Rio de Janeiro Off The Beaten Path Tips by RafaelTheSecond Top 5 Page for this destination

I AM BACK - THIS TIME SHOWING THE FORT OF LEME

Leme is the other name given to Copacabana Beach, it is the natural continuation of this famous beach. Actually I consider Leme, the very beggining of Copacabana.

And right there you can see a hill with a flag on the top. It is still an active military fort but just like others in the country, it is open to the public.

It is a great chance for you to see a beautiful part of our preserved Atlantic Forest and see one part of Rio that very feel people go!!!

INCREDIBLE VIEWS you will find!!!! Specially one untouched side of the Sugar Loaf Mountain!

THE FORT IS OPEN EVERY WEEKEND.

You just have to pay 4 reais to enter, it is about 3 dollars! :)

Surely it deserves a visit!!!!

PARQUE DO PENHASCO

Even when you are in the city of Rio there are some jewels that only expert travellers can find, an unique place where you can overview the beautiful area of Leblon on the bottom of the majestic DOIS IRMAOS (Two Brothers) Hill. And also the woods of Gavea, and very faraway the beach of Ipanema and the rock of Arpoador BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!!!

Penhasco means CLIFF and the city park is preserved by the City Hall....Not even the local people know that place, and it was not in my american friends' mind to be there!

Scott and Halley came here this november for the first time, and they had a great time and they are really privileged to see so many unique places in Rio de Janeiro.

Many people who come here for the first time only expect to see the SUGAR LOAF, THE CHRIST, COPACABANA, IPANEMA, FAVELA TOURS, SAMBA and so many obvious things...but to explore Rio you have to go deeper...

My friends do it all the time and I am really honored to have this SEATTLE PEOPLE here and I am always in the mood to take them to the best of the city :)

And it is also the great chances I have to be in touch with new places to go in my own RIO DE JANEIRO

THE FERRYBOAT STATION IN NITEROI Niterói Review

The Estação das Barcas is right located in the city centre of Niteroi, from there you can take buses to many different neighborhoods in the city, if you go there by bus, the Bus Terminal is right beside the shopping center Bay market, it is a huge construction where all the buses of Niteroi and São Gonçalo, and other closeby cities, have their final stop.

Crossing the bay if you take the regular ferry just like this one in the picture, will cost you less than one dollar!

June 21st, 2006

DOWNTOWN NITEROI Niterói Review

Yes...Once again Niteroi, if you cross the Bay by Ferry, and if you choose the weekend to do it, you should check at the Bay Market shopping center where is the place where you can get booked for a boat tour around the bay, it is a local place so the price will be really cheap.

For sure you will be able to see different views of this fascinating city called Rio de Janeiro!

June 21st, 2006

THE ENTRANCE OF THE UNKNOWN LAND Niterói Review

Specially in the peak hours, the best way to reach Niteroi is by ferryboat, the famous Barcas. Niteroi is the second largest city in the State, and it is a big interrogation mark for our visitors!;)

Hhahahaha they really do not know what they are missing!;))))

In the city you will find out a great people, lots of big surprises like great beaches, very sophisticated restaurants in the middle class neighborhoods and forests.

NITEROI SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN YOUR PLANS!!! Words of an expert in Rio!

June 21st, 2006

THE OCEAN SIDE OF NITEROI Niterói Review

You are used to see the pictures of the christ, the iamges of the Sugar Loaf, names of Copacabana and Ipanema are very familiar to you.

But when you come across with names like Piratininga, Itacoatiara, Camboinhas and Sossego, you will be asking yourself, what is that????

These are gorgeous beaches and the real secrets that makes your trip a real orgasm!

Picture taken in PIRATININGA BEACH, June 1st, 2006

PIRATININGA Niterói Review

I am not living in Niteroi anymore, but I have been in this city for 22 years, it is an spectacular love affair which still lives in my heart, that is why, going to Niteroi is a great moment to me, and today I went to Piratininga Beach to show our beauties to my friend Rodrigo, who is in Rio studying tourism and will accept Rio as his homeland!;) I am very proud to be the one who convinced him to come and I am very happy to tell him anything about Niteroi and my whole State!

Piratininga is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Ocean Side of Niteroi.

Going there is not easy, you will have to take a ferryboat from Rio and a bus which pass through many confusing neighborhood of Niteroi, so you should study the city very well, or simply find someone you know in the city, and you can have a great day together to discover the secrets of this wonderful town, which is not far away from Rio de Janeiro city!

June 21st, 2006

A VISIT TO RIO IS NEVER COMPLETE... Niterói Review

Sure!!! Once you do not visit Niteroi, you will have to come again, and make your trip to Rio complete. Niteroi is one of the very near places that is waiting for you to be explored. Niteroi will offer you many surprises like this one, the other side of Piratininga Beach, in the calm waters of this part of the beach called Prainha!

June 21st, 2006

COMPLICATED NAMES: PIRATININGA Niterói Review

In the colonial time, the fields of Piratininga in Niteroi was a big farmland owned by Cristovão Monteiro, lots of sugar cane plantation and coffe, after that it became an important fishing centre, and it seems to be like that until nowadays, today it is also a holiday destination for the cariocas and one very important neighborhood of Niteroi City. It is part of the incredible ocean beaches of Niteroi, and it is faraway from every travelogs you might see when you plan your visit to Rio de Janeiro!

June 21st, 2006

OUR EMPIRE LEGACY

The doors, the architecture, the floors and everything around the palace is original, it is bad preserved, what a pety...but the Palace remained to be the residence of the royalty until the end of our Second Empire in 1889.

Pedro, The Second was the last one to live in this palace, though he prefered to spend most of his time in the lovely town of Petropolis.

This is the symbol of his reign ---------P II

May 28th, 2006