Brazil 2 week travel itinerary for Architecture Lovers

Brazil is a treasure trove for architecture enthusiasts. From the pioneering modernist works of Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa to inventive contemporary spaces and historical colonial legacies, Brazil’s cities offer a rich architectural journey. This two-week itinerary takes you through four of the country’s most compelling urban centers: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Brasilia - the country's purpose-built capital and a modernist masterpiece.

São Paulo → Rio de Janeiro → Belo Horizonte → Brasília → São Paulo

Day 1: Modernist Icons on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo

Morning: Arrive in São Paulo and check into your hotel. For design-savvy travelers, staying in Jardins or near Avenida Paulista gives you direct access to major cultural institutions and urban architecture. After settling in, make your way to the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP). This is one of the most important art museums in Latin America, both for its bold, glass-and-concrete structure suspended by red piers (designed by Lina Bo Bardi) and for its exceptional collection of European, African, and Brazilian art.

Afternoon: Have lunch on Avenida Paulista, a hub of business towers and postmodern architecture. Dine at Capim Santo or Spot, both offering sleek interiors and Brazilian fusion cuisine. Afterward, take time to explore the Instituto Moreira Salles, a contemporary cultural center known for its striking metallic design and rotating exhibitions on photography, architecture, and urban studies.

Evening: Head to Vila Madalena, one of São Paulo’s trendiest neighborhoods, for a walk through Beco do Batman, a vibrant alleyway of murals and graffiti art. This open-air gallery is a vivid contrast to São Paulo’s concrete-heavy skyline and shows how the city blends formal and informal artistic expression. Dine at A Casa do Porco (Michelin-recommended) for a modern take on traditional Brazilian pork dishes.

Day 2: Art, Markets, and Colonial Foundations

Morning: Visit the Pinacoteca do Estado, housed in a restored neoclassical building designed by Ramos de Azevedo and modernized by Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The museum showcases Brazilian art from the 19th century to contemporary times and is a landmark in São Paulo’s urban renewal efforts. Walk through Jardim da Luz outside, one of the city's oldest public parks.

Afternoon: From the museum, head to Mercado Municipal de São Paulo, a 1933 building with stained-glass panels designed by Russian artist Sorgenicht Conrad Filho. Try the famed mortadella sandwich and pastel de bacalhau.

Then continue to Centro Histórico. Visit Catedral da Sé, a neo-Gothic cathedral that took over 40 years to complete, and admire the mix of colonial and early republican architecture around Pátio do Colégio, São Paulo’s birthplace.

Evening: Explore the Liberdade neighborhood, home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan. The area features distinctive torii gates, lantern-lit streets, and modernist Japanese-Brazilian fusion architecture. End the night with cocktails and panoramic skyline views at Skye Bar, located atop the wave-shaped Hotel Unique, another Lina Bo Bardi-influenced icon.

Day 3: Ibirapuera Park and São Paulo’s Architectural Legacy

Morning to Afternoon:Dedicate your day to Ibirapuera Park, a masterpiece of modernist urban planning. Designed by landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx and Oscar Niemeyer, the park is home to several cultural landmarks:

• Auditório Ibirapuera – An abstract red-marquee auditorium by Niemeyer. Check if there's a daytime rehearsal or exhibition.

• Oca – A UFO-like white dome hosting rotating art exhibits.

• Museu Afro Brasil – With an architectural design echoing Brazilian institutionalism, this museum explores the African roots of Brazil’s culture.

• Museu de Arte Contemporânea (MAC) – Located in a Niemeyer-designed building opposite the park, MAC offers expansive views of the skyline from its rooftop terrace.

You can walk, rent a bike, or take a guided tour focused on the park’s design and cultural symbolism.

Evening:Wrap up the evening with a performance at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, a Beaux-Arts building modeled after the Paris Opera. It’s stunning inside and out, with ornate stained glass, marble columns, and gold leaf detailing. Book ahead for an opera, symphony, or ballet.

Day 4: Arrive in Rio de Janeiro and Explore Futuristic and Colonial Contrasts

Morning: Fly or take a bus to Rio de Janeiro and check into a hotel in Copacabana or Ipanema. These neighborhoods offer striking coastal views and mid-century modern apartment blocks that define Rio’s residential architecture.

Afternoon: Visit Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow), designed by Santiago Calatrava. This futuristic structure juts into Guanabara Bay like a space-age bird, with solar panels and natural cooling systems. Walk along Orla Conde, a revitalized stretch of the port, featuring landscaping by Burle Marx and bold urban interventions.

Evening: Take the cable car to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) just before sunset. The sleek 1970s-built station and cars offer a functionalist aesthetic, while the view of Rio’s sprawling geography reveals the interplay of city planning and nature. Dinner at Aprazível, set in a treehouse-style restaurant in Santa Teresa, adds a rustic-chic architectural experience to the night.

Day 5: Christ the Redeemer and Neoclassical Grandeur

Morning: Take the Trem do Corcovado through Tijuca Forest to the base of Christ the Redeemer. The Art Deco statue, designed by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and French sculptor Paul Landowski, is an engineering marvel and urban symbol.

Afternoon: Visit the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, a hidden gem downtown that exemplifies Portuguese Gothic Revival style, with a stained-glass dome and multi-tiered cast-iron bookcases. Then explore Lapa and Centro, home to the Metropolitan Cathedral, shaped like a conical Mayan pyramid, and the famous Arcos da Lapa, a preserved colonial aqueduct.

Evening: Experience Rio Scenarium, housed in a historic building filled with vintage furniture and antiques. This bar-meets-museum is an architectural delight and a great place to hear samba while admiring the mix of neocolonial, Belle Époque, and industrial elements.

Day 6: Modernist Parks and Hilltop Views

Morning: Hike Morro Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers Hill) from Vidigal, where you can observe the organic growth of favela architecture in contrast to Rio’s master-planned zones. At the summit, you'll have unparalleled views of the city's beach-lined coast and mountainous spine.

Afternoon: Visit Parque Lage, an urban mansion turned art school, framed by tropical gardens and centered around a neoclassical courtyard pool. It’s a contrast to the formalism of modernist structures nearby. Then stop by the Jardim Botânico, with imperial palm avenues and the classical greenhouse.

Evening: Take a sunset Guanabara Bay boat tour to see Rio from the water, passing iconic landmarks like the Museum of Tomorrow, the Rio-Niterói Bridge, and colonial forts. Dinner in Leme or Leblon lets you reflect on the day with oceanside architecture all around.

Day 7: Santa Teresa and Departure to Belo Horizonte

Morning: Explore Santa Teresa, Rio’s artistic hilltop neighborhood known for its narrow streets and belle époque mansions. Visit Parque das Ruínas, the ruins of a 19th-century mansion now turned into a cultural center, blending historic masonry with steel-and-glass modern additions. The structure offers a example of adaptive reuse in architecture.

Afternoon: Lunch at Café do Alto and enjoy traditional Northeastern dishes in a colonial setting. Afterwards, head to Santos Dumont Airport for a short flight to Belo Horizonte.

Evening: Upon arrival in Belo Horizonte, check into a hotel in Savassi, a stylish district with modernist commercial buildings and lively pedestrian zones. If you're up for it, explore Praça da Liberdade under night lighting and admire the illuminated Niemeyer-designed Edifício Niemeyer, a curving residential tower that exemplifies his signature sculptural approach to concrete.

Day 8: Pampulha Modern Ensemble – Niemeyer’s Early Masterpiece

Morning: Start your day in Pampulha, the lakeside district where Oscar Niemeyer, Roberto Burle Marx, and Cândido Portinari began their iconic collaboration. Visit the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis, a small but revolutionary chapel with its parabolic concrete vault, ceramic tile mosaics, and interior frescoes—all elements that shocked the church establishment in the 1940s. Nearby, the Casa do Baile (Dance Hall) is a small circular structure surrounded by a sinuous promenade designed for social events, now a center for urbanism exhibitions.

Afternoon: Walk the Pampulha Lagoon circuit to see additional Niemeyer works, like the Casino (now the Pampulha Art Museum) and the Yacht Club. The master plan reflects the beginnings of Brazilian modernism as an expressive, sculptural, yet human-centered movement. Note how Burle Marx’s gardens curve and contrast with the strict geometry of European modernism.

Evening: Dinner in Lourdes or Savassi, where postwar residential buildings demonstrate early Brazilian modernist influence: pilotis, brise-soleils, and tiled façades dominate the skyline. Try Glouton for contemporary cuisine in a minimalist yet warm setting.

Day 9: Belo Horizonte’s Urban Core and Niemeyer’s Legacy

Morning: Explore Praça da Liberdade, a Beaux-Arts plaza surrounded by early 20th-century government buildings, many repurposed into cultural centers. Visit the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in an ornate neoclassical structure, then contrast it with Edifício Niemeyer, a residential tower with undulating curves that breaks entirely from vertical and horizontal grid norms.

Afternoon: Head to the Palácio das Artes, a brutalist cultural complex with galleries and theaters. Then stroll down Avenida Afonso Pena, where you’ll see the city’s characteristic blend of rationalist urban planning and organic expansion. The surrounding buildings represent waves of modernist adaptation—from the International Style to Tropical Brutalism.

Evening: Enjoy drinks at Albanos, a craft brewery housed in a restored industrial warehouse. The adaptive reuse design mixes raw concrete, steel, and preserved masonry, encapsulating the city's current architectural ethos.

Day 10: Travel to Brasília – A City Built from Scratch

Morning: Fly to Brasília, the purpose-built capital of Brazil and a living monument to modernist urban planning. Check into a hotel in the Setor Hoteleiro Sul or Asa Sul, both areas exemplifying Lucio Costa’s strict zoning plan and Niemeyer’s residential typologies.

Afternoon: Visit the Memorial JK, a monumental concrete and glass structure dedicated to President Juscelino Kubitschek. Designed by Niemeyer, it uses grand axial symmetry, reflecting Brasília’s formal urbanism. Then stroll through Eixo Monumental, the city’s main urban spine, and observe how buildings and open space interplay with Costa’s Plan Piloto.

Evening: Dine at Taypá or Mangai, restaurants known for bold design interiors that reinterpret regional materials in a contemporary context.

Day 11: The Civic Masterpieces of Brasília

Morning: Explore the Praça dos Três Poderes, home to Brazil’s federal institutions. Visit:

• Palácio do Planalto – Executive branch building, featuring floating ramps and reflecting pools.

• Congresso Nacional – Twin towers flanked by sculptural domes, housing the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

• Supremo Tribunal Federal – A minimalist structure raised on slender pilotis.

All buildings exemplify Niemeyer’s “monumental void” approach—emphasizing the drama of space and mass.

Afternoon: Tour the Catedral Metropolitana, a hyperboloid structure of curved concrete columns that converge like fingers pointing to the sky. The stained glass inside filters colored light onto the white marble floor, a sensory experience unlike any traditional cathedral. Also visit Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the president, a glass rectangle raised on modernist columns.

Evening: End with a visit to Pontão do Lago Sul, a leisure area on Lake Paranoá, to experience Brasília's attempt at balancing monumental form with livable waterfronts. Watch the sunset over the JK Bridge, a modern cable-stayed bridge with arched asymmetrical spans.

Day 12: Residential Superblocks and Human-Scale Urbanism

Morning: Take a guided tour of the Superquadras (superblocks)—residential clusters that reflect Brasília’s attempt to apply Le Corbusier’s principles to real life. Walk through Superquadra 308 Sul, considered the model block. You’ll see:

• Pilotis supporting communal structures.

• Brise-soleils and tiled façades.

• Public gardens by Burle Marx.

• Schools, shops, and libraries integrated into the neighborhood design.

Afternoon: Visit SESC Brasília, a social and cultural complex with Brutalist styling and a focus on inclusive design. Or opt for Itamaraty Palace, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where glass walls and water features create a transparent government aesthetic.

Evening: Relax at Santé 13 or IVV Swine Bar, which blend Brasília’s austere forms with cozy lighting and creative interiors. These newer restaurants occupy modernist buildings retrofitted for contemporary use.

Day 13: Return to São Paulo – Paulista Modernism Revisited

Morning: Fly back to São Paulo and check into a hotel in Pinheiros or Consolação, areas known for a mix of mid-century and contemporary urban developments.

Afternoon: Visit Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi, located in Casa de Vidro (Glass House)—Bo Bardi’s own residence in the forested Morumbi district. The home floats above the landscape on pilotis, showing her approach to organic modernism and adaptive reuse of materials.

Evening: Explore Rua Avanhandava, a cobblestone street retrofitted with European-style lamps, restored façades, and sidewalk cafés. It’s a case study in micro-scale urban revitalization in a megacity.

Day 14: Contemporary Brazilian Architecture and Creative Hubs

Morning: Tour SESC Pompéia, a factory-turned-cultural center redesigned by Lina Bo Bardi. This Brutalist icon features aerial walkways, exposed concrete, and flexible public space—her boldest urban intervention.

Afternoon: Explore Vila Leopoldina or Beco do Batman again for a look at how graffiti, design studios, and informal economies shape São Paulo’s present-day urban fabric. You may also want to stop by Instituto Tomie Ohtake, a striking purple-and-pink modern tower dedicated to contemporary art and architecture.

Evening: Farewell dinner at D.O.M. (by Alex Atala) or Tuju, Michelin-starred restaurants where the interiors are as carefully curated as the cuisine.

Day 15: Departure

Morning: Depending on your flight, grab breakfast at Padoca do Maní (inside a modernist villa) or browse Livraria Cultura, a bookstore in the Conjunto Nacional, one of the first mixed-use modernist blocks on Avenida Paulista.

If you have extra time, visit the Cidade Universitária campus (USP), home to a trove of modernist institutional buildings by Vilanova Artigas and other postwar architects.