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Niterói is a city on the eastern shore of Guanabara Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, facing Rio across the water. It is famous for Oscar Niemeyer's flying-saucer Contemporary Art Museum, its colonial forts at the mouth of the bay and its ocean beaches with views of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Niterói was the capital of Rio de Janeiro state from 1834 to 1894 and again from 1903 to 1975, and it has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil. Its forts once guarded the entrance to the bay, while the Caminho Niemeyer has given the waterfront the largest group of Niemeyer buildings outside Brasília.
Arrive by ferry from Rio for the best first view, then walk from the Caminho Niemeyer to the art museum and Boa Viagem Island. Spend another day on the forts of Jurujuba and the ocean beaches of Itaipu and Itacoatiara, ending at the city park viewpoint at sunset. April to October is the driest and least humid season.
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, known as MAC, is Oscar Niemeyer's famous flying-saucer building on a clifftop above Guanabara Bay in Niterói, opened in 1996. It holds the 1,217-work João Sattamini collection of Brazilian contemporary art, and its round gallery frames views of Rio and the bay.
Caminho Niemeyer is a chain of buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer along about 11 km of the Niterói waterfront, from the city center to Charitas. Begun in 2002, it is the second largest group of Niemeyer works after Brasília, with a large public square and the curving Popular Theater.
Solar do Jambeiro is a mansion built in 1872 by a Portuguese merchant in the São Domingos district of Niterói, famous for its facade covered in Portuguese tiles. Now run by the city's arts foundation, it is a cultural center hosting exhibitions, courses, plays and concerts.
Campo de São Bento is a large wooded park in the Icaraí district of Niterói and one of the city's favorite places to relax. Officially called Parque Prefeito Ferraz, it has shady paths, an old bandstand, fountains, a children's library and a cultural center for the arts.
Fortress of Santa Cruz da Barra stands at the entrance to Guanabara Bay in the Jurujuba district of Niterói. Together with the forts on the Rio side it was the main defense of the bay and the port of Rio in colonial and imperial times. Still an army base, it offers guided tours of about 45 minutes.
Imbuí Fort, officially Fort Dom Pedro II, stands on Imbuí point at the entrance to Guanabara Bay in the Jurujuba district of Niterói. Work began in 1863 during the Christie Question, a crisis with Britain, and its walls look across the water toward Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio.
Boa Viagem Island is a small rocky island in Guanabara Bay off Niterói, linked to the shore by a bridge built in the 1970s. Sailors entering and leaving the bay once knelt on deck to pray here for a good voyage. Its summit holds the 18th-century Chapel of Our Lady of Boa Viagem.
São Lourenço dos Índios Church in Niterói marks one of the first Jesuit settlements in Brazil and the first in Rio de Janeiro state. Listed as a monument in 1922, the simple church hosted a 1587 staging of a play by Father José de Anchieta, a landmark in early Brazilian theater.
Icaraí Beach is the main city beach of Niterói, a long curve of sand on Guanabara Bay lined with tall buildings and a promenade. Its name comes from a Tupi term for the acará fish. From the sand there are fine views across the bay to Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
Itaipu Beach is a sheltered ocean beach about 1 km long in the Itaipu district of Niterói. It is the only ocean beach in the city with very calm water, ideal for outrigger canoeing and stand-up paddle. One of Niterói's oldest fishing communities is based here, along with many seafood restaurants.
Itacoatiara Beach is an Atlantic beach of golden sand and bright blue water about 30 minutes east of central Niterói. Its strong waves suit surfers rather than casual swimmers. A granite rock face called the Costão rises at one end, and a small sheltered cove called Prainha lies at the other.
Parque da Cidade de Niterói is a protected park on Morro da Viração, about 270 m above the city, opened in 1976. Its two lookouts give sweeping views of the lagoons, ocean beaches, Guanabara Bay and the Rio skyline with the Rio-Niterói Bridge. Hang gliders launch from its two ramps.
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