Rio Grande

Rio Grande is the oldest city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the most important port city in the state and has one of the most important maritime ports in Brazil. It's also the former state capital from 1835 to 1845.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Rio Grande Airport (RIG  ^IATA Gustavo Cramer Airport). Receives regular daily flights from Porto Alegre and Pelotas.  

By car

• from Porto Alegre, take the BR-116
• from Pelotas, take the BR-392.

See

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church

• 1 Oceanographic Museum (Museu Oceanográfico Prof. Eliezer de Carvalho Rios), Rua Heitor Perdigão, 10, ☏ +55 53 3231-3496. tu-su, 9h - 11h30 and 14h - 17h30. Maintains a public exhibition on the life and dynamics of the marine ecosystem and its relationship with the environment, presented in panels, models and various equipment used in oceanographic research. Several thousands of shells, which are part of the museum's collection of molluscs, the biggest and most important in South America. Adjacent to the Antarctic Museum, a reproduction of the first installations of the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station, which houses a collection of panels, photos, equipment over Antarctica and some objects used by Brazilians, detailing the history of the conquest of that continent, the dynamics of the sea and life at the South Pole, and the Brazilian effort to maintain a base in its inhospitable environment . Also a collection of geological and biological samples from Antarctica. 
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (Igreja Nossa Senhora do Monte Carmelo). 
• 2 Rio Grande Library (Bibliotheca Rio-Grandense), Rua General Osório, 454, ☏ +55 53 3231-2842, contato@bibliotecariograndense.com.br. Founded in 1846. 
• 3 St. Peter Cathedral (Catedral de São Pedro). Built in 1755, refurbished in 1997. Very fine collection of sacred art from 18th and 19th centuries.  
• 4 Tamandaré Square (Praça Tamandaré). Reputed to be the state's biggest city square. Its centerpiece is a massive monumental tomb of civil war hero Bento Gonçalves. 
• 5 Old Customs House (Prédio da Alfândega), R. Mal. Floriano Peixoto, 300, ☏ +55 53 3234-4000. Built in 1804 in Neoclassical style. In the 70s and 80s, the building underwent restoration works. Its premises today house the Receita Federal (IRS) and the Historical Museum of the City of Rio Grande. 

Eat

• Restaurante Paladar, Av. Silva Paes, 285, ☏ +55 53 3035-6021. Self-service by the kilo. 
• Churrascaria Leão do Parque, Av. Pres. Vargas, 516, Parque, ☏ +55 53 3231-6466. Barbecue restaurant. 
• Plaza Grill, R. Gen. Bacelar, 457, ☏ +55 53 3231-8558. Self-service buffet. 
• Ai Ling Yen, R. Luiz Lorea, 389, ☏ +55 53 3232-5581. Chinese food. 

Sleep

Budget

• Hotel Taufik, Rua Gen. Neto, 20, ☏ +55 53 3231-3755, fax: +55 53 3232-7657. /. 

Mid-range

• Hotel Atlântico Cidade, Rua Duque de Caxias, 55, ☏ +55 53 3231-3833. 
• Hotel Villa Moura, Rua Gen. Neto, 165, ☏ +55 53 3231-3933.