Visiting Curitiba, Brazil: Top Sights on Foot

If you are looking for things to do in Curitiba, this southern Brazilian city offers a rich blend of striking modern architecture, historic railway heritage, and cultural landmarks. Located in an elevated and temperate setting, Curitiba invites travelers to explore its diverse neighborhoods, from elegant palaces and circular theatres to world-class art museums. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Curitiba featuring 71 narrated places to help you discover the city at your own pace.

What to See in Curitiba

Castelo do Batel and the Batel Neighborhood

Nestled in the elegant Batel neighborhood, Castelo do Batel is a charming palace built in 1924 by coffee farmer and honorary Dutch consul Luiz Guimarães. Designed to imitate the Loire Valley castles of France, its eclectic architecture features a cylindrical tower with a conical roof, bossaged gray walls, carved wooden doors, stained glass, and marble foyer floors. Surrounded by lush gardens, the palace later passed to former Paraná governor Moysés Lupion in 1947 and served for years as a venue for lavish receptions.

Oscar Niemeyer Museum

As you explore the city, you will quickly spot a striking white complex shaped like a giant eye: the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. Also known as Museu do Olho, this visual arts, architecture, and design museum is a cultural institution of international significance. The complex spans two buildings across 35,000 square meters, featuring Oscar Niemeyer’s signature bold geometric forms, sweeping curved volumes, sinuous pedestrian ramps, and expansive white concrete walls.

Curitiba Station and Railway Museum

Occupying the original 1885 station building of the Estrada de Ferro Curitiba Paranaguá, the Curitiba Railway Museum showcases over six hundred historical railway artifacts. The museum preserves the historic ticket offices and tells the story of how the Paranaguá-Curitiba railway was built, housing an early twentieth-century locomotive among its collection.

Teatro Paiol

Located in the Prado Velho neighborhood, Teatro Paiol is a distinctive circular arena theater. The building was originally erected in 1874 as a powder magazine for the Brazilian Army before being transformed by architect Abrão Assad and inaugurated as a cultural space on December 27, 1971.

Memorial a Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais

Standing between São Francisco and Barão do Cerro Azul streets near the cathedral, this bronze monument is a tribute to the city’s patron saint. Inaugurated on September 8, 1993, the sculpture features a 2.5-meter-tall bronze image weighing 650 kilograms, mounted on a 10-meter-tall cylindrical pedestal.

Egyptian and Rosicrucian Museum and AMORC Building

The Egyptian and Rosicrucian Museum offers a unique cultural experience centered on Egyptian archaeology and the Rosicrucian tradition. Opened on October 17, 1990, and housed within the AMORC Building, the museum features a collection of replica artifacts from various periods, including Tothmea, the only Egyptian mummy in Brazil.

Holocaust Museum in Curitiba

As Brazil’s first museum dedicated to remembering the Holocaust, this institution keeps alive the memory of victims and survivors to fight hatred, intolerance, and racism. Situated next to the Centro Israelita do Paraná within the Beit Yaacov synagogue building, the museum opened on November 20, 2011, following extensive historical research and contributions from international Holocaust institutions.

Historic Churches and Cultural Spaces

Central Curitiba is home to the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco das Chagas, the oldest Catholic temple in the city, situated on Rua Mateus Leme in the historic Largo da Ordem. Nearby, visitors can discover the Espaço Cultural Capela Santa Maria and Casa João Turin, as well as the Museu Alfredo Andersen.

Football Stadiums: Arena da Baixada and Estádio Couto Pereira

Sports fans can visit the Arena da Baixada in the Água Verde neighborhood, the largest stadium in Paraná with a capacity of over 42,000 spectators. Originally built in 1914 and completely rebuilt between 2012 and 2014 for the FIFA World Cup, it features South America’s first retractable roof. Meanwhile, in the Alto da Glória neighborhood, the Estádio Couto Pereira has served as the home ground of Coritiba Foot Ball Club since its inauguration on November 15, 1932.

Explore Curitiba with Neywo

To make the most of your visit, a Curitiba self-guided walking tour offers an ideal way to navigate the streets. Whether you are planning a Curitiba audio guide itinerary or looking for a free walking tour Curitiba experience, Neywo provides 4 walking tours, 1 bus route, and 1 bike route across the city.

The app features 71 narrated places distributed across tours ranging from 1.96 km to 8.4 km in length, taking anywhere from 10 minutes to 112 minutes to complete. The app tells the story of each landmark as you reach it, allowing you to explore entirely at your own pace with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.

Before or after your time here, you can also explore other destinations across the country through the main Brazil guide, or plan trips to nearby cities like Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Fortaleza, Manaus, Belém, Olinda, Ouro Preto, and Paraty.