Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Sunsets over the wide waters of the Guaíba are Porto Alegre's daily ritual, and the city's riverside promenade fills with people sipping chimarrão, the bitter mate tea of southern Brazil. The capital of Rio Grande do Sul is a city of about 1.3 million people with a strong gaúcho identity, leafy neighbourhoods, a lively cultural scene and a European flavour inherited from Azorean, German and Italian settlers.
Founded in the 18th century by settlers from the Azores, Porto Alegre grew into the commercial heart of the far south. The historic centre keeps grand buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries around Praça da Matriz and Praça da Alfândega, including the São Pedro theatre, the governor's palace and the cathedral, while the old public market still feeds the city every day.
Allow time for museums such as the Iberê Camargo Foundation and MARGS, for the Sunday market in Redenção park and for a proper churrasco. Porto Alegre is also the gateway to the mountain towns of Gramado and Canela and to the wineries of the Serra Gaúcha.
Opened in 1869, the yellow public market in the old centre is packed with stalls of meat, fish, cheese, spices and the yerba mate used for chimarrão. Restaurants fill the upper floor and the edges. Try the bomba royal dessert at Banca 40, and come before lunch to beat the crowds.
Raised over much of the 20th century on the highest point of the historic centre, the cathedral is crowned by a great dome seen across the city. Its Renaissance-inspired façade carries mosaics, and the interior is calm and spacious. It shares Praça da Matriz with the palace and theatre.
Completed in the early 1920s on Praça da Matriz, this French-influenced palace is the seat of the Rio Grande do Sul government. Its reception halls hold murals by the Italian-born painter Aldo Locatelli showing gaúcho legends. Guided visits run on set days, so check the schedule before going.
Home of Sport Club Internacional, this stadium beside the Guaíba opened in 1969 and was rebuilt with a leaf-like roof for the 2014 World Cup. Match days bring a loud red-clad crowd. On other days the club museum and stadium tours tell its story; check the club's official channels first.
Facing Praça da Matriz, this theatre opened in 1858 and is one of the oldest in Brazil still in use. Behind the neoclassical façade is a jewel-box auditorium of boxes, red velvet and gilding, reopened in the 1980s after restoration. Seeing a concert, opera or play is the best way in.
Álvaro Siza designed this white concrete museum on the Guaíba shore, opened in 2008, with exterior ramps that wrap around it like folded ribbons. It is devoted to Iberê Camargo, one of Brazil's great modern painters, and also stages contemporary shows. Check the opening days before you go.
Set in an elegant early 20th-century former tax office on Praça da Alfândega, MARGS holds the main public art collection of Rio Grande do Sul, with gaúcho and Brazilian painting, sculpture and prints from the 19th century on. The square outside hosts the city's long-running book fair.
This pink landmark was once the Hotel Majestic, where the beloved poet Mario Quintana lived in one room for years. It is now a cultural centre with galleries, cinemas, a theatre, libraries and a rooftop café, its two wings joined by bridges over the street. Go up top for river views.
Designed by urban planner Jaime Lerner and opened in stages from 2018, this riverside promenade runs past the old Gasômetro power station with lawns, cycle paths, sports courts and cafés. Come in late afternoon, when locals gather to watch the sun sink over the Guaíba, and stay on busy stretches.
Known to everyone as Redenção, this large central park has a lake with pedal boats, shaded paths and sports areas. On Sundays the Brique da Redenção market lines the avenue alongside with antiques, crafts, art and food. Arrive in the morning, browse the stalls, then picnic under the trees.
Locals call it Parcão. This tidy park in the upscale Moinhos de Vento district is named for the windmills that once stood in the area, recalled by a replica windmill near the lake. Joggers and families fill its lawns, and the streets around it are full of cafés, bakeries and bars.
Often called one of the most beautiful streets in the world, this residential street in the Independência district lies under a green tunnel of more than a hundred tall tipuana trees. Neighbours fought to protect it, and the city declared it heritage in 2006. Visit on a sunny day for the light.
No reviews yet. Been to Porto Alegre? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Porto Alegre? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: André Regius, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: ArqPoa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ajmcbarreto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ajmcbarreto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Maria Lucia P. Sampaio, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Andervaz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Pedro Belleza, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Pedro Belleza, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: gilson martinez, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Zimbres 23:17, 21 April 2007 (UTC), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5
Photo: Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Hedestad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Glauco Umbelino, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Andervaz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Marcelino Souza, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Paulo JC Nogueira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Israel Heldt, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jorge Andrade from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jorge Andrade from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jorge Andrade from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jorge Andrade from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Tetraktys, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Arlety da Silva, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Arlety da Silva, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Silfeb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Arlety da Silva, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fronteira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Joao vitor 27, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Maria Lucia P. Sampaio, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Theo Wiederspahn, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Andervaz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Obirici, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Silfeb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Otávio Astor Vaz Costa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hedestad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hedestad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hedestad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Hedestad, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Saturnalia0, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Felisberto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Felisberto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: caetano051068, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: caetano051068, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
