For those that have never heard of Curitiba, it is a city located in the state of Parana in the south of Brazil. It is my beautiful hometown! I have so much to write about this city, it puts a smile on my face just to think about all the great memories . If you know me you probably already heard me saying that Curitiba is the best city to live in Brazil. Sometimes friends make fun of me because I always say that. I`​ve never heard anyone saying bad things about Curitiba besides complaining about the cold weather. Yep, this is the coldest capital in Brazil. In general, people from other parts of the world think that everywhere in Brazil is really warm with beaches everywhere but Curitiba is not like that. It can get cold below freezing (nothing compared to some winters in other parts of the world). Also, it rains a lot in Curitiba. The word chuva in Portuguese means rain so people like to call the city ‘Chuvitiba‘ it is a funny wordplay.

Here I will write my favorite things to do in this city so if you had only one weekend in town these are things I would recommend for you to do:

We don`t have beaches but we have beautiful parks. My favorite park by far is Parque Tangua, it is really big and it never feels too crowded making a perfect place to relax watching the nice view of the falls. To see all the parks in Curitiba you should take the  bus tour, I highly recommend it. I personally did it once and it gave me a new appreciation for my town. The bus tour can give you a chance to see all the main attractions of the city and to have a feel of its many neighborhoods.

One of the local things to do is to visit the Mercado Municipal, it is a big indoor public market with stalls selling fresh local fruits. Also, there are nice spots for a good breakfast. You should order cafe com leite (coffee and milk) with pão com mortadela (french bread with bologna).

You can`t go to Curitiba and not visit the Largo da Ordem street market. It happens every Sunday morning and it is one of the largest craft fairs in Brazil. The fair have Brazilian food, Brazilian arts and crafts, Brazilian clothes, Brazilian music! Now that I am no longer living in Curitiba every time I am in town I save my Sunday morning for a visit to the Largo da Ordem street market. I just love it!

If you like to visit art museums like I do, you should visit the Oscar Niemeyer Museum also known as Museu do Olho (the eye museum) it is a beautiful building designed by the renominated architecture Oscar Niemeyer.  People like to bring their dogs and hang out in the gardens behind the museum on the weekends.  On Wednesdays the entrance is free!

Finally, I have to talk about the nightlife in Curitiba. This town has so many great bars for all tastes. There are two areas that I recommend for those that enjoy a bar hop. The Avenida do Batel have bars with different themes from around the world such as Asian, Irish, Russian, Mexican, and of course Brazilian! Another area that I really recommend for a bar hop is Rua Itupava, there are so many options of bars on this street that you will not get bored. I recently visited a new one called Villa Yamon . It was interesting because I have never been to a bar with the same concept (co-bar). It is a bar with independent mini-bars inside. There was a wine bar, a craft beer bar, cocktails bar, tapas bar, Japanese food bar, etc. It really tries to cover all tastes in one place. Also, they had a swing inside the bar which was fun.

These are only a few things that I think anyone should do in Curitiba. I could keep writing, and writing, and writing… but if I have to leave you with an important travel tip : if you ever visit Curitiba don`t forget to bring an umbrella  🙂