Curitiba – quick travel guide

A smaller Sao Paulo. Modern, techie, safe, hip, arts, parks, eco-friendly, LGBT-friendly, and has capybaras.

Curitiba is probably Brazil’s hippest city…although labelled as the “world’s smartest city” (IMO nowhere near that but I appreciate the effort). Take the cool parts of Sao Paulo and compact it down to a smaller, more manageable version, making it overall cleaner and more modern, and you have Curitiba. It’s very green. Even things that are not a park, will have lots of trees and water and will look like a park. The weather here is among the nicest in Brazil, not too hot or too cold. Curitiba is also a good size for a city…not too big, not too small.

Curitiba is famous for parks and museums, and events…music, arts, theater, film. From what I see, it looks like your typical non-destination city (because it doesn’t have beaches or touristy things) that got gentrified and reinvested for tourism and quality of life. Many people say it’s boring in terms of tourism, and it’s a fair point. It seems tourists stop in Curitiba mainly for the capybaras, and as a stop between Florianopolis and Foz do Iguazu.

Curitiba’s strongest point is that it’s a nice place to live. Good quality of life due to the aforementioned qualities above. But from a tourist standpoint, it will definitely pale in comparison to a more majestic beach destination like Rio, big city metropolis of Sao Paulo, or a small charmy colonial town. Even within the southern states, Curitiba would probably rank lower to Florianopolis…a more picturesque beach city with lots of beautiful people and seemingly “fun vacation vibes” everywhere.

3 days is enough to see tourist highlights.

Where to stay:

• City center – stay near here but NOT here, get what I mean? I stayed in Reboucas and it was perfect for walking downtown to party or find things to eat, or take the tourist bus line.
• But really, there are incredible neighborhoods all over and many that look fancy or remind you of America/Europe. Being that you’ll probably use transportation to get around, I’d say it doesn’t even matter.

Hostels & Hotels:

• Social Hostel –
  • Honestly a very good hostel. Great location (central to touristy stuff) and very social.
  • Nice party vibe but also good for coworking. The party vibe is not crazy like you’ve seen elsewhere. The energy is very balanced. You can party and also work.
  • Nice rooms, plenty of bathrooms, water filter in kitchen, working WIFI throughout entire property. Plugs by all beds.
  • Friendly staff. The kind that you hang out and become friends with.
  • Many social areas to choose from…front yard bar with music, indoor game room with chatty folks and beer drinkers, kitchen for people cooking, quite backyard and smoking area, TV room for lounging on the couches.
  • I enjoyed my private room here but also saw that the dorms weren’t full either. (February 2024)
• Jardim Botanico House – great hostel, nice setup, clean and high value. Very chill vibe. Location is not as good as others.

I would add that Curitiba hostels can feel dead during carnival since travelers are more likely to be in more popular carnival destinations (like Rio) around that time. But still, there will be some partying if you’re here.

Neighborhoods, walking areas, public squares:

• Downtown area
  • Centro Historico (Largo da Ordem) – tourist photos at day time, and sketchy nightlife area at night.
  • Praca Tiradentes – seems like a nice park area with a big church. But I don’t recommend it. Full of aggressive homeless and honestly, it’s better and safer to be at other places nearby.
  • Rua 24 Hours – looks like a glass structure with restaurants, bars, cafes, shops inside. The front on the sidewalk is where you can buy the tourism line bus pass, and also its first stop.
  • Praca Gen Osorio – nice area to walk around.
  • Busy streets – go down Al Dr. Muricy and you’ll see all the busy streets. Walk around and shop or eat, hangout and take photos.

Generally, all the downtown public areas are to be enjoyed from morning to about mid-evening. I don’t recommend being in those areas past 22:00 as they can become like many downtowns, full of sketchy characters and lacking safety in numbers.

You’ll probably short on time anyway and so I’d recommend you cut straight to the more touristy stuff.

Activities to do:

• Onibus Linha Turismo
  • It’s a hop-on/hop-off tourist bus and costs only $50 RS for 24 hours. The bus runs from 8h30 until 17h (or 17h30?) everyday, stopping at 26 tourist points in intervals of 15 minutes.
  • I highly recommend this as the first tourist thing you should do. All the touristic viewpoints I recommend are covered on this bus route.
  • This way you can learn the city. Even if you’re tired and near the end of the afternoon, you should jump on and ride through all the points to know what areas interest you more. And to decide what you want to see based on how it looks from the outside. (Better than committing to rideshare trips.)
• Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets, hikes:
  • Parque Tangua** – most agreed upon as best sunset in Curitiba.
• Buildings & architecture:
  • Jardim Botanico* – the glass house there is the typical iconic photo of Curitiba (glass house surrounded by grass to showcase Curitiba’s “green image”). Is it the coolest and most beautiful and most necessary thing to see ever? IMO, no.
  • Opera de Arame* – a cooler structure to me than the glass house at Jardim Botanico. If you’re coming here when it’s closed (like on Mondays), you can still walk across the bridge up to it and take photos. If you come when it’s open, then you can go inside. It would be worth seeing a show here if you can.
  • Museu Oscar Niemayer* – in case you like how this building looks in photos. You can come see it in person.
  • Torre Panoramica – a tower that you can go up for panoramic views.
• Parks, gardens, green spaces:
  • Parque Barigui** – this is huge beautiful park with tons of space, water and trees, many families playing and hanging out without feeling crowded. But who am I kidding…we’re here for the CAPYBARAS! The world’s largest rodent species is most easily found in this park. Walk around the big lake and you’ll see dozens just lying there, swimming, and eating. They’re very intelligent, social, curious, docile, and friendly. But you should still keep your distance. They’ll make for some great photos. There’s also a variety of birds and monkeys in the trees here.
  • Parque Tangua* – another beautiful park with very few people, a local favorite for this. Even the tourists that come only stay around the top area with the fountain and the garden, and take photos off the viewpoint. The bottom area seems to be frequented only by locals, relaxing and running. There area at the bottom extends past a whole water area with viewing deck, elevated grassy sitting areas, river, walking paths, bamboo trees. Also, I saw a few capybaras here too! Curitiba’s best sunset can be seen from here. Once you’ve already seen enough capybaras, I’d have to agree this is Curitiba’s best park.
  • Jardim Botanico* – most people recommend this as the #1 tourist attraction in Curitiba, and most beautiful botanical garden in South America but I personally disagree. If you’re coming from North America, Europe, or Asia…I’m almost confident you’ve seen far more beautiful gardens than this. This garden is more like a small-medium relaxed park with the big glass structure for photo ops. You can easily walk through it and take all the photos you wanted within an hour. And on a hot day, you’ll be dying to cut through it quicker.
  • Parque Tingui* – another nice sized park, and has very little people. The unique bonus here is the Ukrainian Memorial. Also, you can see capybaras here as well.
  • Passeio Publico – nice “central city park” with water points, commercial stuff around it.
  • Bosque do Alemao – a tiny park built like a dense little forest with German structures, Hansel and Gretal references and storytelling for children, lots of mosquitos. Very fast visit.
  • Bosque do Papa – tiny forest park right next to the Oscar Niemayer Museum. Beautiful little forest, with Polish structures, play area for children. Never crowded, very relaxed.
• Beaches, bridges, water-points:
• Arts, museums, culture:
  • Museu Oscar Niemayer** – if you had to pick one museum, this would probably be it. I have no idea what’s in there because I didn’t go. I think it’s contemporary art and then some dedication to the famous architect Oscar Niemayer. I think the building itself is worth seeing if you liked how it looked in photos. As a bonus, the Bosque do Papa park is right next to it. Btw, it’s free on Wednesdays.
• Markets, shopping:
  • Shopping Curitiba – only mall I went and it was nice. Plenty of options for shopping and food.
  • sunday street market – largo da orden. artesanal things
• Tours:
  • Morretes
  • Buraco do Padre
  • Vila Velha
  • Ilha do Mel

Restaurants & Cafes:

• Souq – a nice food court with many restaurants, bars, shops. Nice air-condition, also upstairs outdoor patio area. Just a nice place to eat with many options to choose from.
• Flango’s e Flita’s (downtown) – cheap Brazilian/Chinese buffet restaurant downtown. Go here only if you’re nearby and want something good, cheap, and fast. All you can eat for $27 reais.

Bars, clubs, and nightlife:

• Batel* – consider more nice, more posh, more international area.
• Itupava* – I’d recommend this as the first place you should go. It has more “normal people”, straight people, and the crowd is right in the middle. Not too fancy or too trashy.
• Larga da Ordem (Sao Francisco) – this is the trashy clubbing area. You should also beware of sketchy characters, robbers, and thieves here. Be careful at night. Locals are quite wary of it. The only locals who like going here are the students with less money, LGBT, or people who don’t dress fancy, and therefore are very comfortable with this trashy vibe. It’s kind of like Curitiba’s equivalent of Lapa in Rio, but less dangerous.
  • Volt – really nice upscale gay club.
  • Vitto – divey bar with lots of funk.
• traigeno street (any types of people)
• There many bars everywhere.

Miscellaneous tips:

• Quick travel tips for Brazil.
• Mosquitos – generally, you should bring repellant for any of the forrest parks…especially for evening hours.
• Security – generally downtown areas are not safe at night. But also, not all parks have security police there so you should read Google Map reviews to know which ones are safest at night.

Itinerary:

• DAY 1 – if it’s 15h or earlier, you should do the Linha Turismo bus. Ride it all around town (without jumping off at all stops) and get an idea of what you’d like to see most. Jump off at the Jardim Botanico for an hour to walk around, and then take the bus again to Parque Tangua to enjoy the sunset. At night, you can pick one of the nightlife spots to eat and hangout.
• DAY 2 – using your tourism line bus ticket (which still has hours left on it), decide from what things caught your eye yesterday …Oscar Niemayer museum, Opera Arame, etc. At some point, I’d definitely recommend Parque Barigui to see the capybaras.
• DAY 3 – whatever you feel like.

Nearby towns:

Unfiltered notes:

• Curitiba is not a well-known Brazilian city among non-Brazilians. Yet I have read nothing but wonderful things about it. Do people who live/have visited there think I should add it to the list of Brazilian cities to visit and why? – Quora
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in Curitiba, Brazil compared to other cities in Brazil like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro? – Quora