Travel with You, Me, Away

Curitiba travel guide: Jardim Botânico, Ópera de Arame, Linha Turismo and green parks

Perched at 935 metres on the southern Brazilian plateau in Paraná, Curitiba is internationally known for its pioneering bus rapid transit corridors and its network of over 30 flood-control urban parks. A French-inspired Art Nouveau glasshouse at the Jardim Botânico, a tubular steel opera house set inside a flooded quarry and European heritage memorials in the northern woods give the city an unusually green, orderly rhythm.

Reviewed

Explore the map

Destinations on the map

The map shows selected approximate city locations. Individual hotels and restaurants are not mapped.

Dot: one place · Number: multiple places

On the mapApproximate locationCuritibaApproximate city locationView itinerary

Map data: Natural Earth · Place data: GeoNames, CC BY 4.0, modified

Map markers are for orientation.

1 place

All places
  1. Curitiba (Approximate city location)

Location coordinates: Curitiba.

Arrival and getting around in Curitiba

Afonso Pena International Airport (CWB) in neighbouring São José dos Pinhais sits 18 kilometres south-east of central Curitiba; official airport taxis, Uber and 99 reach downtown or Batel in 25 to 35 minutes. For sightseeing, the double-decker Linha Turismo bus loops every 30 minutes through 26 major parks and museums across the city, saving you from stringing together multiple local buses.

  • Linha Turismo card: buy the sightseeing pass when boarding at Praça Tiradentes or the Jardim Botânico; it includes your initial boarding plus four hop-on re-boardings across the northern park loop.
  • BRT tube stations: regular city buses load at raised glass tube stations (estações-tubo) with level boarding and accept contactless debit/credit cards on urban lines.
  • Serra Verde train station: the famous scenic train down the Atlantic rainforest escarpment to Morretes departs from the Rodoferroviária station just east of the centre at 08:30.

Sources: Turismo Curitiba, Jardim Botânico, Turismo Curitiba, Paço da Liberdade

Where to stay in Curitiba

Travellers choose between the leafy, walkable hotel and dining blocks of Batel just west of downtown or staying right next to the pedestrian historic core.

  • Batel and Bigorrilho: Curitiba's most comfortable base, packed with tree-lined sidewalks, specialty coffee shops, wine bars and shopping galleries along Avenida do Batel, a 10-minute ride from Largo da Ordem.
  • Centro and Largo da Ordem (near Rua XV de Novembro): puts the pedestrian Flower Street, Paço da Liberdade and the Sunday craft market within a five-minute walk.
  • What to watch: the commercial streets around Praça Tiradentes and the Rodoferroviária become quiet and gritty late at night, so Batel is much more relaxed for evening walks.

Sources: Turismo Curitiba, Paço da Liberdade, Turismo Curitiba, Parque Cambuí

Two-day route for Curitiba

Pair the central pedestrian street and the iconic glass conservatory on day one with the northern quarry theatres and forest parks along the Linha Turismo loop on day two.

  • Day 1: start on the pedestrian Rua XV de Novembro (Rua das Flores) and tour the restored 1916 art-nouveau market building of Paço da Liberdade, stroll the cobbled historic lanes of Largo da Ordem, and spend the afternoon among the geometric parterres and three-domed iron glasshouse of the Jardim Botânico.
  • Day 2: head north to the flooded quarry and bamboo woods of Parque São Lourenço, step across the water bridge into the tubular steel Ópera de Arame at Pedreira Paulo Leminski, visit the wooden church replica at the Ukrainian Memorial in Parque Tingui, and finish with a sunset walk around the lakes of Parque Cambuí or Parque Barigui (famous for resident capybaras).
  • Rainforest rail extension: book the morning Serra Verde Express train through tunnels and viaducts down the Serra do Mar to colonial Morretes, returning up the mountain road by van.

Sources: Turismo Curitiba, Jardim Botânico, Turismo Curitiba, Paço da Liberdade, Turismo Curitiba, Parque Cambuí, Turismo Curitiba, Ópera de Arame

Seasonal timing and practical rhythm

As Brazil's highest and southernmost state capital at 935 metres, Curitiba is noticeably cooler than Rio or São Paulo and can shift from crisp morning mist to warm afternoon sun in a few hours.

  • March to May and September to November offer crisp, sunny park weather (18 to 24 °C) with bright pink ipê blossoms in early spring.
  • June to August is true southern winter, when mornings frequently drop to 5 to 9 °C before warming to 17 °C at midday; pack a warm sweater and jacket for the open-air upper deck of the Linha Turismo bus.

Sources