhibition on Niemeyer and his work will be present in galleries within the tower.
Dig right into a extremely diverse meals scene
Curitiba boasts a splendidly numerous culinary scene. Along with all method of fantastic Brazilian eating places (together with loads of churrascarias), Asian and Italian choices are nicely represented. Main the connoisseur area is Manu, the place nightly-changing tasting menus draw closely on regional farm cooperatives and the restaurant’s personal natural backyard. Amongst different accolades, Manu gained the Flor de Caña sustainable restaurant award in 2023.
My favourite factor to do in Curitiba
Passenger trains aren’t widespread in Brazil – which makes a journey on the Serra Verde Express that rather more fascinating. Working a number of occasions weekly via the Serra do Mar mountains, between Curitiba and the small gastronomic hub of Morretes, the road kinds itself a heritage railway – with Thirties-style carriages, leather-based seats and glossy wooden to match.
The final time I took the practice, I booked my outbound ticket in “vacationer” class however paid a bit additional for “boutique” class in a fancier Imperial carriage for the return. The 70km (43-mile) journey is extra about surroundings than velocity. A brief part throughout which the carriages chug over a precipitous viaduct feels as if the practice is floating within the air.
How a lot cash do I would like for Curitiba?
Brazil is notably cheaper than nations in North America and Europe. And Curitiba, the place the native financial system is much less tourist-driven than Rio or São Paulo, has many good lodging offers. You’ll not often pay far more than US$100 an evening for a good double room, even at top-ranked lodge manufacturers like Radisson or Grand Mercure.
The town’s fast bus community is nice worth, with a flat fee of R$6 for journeys anyplace within the metropolis.
- Mid-range lodge room for 2: US$50–70
- Museu Oscar Niemeyer entry: US$6
- One-way ticket on the Serra Verde Categorical (vacationer class): US$35
- Public transport ticket: US$1.60
- Burger: US10–12
- Dinner for 2 in connoisseur restaurant: US$60
- Espresso: US$4
- Bottle of craft beer: US$3
Often requested questions on Curitiba
Is Curitiba secure?
By Brazilian requirements, Curitiba is comparatively secure – one thing it has in widespread with most cities within the nation’s south. Nonetheless, it’s greatest to take regular precautions by sticking to well-lit downtown streets after darkish and by no means displaying apparent indicators of wealth.
What improvements has Curitiba launched to make it such an awesome mannequin of sustainability?
Many. Other than its bus community, Curitiba has 48 city parks, a solar pyramid on a former landfill site, biodiverse honey gardens and a bike-sharing scheme centered on e-bikes.
Are there any good festivals in Curitiba?
Sure, particularly referring to the humanities. A theater festival – one of many largest in Brazil – is held in March, and the Olhar de Cinema movie competition convenes in June. An arts Biennial kicks off in September of odd-numbered years, and a jazz festival attracts crowds each December.
Are there any seashores close to Curitiba?
The closest seashores with good browsing are a 90-minute drive to the east across the small ferry port of Pontal do Sul. Even higher seashores will be discovered on Ilha do Miel, a brief boat journey from Pontal do Sul and greatest included into an in a single day or weekend journey from Curitiba.
Are there any worthwhile day journeys from Curitiba?
Other than the Serra Verde Categorical, you may make a preferred day journey to the very totally different landscapes of the Parque Estadual de Vila Velha, 93km (58 miles) to the west. Paraná’s so-called “stone metropolis” is made up of 23 aretinhas (sandstone pillars), shaped over thousands and thousands of years. The pure purple monoliths – some taking recognizable shapes comparable to boots and bottles – create putting silhouettes in opposition to the blue sky and inexperienced foliage.
Throughout the boundaries of the park, guests may witness a sequence of water-filled furnas (craters) which might be the results of underground erosion.
Vila Velha has a superb customer middle and common buses from Curitiba that may drop you near the park entrance; guide tickets forward on-line.