bridge
Rio-Niterói Bridge
13 km box-girder giant striding across Guanabara Bay: the longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere at its opening in 1974, with sweeping views of Rio's skyline.
7 km · about 10 min drive
South AmericaBrazilRio de Janeiro
Niterói
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · South America
About Niterói
Niterói works well as a base: 15 minutes from São Gonçalo, 7km from Rio-Niterói Bridge.
Niterói is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with about 460,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is São Gonçalo, about 8 km away.
Niterói (English: NEE-tə-ROY, NIT-ə-ROY, Brazilian Portuguese: [niteˈɾɔj]) is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in the southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forming part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. It was the capital of Rio deRead more
Janeiro, as marked by its golden mural crown, from 1834 to 1894 and again from 1903 to 1975. It has an estimated population of 515,317 inhabitants (2020) and an area of 129.375 km2 (49.952 sq mi), making it the fifth most populous city in the state. It has the highest Human Development Index in the state and the seventh highest among Brazil's municipalities in 2010. Individually, it is the municipality with the second highest average monthly household income per capita in Brazil and appears in 13th place among the municipalities of the country according to social indicators related to education. The city has the nicknames of Cidade Sorriso (Smile City).
Studies by the Getulio Vargas Foundation in June 2011 classified Niterói as the richest city in Brazil, with 55.7% of the population classified as class A. Considering classes A and B, Niterói also appears in the first place, with 85.9% of the population in these classes. According to 2010 data from IBGE, Niterói's nominal gross domestic product was 11.2 billion reais, being the fifth municipality with the highest gross domestic product of the state. The city is the second-largest formal employer in the state of Rio de Janeiro, although it ranks 5th in terms of population. The city is one of the main financial, commercial and industrial centers in the state of Rio de Janeiro, being the 12th among the 100 best Brazilian cities to do business.
Niterói was founded on 22 November 1573 by the Tupi chief Arariboia, who later was forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism and was given the Christian name of Martim Afonso, after the Portuguese explorer Martim Afonso de Sousa, making it the only Brazilian city to have been founded by a non-Christian, non-assimilated indigenous person.
The municipality contains part of the 2,400-hectare (5,900-acre) Serra da Tiririca State Park, created in 1991.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Niterói?
Within an hour or so of Niterói: Rio-Niterói Bridge (7 km), Museu do Amanhã (8 km), Confeitaria Colombo (8 km), Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) (9 km).
Where is Niterói?
Niterói is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about 8 km from São Gonçalo.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 456,456
- Continent
- South America
- Country
- Brazil
- Region
- Rio de Janeiro
- Timezone
- America/Sao_Paulo
- Coordinates
- -22.8833, -43.1036
Tags
Worth the detour from Niterói
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
museum
Museu do Amanhã
Science museum by Santiago Calatrava on Rio's revitalised Praça Mauá waterfront, adjacent to the port district drive.
8 km · about 15 min drive
cafe
Confeitaria Colombo
An 1894 Rio patisserie of Belgian mirrors, Portuguese tiles and jacaranda cabinets, built when the city was flush with coffee money and still serving pastel de nata under a vast stained-glass skylight.
8 km · about 15 min drive
scenic viewpoint
Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)
A granite peak rising 396 meters from Guanabara Bay, reached by cable car with sweeping views of Rio's beaches, mountains, and cityscape.
9 km · about 15 min drive
photogenic
Escadaria Selaron
A staircase between Lapa and Santa Teresa covered by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron in over 2,000 tiles sent from 60 countries, worked on daily from 1990 until his death in 2013.
9 km · about 15 min drive
tunnel
Rebouças Tunnel
Twin-bore road tunnel under the Tijuca massif linking Rio's South Zone to the North Zone, about 2.8 kilometres long.
12 km · about 20 min drive
beach
Copacabana Beach
Rio de Janeiro's legendary four-kilometre stretch of sand framed by dramatic mountains and buzzing with energy.
13 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Christ the Redeemer
Towering 30-metre Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ atop Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro.
13 km · about 25 min drive
Driving roads near Niterói
- Right hereRio-Niterói Bridge13 km box-girder giant striding across Guanabara Bay: the longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere at its opening in 1974, with sweeping views of Rio's skyline.
- Right hereSugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)A granite peak rising 396 meters from Guanabara Bay, reached by cable car with sweeping views of Rio's beaches, mountains, and cityscape.
- Right hereRebouças TunnelTwin-bore road tunnel under the Tijuca massif linking Rio's South Zone to the North Zone, about 2.8 kilometres long.
- 18 kmVista ChinesaA pagoda-style belvedere built in 1903 in the Tijuca forest, giving a framed view over the Lagoa, Corcovado, Ipanema and Sugarloaf. Reachable by car on the Estrada da Vista Chinesa.
When to drive here
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.
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