Travel Guide Niterói

On the other side of the Guanabara Bay, the big bar of buildings that can be seen from the Pão de Açucar is the (big) city of Niterói and its 500 000 inhabitants. The city itself, modern and soulless, is not very interesting. It owes its fame mainly to the bridge (inaugurated in 1974), a real feat of civil engineering, which crosses the bay from west to east, over nearly 14 km, thus linking Rio and its little sister Niterói.Niterói has a new cultural attraction: the MAC (Museu de Arte Contemporânea), designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer and built in 1996 on a promontory of the bay. It is now the city's postcard. This MAC is now part of a real "Niemeyer Way", a series of achievements by the famous architect. This ambitious and long-postponed project was inaugurated in 2013 and is well worth a visit. Continuing along the coast to the entrance to the bay, on the Niterói side, you will come across the very beautiful Santa Cruz fortress, whose first remains date back to the adventure of the Frenchman Villegaignon (1550) and which secured the entrance to the bay from possible enemy incursions (a fine battery of cannons is still present). Finally, to the north of the city, on the ocean, some magnificent beaches welcome surfers and sunbathers: Piratininga, Camboinhas (calm waters, ideal for families), Itaipu (and its famous sunset view over Rio) and the most beautiful and wildest, Itacoatiara (beautiful waves to surf).