Parque Lage and other Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Off The Beaten Path Tips

Parque Lage lies about 1km past the Botanical Gardens towards the base of Corcovado where you can see great views of Christ the Redeemer. The 52 hectare park was designed by an Englishman called John Tyndale in 1849 making it an English-style garden with small lakes and a mansion that now house the Instituto Nacional de Belas Artes. The mansion has a centre courtyard swimming pool and patio area.

Open daily from 8am-5pm.

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Website: http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/fpj/pqlage.htm

To escape the noise and busyness of Rio I recommend coming here. Surrounding Corcovado is the dense, tropical Tijuca Forest which is 120 sq km of jungle rainforest right on Rio's doorstep. Once part of a Brazilian nobleman's estate, it's studded with exotic trees and thick jungle vines and is ideal to take a strol around. The forest has several waterfalls, of which the 35m high Cascatinha de Taunay is the most spectacular, and trails that can take you up to several peaks the highest of which is Pico da Tijuca at 1012m.

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Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/9780e/16dc8e/

Petropolis lies 60km north of Rio de Janeiro's city centre in the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range and make's for an excellent day out as it was once the retreat of Brazil's Imperial family in the 19th century. Dom Pedro II (Brazil's last emporer) built a summer palace here in which he and his wife and children frequented regularly in order to escape from the summer heat in Rio. In fact today it's still home to the pretender to the throne, the grandson of Princess Isabel, Dom Pedro de Orleans e Bragança.

The city has a decidedly European flavour with it's lovely villas, canals, palaces and city parks. The star attraction is the Imperial summer palace which is now open to the public as a museum. The city also offers other architectural and historical sites such as the cathedral (Catedral de São Pedro de Alcântara) which houses the tombs of Dom Pedro II, his wife Teresa and their daughter Princess Isabel and her husband.

There's a regular bus service that leaves Rio's Rodoviária Novo bus station on the Facil or Unica company buses. They leave from quite early in the morning to around 10pm at night every half-hour or so and the journey takes about 1.25-1.5 hours. I think it cost me about R$11.

Visit my Petropolis page for more info:

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Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/9780e/17006a/

Rui Barbosa (1849-1923) was a famous writer, jurist and politician. He gave his first public speech for the abolition of slavery when he was just 19. For the rest of his life he remained an uncompromising defender of civil liberties. Slavery in Brazil was finally abolished by the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law") in 1888. Part of Barbosa's legacy to history is that he authorised, as minister of finance in 1890, the destruction of most government records relating to slavery. His former residence in Rio (built in 1849) contains many of his manuscripts, letters, caricatures and first editions by Brazilian authors. It also houses memorabilia of Barbosa's life, including his 1913 car and an extensive library that's often consulted by scholars from around the world.

Admission: Free. Open: Tues-Sun 9am-5pm.
Rua São Clemente, 134

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Website: www.casaruibarbosa.gov.br

This church is located on the same street (Rua São Clemente) as the Museu Casa Rui Barbosa in Botafogo. It was inaugurated in 1913.

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