Recife is like this: a place full of curiosities, cultural representations and paths to unravel. And Boa Viagem district, where the hotels, the beach and Shopping Recife are, is a great starting point to initiate your discovery around the city. Ready to know Recife?
Tour 1: Boa Viagem Beach Front, Square and Dona Lindu Park
Recife Postcard, Boa Viagem seashore is the address of many of the best hotels from the capital. It was not for less: there are eight kilometers - including neighboring beach Pina until the meeting with Brasília Teimosa - of sidewalk and white sandy beach interspersing with sports court, bicycle path, skate park, children’s playground and the famous coconut stalls. On the seashore, street vendors bring joy to whoever enjoys the sun: there are bean broth, curdled cheese, raspa-raspa, caipirosca... Stretch your beach towel and enjoy your piece of land. On Saturdays, some spots are overcrowded. Pay attention to the warning signs about sharks: don’t go into deep water nor go when it is turbid. Enjoy the low tide, the areas with reefs (there they are!), the showers and the impeccable view.
Walking more to the south, there are two things that fully pleases the tourists: Boa Viagem Square and Dona Lindu Park. The first one has as a highlight the church dedicated to the saint who gives the district its name, Our Lady of Boa Viagem, dated of 17th century. The temple hosts religious events, soif you’re lucky to find it open, get in and make three wishes that travelers are granted when entering a church for the first time. Then, move around to the crafts fair.
Going further by the sidewalk, Dona Lindu Park can be sighted. The cultural complex has Janete Costa Gallery, that houses temporary exhibitions and Luiz Mendonça Theater. It is the second equipment from the state signed by Oscar Nienmeyer. The sinuous lines and park design point out the peculiar characteristics from one of the greatest Brazilian architects. There is still a skateboarding rink in a bowl shape, a multi-sports court, a jogging track and a children’s playground.
Tour 2: Bairro do Recife, where everything has started
Heart of Recife and a mandatory destination of any tour around the capital from Pernambuco, Bairro do Recife is originated from the 16th century, right at the beginning of the city’s history. Last decade, it got new and good equipments, such as Cais do Sertão Cultural Complex, that is, today, one of the main museums from Recife. Divided in two modules, with an auditorium, a permanent exhibition - with Luiz Gonzaga collection and pieces highlighting the culture from people from bushlands - and temporary exhibitions, Cais is an unmissable visit. Save two hours and a half at least to visit it with the necessary calm that it deserves. After leaving, right next to it, go to Craft Center of Pernambuco. There are great options of popular art crafted all over the state. It’s going to be hard to choose the right piece to take home.
Extend your visit going to Paço do Frevo, another recent building and equally celebrated by the people from Pernambuco, located in Arsenal da Marinha Square. The museum offers a true class about the official rhythim of Recife’s revelry, considered Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco. Inside the building, dated from 19th century, is Maestro Guerra Peixe Documentation Center, where scores, objects, books and researches about frevo are kept. Besides offering data to researchers cautiously, the space celebrates the history of Carnival displaying banners from the main carnival associations, parts of famous frevos and some information about the life of the characters responsible to perpetuate the genre, which is music and dance. Lose your shyness and dance frevo. And get ready to be taken by the willing to schedule a visit to next Carnival.
After a tour around the historical Bom Jesus Street, the next stop is the famous Marco Zero. Stage for great events, such as the Carnival, it is spotted today by the wind rose designed by Cícero Dias, a modernist visual artist. The best time to visit it is at the end of the afternoon, when the breeze invites us to sit on the wall, gaze at the sea and Francisco Brennand Sculptures Park in the background bathed with the colors that the sunset provides to the secular buildings around the square.
Tour 3: Downtown: about São José Market, São Pedro Patio and churches
The city’s downtown is, overall, a very curious place to visit. There is a varied trade, people walking around everywhere and it is usually in the oldest part of the destination. In pernambuco’s capital, it’s exactly like this. Spreading across districts like Santo Antônio, São José and Boa Vista, Recife’s Downtown gathers in the same proportion trade and history, existing in the narrow streets and full of churches, patios and old houses. To optimize your time travel, it is possible to limit your tour to the districts of São José and Santo Antônio.
São Pedro Patio, with the majestic São Pedro dos Clérigos Council, can be the starting point. Traditional stage for cultural events and people from recifense’s nightlife, the Patio has some small restaurants and bars. It is also worthy to visit the temple, originally built in 18th century and recently renovated, drawing attention from the distance due to its monumental gate with an exquisite stonework. On the inside is even more beautiful. It is possible to go up until the tower to have a unique view of Recife. In the surroundings, there are other highlighted religious buildings, like Santa Rita, São José do Ribamar and São José Churches.
The final destination is the traditional São José Market. Its project was led by the French architect Louis Léger Vauthier, also responsible for Santa Isabel Theater, another pernambucano patrimony. The market’s architecture is in iron, typical from 19th century. It was opened in 1875, it is landmarked and offers a little of everything: from fish to meat and handicrafts to religious items. The surroundings are full of marketers, so it is possible to try the varieties of Northeastern fruits: purple mombin, cashew, Brazilian cherry, acerola, yellow mombin, pitomba... The flavor of the ride will be the one of seasonal fruit.
Tour 4: Olinda, beautiful
From Shopping Recife, it is still possible to get a bus or a taxi and go straight to Olinda, the sister city which is World Heritage by Unesco. A must destination among 10 of 10 tourists who visit Recife, in Olinda there is a Toyota ride that allows you go through the main touristic points without tiring the shins. A visit to Cidade Alta is a one-day tour. There is São Bento Monastery, Alto da Sé, the Observatory, Ribeira, Mamulengo Museum (Olinda is considered the homeland of the dolls), the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Giant Doll’s House.
Speaking of them, the Midnight Man, the most famous, has the office open to visitation at Largo do Amparo, where it is possible to know the history and the mysticism that involves the most beloved calunga from the Olinda’s revelry. Going down the slopes, moving towards 27 de Janeiro Street, in Carmo, the stop must be at Pitombeira dos Quatro Cantos’ office, another traditional association that receives the revelers and tourists the whole year. There is a permanent exhibition of several banners already used by carnival mockery created in 1947. Are you tired of walking? Choose one of the charming restaurants and cafés in the city and enjoy the view of that city whose name comes from the beauty that it squanders. It is told that the first grantee of the capitaincy of Pernambuco, Duarte Coelho, while observing the region from Alto da Sé, declared: “Oh, linda (Oh, beautiful) situation to build a village!”. And that’s why it’s called Olinda.
Tour 5: Várzea of museus: RBI and Brennand Workshop
In the surroundings of Universidade Federal de Pernambuco campus, far from the area traditionally know as touristic, there are two attractives that lead the tourists more and more to know this west zone region from Recife. The first one is Ricardo Brennand Institute (RBI), considered the best museum from South America. With a permanent touristic collection that assembles the greatest private collection of melee weapons in the world, and also works of art from different backgrounds and times - tapestry collection, decorative art, paintings and furnitures - the complex gathers São João Castle, art gallery, a library and gardens full of sculptures. The buildings has a medieval gothic style. Another attraction is Brennand Workshop, created in the ruins of an old pottery, from 1971. With a vast green area, surrounded by remnants of Atlantic rainforest and by Capibaribe River, the workshop offers a landscape of rare beauty, with ceramic sculptures of all sizes, spread across gardens and open spans. The whole collection is signed by Francisco Brennand, one of the leading exponents of Brazilian visual arts. Go in a sunny, enlightened day and practice contemplation. At the end, have a seat for a coffee and appreciate one of the pieces of the master potter in the souvenirs store.