Don't miss the Rio Antiques Fair if it's on while you're in town. The colonial buildings become a living installation as the whole street fills with antiques, clothing and craft vendors, and food stalls, with samba bands adding to the festive atmosphere.

It happens all along Rua do Lavradio, with the action often spilling over onto nearby Praça Tiradentes.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. CRAB

0.13 MILES

Inside a beautifully restored mansion overlooking Praça Tiradentes, this exhibition hall is dedicated to Brazilian crafts from across the country. Several…

2. Centro Carioca de Design

0.19 MILES

In a historic building overlooking Praça Tiradentes, this multifloor cultural space showcases a changing array of exhibitions relating to design, urbanism…

3. Catedral Metropolitana

0.21 MILES

This enormous cone-shaped cathedral was inaugurated in 1976 after 12 years of construction. Among its sculptures, murals and other works of art, the four…

4. Museu de Arte Sacra

0.22 MILES

This small museum in the basement of the Catedral Metropolitana contains some exquisite carvings by Mestre Valentim and a number of historical items. Don…

5. Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica

0.24 MILES

This avant-garde museum is set in a 19th-century neoclassical building that originally housed the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts. Today the…

6. Fundição Progresso

0.29 MILES

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

7. Real Gabinete Português de Leitura

0.3 MILES

Built in the Portuguese Manueline style in 1837, the gorgeous Portuguese Reading Room houses more than 350,000 works, many dating from the 16th, 17th and…

8. Bonde Station

0.31 MILES

From this station you can take the Bonde tram to Santa Teresa. It's a marvelous ride on a quaint yellow streetcar over the Lapa Arches to the hilltop…