Must see attractions in Rio de Janeiro

Built in 1914 on the promontory of the old Our Lady of Copacabana chapel, the fort of Copacabana was one of Rio's premier defenses against attack. You can…

This park contains the ruins – exterior brick walls and a newly built staircase – of the mansion belonging to Brazilian heiress Laurinda Santos Lobo. Her…

Once a foundry for the manufacturing of safes and ovens, Fundição Progresso today hosts avant-garde exhibitions, concerts and samba performances…

One of Rio's oldest neighborhoods, this pretty area feels like a tiny slice of Portugal, with its old shuttered houses, quiet cobblestone streets and…

The best thing about Barra is the beach. It stretches for 18km, with the blue sea lapping at the shore. The first few kilometers of its eastern end are…

Quinta da Boa Vista was the estate of the Portuguese imperial family until the Republic was proclaimed. Today it’s a large and busy park with gardens and…

This eye-catching lime-green neo-Gothic palace sitting in Baía de Guanabara looks like something out of a child's fairy-tale book. It was designed by…

When Mercedes Guimarães was doing construction work on her house in 1996, workers uncovered huge quantities of human fragments. After discussions with a…

A slice of village life in the city, this small plaza is one of Santa Teresa's most picturesque little squares. While Largo das Neves is empty by day, on…

On the edge of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, across a busy road, this park and sculptural garden has a short but steep trail to the Mirante do Sacopã. It's a…

A world away from the bustle of Copacabana's busy avenues, the Bairro Peixoto is a peaceful enclave centered on the leafy Praça Edmundo Bittencourt. Here…

Rio's fine-arts museum houses more than 18,000 original paintings and sculptures, some of which date back to works brought over from Portugal by Dom João…

The former imperial palace was originally built in 1743 as a governor's residence. Later it became the home of Dom João and his family when the Portuguese…

Inaugurated in 1880, Fábrica Bhering was the first chocolate factory in Brazil. It is now a stunning multistory, multipurpose art space and cultural…

This beautifully restored church and former cathedral dates back to the 1770s, and it played an important role in the imperial days of Rio. The…

Inaugurated in 1910, Rio's neoclassical national library is the largest in Latin America. It's home to more than nine million volumes, including many rare…

The plaza named after Joaquim Fonseca Guimarães (a local resident whose house became Hotel Santa Teresa, just up the road) now forms the center of…

Designed by Brazil’s most famous architect, Oscar Niemeyer, the Museu do Arte Contemporânea is a curvilinear building with breathtaking views. However,…

Built in 1907, this large mansion once served as a salon for artists from Brazil and abroad and as the location of parties hosted by socialite Laurinda…

Designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, this thoughtfully conceived science museum has interactive exhibitions on outer space, the earth…