The Promenade of the Naval Heroes (Paseo de los Héroes Navales) is located a few blocks south of Plaza San Martín in the UNESCO World Heritage listed historic city center of Lima. It’s a long park filled with sculptures, bushes, and flowers.
I’ll be honest. There’s not a whole lot to see in Miraflores, but I love the vibe of this upscale Lima neighborhood. For me, it’s the best place to stay, has some great places to eat, shopping, beaches, and a lot of entertainment options. It’s also easy to get around on foot in Miraflores.
A short walk uphill from Plaza de Armas in Cusco is a much smaller plaza, Plazoleta Nazarenas. There are a few historic buildings around the square that have been refurbished for modern uses.
The main points of interest in Belo Horizonte lie typically at Liberty Square (Praça da Liberdade) in the city center. The square is filled with trees, plants, and fountains and is a nice place to sit and relax.
Avenida Paulista is the most famous street in São Paulo. Its 2.8km is lined with tall office buildings, banks, and shopping malls. It’s often compared to Fifth Avenue in New York, but it’s more of a business and financial center than anything. It also boasts the most expensive real estate in all of Latin America.
When in São Paulo, Brazil, it’s great to hop on the Metrô to Liberdade, home of the biggest Japanese community outside of Japan.
The title says it all. It’s not that São Paulo is short on things to see, it’s just that the quality of things to see isn’t that great. I was expecting a whole lot more for a city so big. Granted, I didn’t visit Parque Iberapuera, one of the main attractions, but I don’t think that would’ve swayed me into liking São Paulo. Should you skip São Paulo? No, but don’t spend too much time here. Two days is more than enough to cover everything of note.
Just outside of Foz do Iguaçu is Itaipu Binacional. It’s the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world in terms of generating energy. If you are interested in engineering, it’s well worth a visit.
On a small hill just outside of the historic town of Paraty sits Fort Perpetual Defender (Forte Defensor Perpétuo), the site of a 19th century fort. The road to the fort is a dirt path that’s a short, pleasant walk through a forest. The walk to the fort provides decent views of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Paraty.
An important square to visit in Rio de Janeiro’s city center is Cinelândia. The official name of the square is Floriano Peixoto Square (Praça Floriano Peixoto), named after a Brazilian soldier and politician who has a monument dedicated to him in the center of the square.