Brazil - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 250

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange Banks are located throughout
the city, and especially along Av Rio Branco in Centro.
Banco do Brasil is best for foreign cards.
Car rental Most agents are located along Av Princesa
Isabel in Copacabana. Avis T 21 2542 3392; Hertz T 21
2275 3245; Localiza-National T 800 99 2000.
Consulates Argentina, Praia de Botafogo 228 T 21 2553
1646; Australia, Av Presidente Wilson 231, Centro T 21
3824 4624; Canada, Av Atlantica 1130, Copacabana T 21
2543 3004; UK, Praia do Flamengo 284, Flamengo
T 21 2555 9600; US, Av Presidente Wilson 147, Centro
T 21 3823 2000.
Hospitals Try a private clinic such as Sorocaba Clinic,
Rua Sorocaba 464, Botafogo ( T 21 2286 0022), or Centro
Médico Ipanema, Rua Anibal Mendonça 135, Ipanema
( T 21 2239 4647). For non-emergencies, Rio Health
Collective has a phone-in service ( T 21 3325 9300, ext 44)
with details of doctors who speak English.
Police Emergency number T 190. The beach areas have
police posts at regular intervals. The e cient, English-
speaking Tourist Police are at Av Afrânio de Melo Franco
(opposite the Oi Casa Grande Theatre), Leblon ( T 21 3399
7170).
Post o ce Central branch on Rua 1 de Março (Mon-Fri
8am-noon & 2-6pm, Sat 8am-1pm).
Shopping Rio is replete with high-class shopping malls
and designer stores. Budget shoppers however should
head to Saara (see p.238), where quality goods are avail-
able at reasonable prices, or the Hippie Fair market held
every Sun at Praça General Osório in Ipanema, with
souvenirs, street shows and typical foods. For handicrafts
check out Brasil & Cia, at Rua Maria Quitéria in Ipanema.
Visas The Polícia Federal handles tourist permit and visa
extensions at its o ce in Terminal A at Galeão Airport
(Mon-Fri 8am-4pm; T 21 2203 4000, W dpf.gov.br).

resort town of Búzios is popular with the
affluent but less of a draw for budget
travellers, while nearby Arraial do Cabo
offers a slice of beach paradise. To the
south of Rio is one of Brazil's most
magnificent landscapes, the Costa Verde ,
dotted with charming resort towns and
blessed with dreamy stretches of deserted
beach. The colonial town of Paraty is one
of the region's highlights, while Ilha
Grande 's verdant forests create a stunning
unspoilt setting. The mountainous
wooded landscape and relatively cool
climate of the state's interior make a
refreshing change from the coastal heat.
Immediately to the north of Rio, high
in mist-cloaked mountains, lies the
imperial city of Petrópolis , with the
magnificent Parque Nacional Serra dos
Orgãos nearby. In the far west lies another
breathtaking protected area, the Parque
Nacional Itatiaia .

3

NITERÓI
Cariocas have a tendency to sneer at
NITERÓI , typically commenting that the
best thing about the city is the view back
across Guanabara Bay to Rio. The vistas
are undeniably gorgeous, but there are a
few things to see too - without the need
to stay overnight.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
The Oscar Niemeyer-designed Museu de
Arte Contemporânea (MAC; Tues-Sun
10am-6pm; R$4; W macniteroi.com.br)
is Niterói's biggest draw. Opened in 1996
and located just south of the centre on a
promontory, the spaceship-like building
offers breathtaking 360-degree views of
the bay and a worthy, though hardly
exciting, permanent display of Brazilian
art from the 1950s to the 1990s, plus
temporary exhibitions. But the real work
of art is the building itself: trademark
Niemeyer curves which even his most
hardened critics find difficult to dismiss.
Beautiful Praia de Icaraí lies near the
city's centre, but as the water in the bay is
none too clean, take a bus to Camboinhas
or Itacoatiara , long stretches of sand every
bit as good as Rio's Zona Sul.

Rio de Janeiro
state
Though many travellers dash through the
state in order to reach its glorious capital
city, there are enough regional attractions
to more than reward visitors. Either side
of Rio lie two idyllic sections of coast. To
the east beyond Rio's neighbouring city
Niterói is the Costa do Sol , an area of
gorgeous white beaches peppered with a
string of low-key resort towns and three
large lakes . The trendy and commercial