Curitiba

A botanical garden opened in 1991 whose iron and glass greenhouse and French-style flowerbeds became the city's postcard. Entry is free, and a queue often forms on the steps above the beds for the photo of the greenhouse.

A theatre of steel tubing and a clear roof built over the pond of an abandoned quarry, opened in 1992. A bridge across the water leads to the door, and through the walls you can see a waterfall spilling down the quarry cliff.

An art museum whose giant eye-shaped gallery rests on a single pillar, designed by Niemeyer when he was past ninety. The gallery inside the eye is reached through an underground passage and a ramp.

The old square holding the city's oldest church, built in 1737, with colonial-era buildings still around it. On Sunday fair days, stalls run from the square right down the lanes below.

In 1972 this downtown street became Brazil's first to ban cars and hand itself over to walkers. Its paving stones carry a Parana pine cone pattern, a motif the city uses on its pavements as an emblem.

A park made by joining two quarries, where a clifftop lookout gazes down on an artificial waterfall and lake. A tunnel through the rock connects the two lakes, and at sunset the lookout railing fills shoulder to shoulder.

The residents' favourite lakeside park, where herds of capybaras graze on the grass paying no mind to people. They do not run when approached, but feeding them is forbidden.

A tourist train descending from Curitiba to the coastal village of Morretes through the Atlantic forest of the Serra do Mar. Mist often hides the views on some days, and seats must be booked in advance.

An island off the Parana coast with no cars, so people walk sandy paths between the lighthouse and the beaches. The island limits how many may land each day, so in high season visitors take an early morning boat.

Inside Tingui Park stands a wooden church modelled on those of rural Ukraine. Its several domes cluster together, and inside it displays painted Easter egg craftwork.

A wooded park created after John Paul II's 1980 visit to honour Polish settlers, with 19th-century log houses built by immigrants moved here and re-erected. Inside are old farm tools and household gear, and the Niemeyer museum next door makes an easy pairing.

A forest park honouring German settlers. Along its trail, panels tell the Hansel and Gretel story scene by scene, a fun walk with children. At the top a small timber chapel named for Bach hosts concerts, and a lookout gazes over the city.

A 19th-century stone-paved road twisting down the Serra do Mar from upland Curitiba toward coastal Morretes and Antonina. Rest stops with barbecue grills line its Atlantic forest stretch, and a common plan is train down, car back up this way.

A market opened in 1958, gathering cheese, mate, immigrant breads and sausages, and fruit under one roof. One section sells only organic produce, and the upstairs food court packs out with nearby office staff at lunchtime.

A state park about 100km west of Curitiba near Ponta Grossa, where wind and rain have carved red sandstone into pillars and towers standing in clusters on the grassland. The best known looks like a goblet, and visits follow marked trails.

An Art Nouveau building raised as city hall in 1916 on Praca Generoso Marques. Now a cultural centre staging exhibitions and performances, it has a ground-floor cafe whose windows look out on the square and its flower stalls.