Hiking in Niteroi Page Content Don't put anything here Don't put anything here Page Name (for URL) Page Title Breadcrumb Text Last weekend a friend took us for a hike in Niterói, a city across the Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. The bridge connecting Rio and Niterói is a bit longer than the Bay Bridge in SF (about 8 miles [according to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio-Niter%C3%B3i_Bridge)), but it is also more out of the way when coming from Rio's Zona Sul, so it's a bit more of a drive - a bit like going from SF to Oakland via the San-Mateo Bridge. Cariocas sometimes say that the only nice thing about Niterói is the view of Rio. Even if so, it would be worth mentioning that it's a truly spectacular view, the kind of view of Rio you can't actually get from anywhere in Rio itself. (The view from Corcovado is as good, but then it's largely a view of Niterói.) However, it's not *just* a view of Rio - Niterói's Icaraí beech actually provides a beautiful framing for the view. As a beach it also looks just as attractive as Ipanema, but is not fit for swimming as it faces the polluted bay rather than the ocean. People also say that the city itself has a nice mellow atmosphere, which I hope to explore at some point. Last week, however, rather than chilling at Icaraí we did a hike up a mountain to the City Park of Niterói (Parque da Cidade), from which the view was even more striking. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best weather for pictures, but I took a few anyway. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_016_4512 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_023_1815 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_036_9833 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_040_7212 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_032_1839 2005-07-31-c-niteroi-view/20050731_045_6236 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> While it's a bit hard to see through the fog, the view includes all the main geological landmarks of Rio stacked one behind another: [Pão de Açucar](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/rio/albums/20040119-b-corcovado/20040119_063_1765), [Corcovado](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/rio/albums/20040119-b-corcovado/20040119_055_6601), Pedra da Gavea and [Does Irmãos](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/rio/albums/2004-01-09-a-ipanema/20040109_001_1762). Another picture shows a strip of land separating the Charitas beach from a lake, which I found strangely similar to the view of [Ipanema from Corcovado](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/rio/albums/20040119-b-corcovado/20040119_054_9145). There were many people paragliding from the top of the mountain. Here are also a few pictures along the trail. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_002_3426 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_004_1250 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_007_4607 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_009_2660 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_052_5175 2005-07-31-b-niteroi-trail/20050731_059_9830 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Don't put anything here Don't put anything here Advanced Fields Category 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014E. AsiaE. EuropeL's FamilyL's FriendsN. AmericaN. EuropeS. AmericaS. AsiaW. EuropeY & LY's FamilyY's Friends Prototype Redirect Permissions0 Actions Config Markup Module HTML/Meta/Keywords HTML/Meta/Description Save Hook HTML Fields Main Head Body Header Menu Logo Page Content Template Sidebar Footer Tags Allowed for XSSFilter HTTP Fields Cache-Control Expires Guru Fields Templates Translations Fields Edit UI Admin Edit UI Don't put anything here A summary of your changes Edit Summary Don't put anything here save preview cancel