Paraná - Lonely Planet

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Paraná
POP 10.4 MILLION
Why Go?
Curitiba........................261
Morretes.....................266
Paranaguá..................268
Ilha do Mel.................. 270
Iguaçu Falls &
Around........................ 274
Best Places to
Eat
¨¨Manu (p263)
¨¨Barolo (p263)
¨¨Fim da Trilha (p273)
¨¨Mar e Sol (p272)
Since its 1853 succession from São Paulo state, Paraná has
been endlessly compared with its larger neighbor to the north.
Indeed, the two share a slew of superlatives, rating among Brazil’s highest standards of living and best educated populations.
With its efficient public transportation, innovative architecture and outstanding urban parks, the capital, Curitiba,
exemplifies the state’s successes. Though no tourism magnet, the city’s air of European culture and excellent restaurants make for a nice dose of Brazil at its most developed.
Sunbathers and surfers sigh for Ilha do Mel and Parque
Nacional do Superagüi, where large swaths of unspoiled
rainforest and pristine coastline make for some of the least
developed and most idyllic beaches in southern Brazil.
But it’s Iguaçu Falls that has always earned the wonder
and admiration of travelers, from indigenous tribes to Jesuit
missionaries to modern-day tourists. The awe it inspires
cannot be overstated.
¨¨Vó Bertila (p277)
Best Places to
Sleep
¨¨Hotel das Cataratas (p276)
When to Go
Foz do Iguaçu
¨¨Motter Home (p262)
30/86
¨¨Hostel Natura (p274)
20/68
¨¨Grajagan Surf Resort
10/50
(p272)
¨¨Curitiba Eco Hostel (p262)
Rainfall inches/mm
°C/°F Temp
40/104
20/500
16/400
12/300
8/200
0/32
4/100
0
J
F
M
May & Sep Off
peak prices and
crowds coupled
with tolerable
weather at Iguaçu
Falls.
A
M
J
J
A
Dec–Feb Peak
season brings
the sunshine at
Iguaçu Falls and
Ilha do Mel.
S
O
N
D
Aug Retreating
cold and mugginess in Curitiba
makes for comfortable days.
History
Like much of southern Brazil, Paraná was
neglected by the Portuguese colonists; even
a brief gold rush in the 17th century withered
when bigger finds were discovered in Minas
Gerais. When Paraná seceded from São Paulo
in 1853, the economy was based on cattle
and erva maté (tea), and the government encouraged Italian immigration to develop the
economy. Waves of Germans, Ukrainians and
Poles followed. With immigration and railroad construction, Curitiba developed into
one of the country’s richest cities.
88 Getting There & Around
Curitiba is the state’s transportation hub, with bus
and air services to every major city in Brazil. A passenger train links Curitiba with the coastal town of
Paranaguá. Foz do Iguaçu also has a small international airport and direct bus service to São Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro and every big city in the South.
54ºW
Pa Rio
ra
ná
Porto
São José
Mato
Grosso
do Sul
Rio
Apucarana
Cianorte
BR
092
BR
151
Ponta
Grossa
Cascavel
Parque
BR
Laranjeiras
277
do Sul
Itaipu Nacional
do
Iguaçu
Rio I
Dam
guaç
u
Garganta do
BR
70
Diablo
Francisco
Beltrão
26ºS RN Iguaçu
RN
12 Falls
Pato
101
Branco
ARGENTINA Bernardo
RP
de
Irigoyen
17
54ºW
52ºW
277
Vila Velha
Guarapuava
Represa
de Foz
do Areia
e
ra d ba
Ser apiaca
Apiaí
an
116
Par
é
376
BR
Foz do
Iguaçu
151
ar
BR
Itapetininga
São Paul
Capão
Itapeva Bonito
24ºS
BR
tar
Campo
Mourão
BR
369
Avaré
BR
270
Rio Negro
BR
Cananéia
Parque Nacional do
Superagüi
Parque Estadual
Marumbi
Antonina
Curitiba
Ilha
Paranaguá do Mel
BR
476
BR
376
Mafra
Santa Catarina
Joinville
50ºW
Guaratuba
26ºS
Ilha de São
Francisco
48ºW
Paraná Highlights
1 Experience Mother
Nature’s heart-stopping
and thunderous roar from
above and below Garganta
do Diablo (p281) at Iguaçu
Falls.
2 Drench yourself
under one of world’s most
magnificent waterfalls on
an Iguaçu Falls (p281)
riverboat trip.
3 Ride the rails on the
6 Appreciate art and
4 Laze about the wild
7 Indulge in a Michelin-
Serra Verde Express (p268)
to Morretes, one of Brazil’s
last great train rides.
beaches and sandy trails of
car-free Ilha do Mel (p270).
5 Marvel at the ancient
‘stone city’ of Vila Velha
(p267).
eye-popping architecture
at Curitiba’s Museu Oscar
Niemeyer (p262).
level meal for a fraction of
the price at Curitiba’s Manu
(p263), the South’s hottest
new restaurant.
8 Marvel at the jaw-
dropping engneering feat of
Itaipu Dam (p283).
Par aná C
Gu
U
etting
r Iitiba
R
T I B A T h e r e & A r o und
Maringá
Ourinhos
100 km
50 miles
oI
PARAGUAY
BR
369
Iva
0
0
Ri
Lagoa
de Itaipu
Pi Rio
qu
iri
50ºW
agi
Guaíra
While not necessarily sexy, Curitiba has long
garnered praise for being one of the world’s
best models of urban planning. If it weren’t
for the bold initiatives of its three-term
mayor, Jaime Lerner, whose daring moves
in early 1970s – transforming a six-block
length of the downtown into a pedestrian
zone (done in secret under the cover of darkness), creating five express-bus avenues with
futuristic tubular boarding platforms, encouraging recycling and sustainable design
long before it was fashionable and planting
trees and creating parks on an enormous
scale – Curitiba would probably resemble
any other Brazilian city. Instead, it’s the
envy of the urban planners the world over
and Brazil’s most efficient city. Today, it’s
easier to get around Curitiba than any other
large city in Brazil. The city has also taken
Tib
Cruzeiro
d'Oeste
24ºS
% 0XX41
Rio
Umuarama
CURITIBA
52ºW
Represa
Capivara
Paranavaí
Londrina
Tropic of Capricorn i
261