Fortaleza

No reviews yetCity Ceará, Brazil

Ponte dos Ingleses, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

Praia do Futuro, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

About Fortaleza

Fortaleza faces the Atlantic on Brazil's north-east coast, a city of long beaches, warm trade winds and sunshine for most of the year. The capital of Ceará has grown into one of Brazil's largest cities, yet its rhythm is set by the sea: jangada sailboats on the shore, sunset crowds at the old English Bridge and a nightly craft fair along Avenida Beira-Mar.

The city grew around a Dutch and then Portuguese fort, which gave it its name, and became a busy port for cotton and later a magnet for travellers seeking the coast. The centre keeps the iron-framed Theatro José de Alencar, the neo-Gothic cathedral and the crowded stalls of the Mercado Central, while the Dragão do Mar cultural centre anchors the bars and music of Praia de Iracema. Forró dancing, lace-making and cashew nuts are all part of the local identity.

Pinto Martins International Airport has flights across Brazil and to Europe. From the city, buggy trips run to the dunes and lagoons of the coast, with Jericoacoara a long day's drive to the west.

Best seasonJuly-December (drier, steady wind)

Ideal stay3-4 days

ArrivingPinto Martins International Airport; coach links across the north-east

12 Things You Shouldn't Miss in Fortaleza

Landmarks 2

Ponte dos Ingleses

Begun in the 1920s by an English company as a port pier and never finished for its original purpose, the English Bridge at Praia d...

Theatro Jose de Alencar

Opened in 1910 and named after the Ceará-born novelist, this theatre is a jewel of the city centre, its art nouveau iron structure...

Beaches 1

Praia do Futuro

Fortaleza's best swimming beach stretches for kilometres east of the port, lined with large beach kiosks, the barracas, that offer...

Neighborhoods 1

Avenida Beira-Mar

The city's main seafront avenue runs past Meireles and Mucuripe beaches, with a wide promenade for walking, cycling and jogging be...

Arts 1

Dragao do Mar Center of Art and Culture

Opened in 1999 in the old port district, this cultural complex links museums of contemporary and Ceará folk art, a planetarium, ci...

Shopping 1

Mercado Central de Fortaleza

This big modern market near the cathedral gathers hundreds of small shops over several floors, selling the best-known products of...

Temples and Shrines 1

Fortaleza Metropolitan Cathedral

Rising above the Mercado Central, the cathedral is a huge neo-Gothic church completed in the late 1970s after decades of construct...

History 2

Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Assuncao

The fort from which Fortaleza takes its name stands near the old centre on the site of a seventeenth-century Dutch stronghold take...

Passeio Publico Fortaleza

Laid out in the nineteenth century on a terrace above the sea, the Passeio Público is the oldest public square in the city, shaded...

Parks 1

Parque do Coco

Following the Cocó River through the eastern districts, this large state park protects mangroves, dunes and riverside woodland rig...

Food and Drink 1

Mercado dos Peixes do Mucuripe

At the eastern end of the Beira-Mar, the fishermen's market in Mucuripe sells the day's catch straight from the boats: snapper, lo...

Museums 1

Museu do Ceara

Housed in the elegant former provincial assembly building on Praça General Tibúrcio, known as the Square of the Lions, the state m...

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Photo credits

Photo: Armando Reques, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: Claudney Neves, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Samory Pereira Santos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Photo: Jorge Andrade from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ridiculopathy, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Photo: Governo Federal Brasileiro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: ME/Portal da Copa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 br

Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ridiculopathy, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Photo: Patricialaraia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Joelkaula, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Governo Federal Brasileiro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Cordeiro Foto e Vídeo e Estúdio Fotográfico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Rodrigo Teixeira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Photo: Joelkaula, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: A. Duarte, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: Cordeiro Foto e Vídeo e Estúdio Fotográfico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Rodrigo Teixeira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Photo: George Lucasfor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Atrium, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: David Moraes de Andrade, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

Photo: Babi borghese, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Caroline Comin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: GLandovsky, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0