Flamengo Park

A modernist park built on the bay, Flamengo Park, known locally as the Aterro do Flamengo, stretches for well over a kilometre of reclaimed land along the shore of Guanabara Bay between central Rio de Janeiro and the districts of Flamengo and Botafogo. Opened in 1965 on landfill created from a levelled hill, it is the largest such waterfront park in the city and a constant hub of open-air recreation.

Its design bears a famous signature. The landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx shaped the plantings and sinuous forms, working with the botanist Luiz Emygdio and the architect Affonso Reidy to create a sweeping composition of lawns, palm groves and curving paths that reads as a work of modernist art laid across the shoreline.

Sport and culture share the greenery. Football pitches, courts, cycle paths and jogging tracks fill with activity at weekends, when a section of road closes to cars. The angular Museum of Modern Art stands at the northern end, the soaring Monument to the Dead of the Second World War rises nearby, and the paths frame classic views across the water to Sugarloaf Mountain. A marina, the adjacent Santos Dumont city airport and small beaches edge the reclaimed land, and playgrounds and skate areas make it a favourite family destination on car-free Sundays.

Entry is free and the park runs alongside the bay within easy reach of the city centre and the beach neighbourhoods, served by metro stations just inland. The drier, brighter months of the southern spring, from September to November, offer pleasant conditions, and daytime weekends are the liveliest and safest time to visit. The terrain is flat and largely paved, comfortable for wheelchairs, prams and cyclists, though visitors are advised to stay in busy areas and mind their belongings.