Question 1

Paranaguá on Your Own

Accepted Answer

A day on your own in Paranaguá means the colonial center: the riverfront street, the old churches, two markets and the university museum. A boat to Ilha do Mel is possible on a long call, but the crossing from the city takes about an hour and a half each way. The riverfront: Rua da Praia, the street along the water, has the city's biggest group of colonial buildings, including the former customs house. The university museum: The Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Federal University of Paraná occupies the old Jesuit college at Rua XV de Novembro 575 and shows temporary exhibitions. It opens Tuesday to Sunday; check opening times and what is on before you go. The churches: The cathedral, still called the Igreja Matriz, stands on Largo Monsenhor Celso, and the Church of São Benedito is on Rua Conselheiro Sinimbu. The markets: The city market, the Mercado Municipal, is on Rua João Estevão, and the crafts market, the Mercado do Artesanato, is on Rua General Carneiro. Keep valuables out of sight: Avoid wearing expensive jewelry or watches, carry little cash, and do not use your phone openly in the street. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so if you go out to Ilha do Mel, check the return boat times before you leave the city.

Question 2

Getting Around Paranaguá

Accepted Answer

Most visitors spend their time in the historic center, and city buses and boats reach the rest. The tourist train on the old mountain railway runs between Curitiba and Morretes, the town that borders Paranaguá to the west. City buses leave from an open-air terminal in the João Gualberto district, the shopping area beside the historic center. Without the local fare card, every change of bus means paying a new fare. Boats to the islands of the bay, Ilha do Mel among them, leave from the Estação Náutica in the historic center. Ask there for the day's times. The railway to Curitiba runs 110 km and climbs about 900 m through the Serra do Mar, with 13 tunnels still in use and some 30 bridges and viaducts. Freight trains use it every day. The BR-277 highway also climbs the Serra do Mar to Curitiba, and tolls are charged on it.

Question 3

Seafood, Barreado, and the Paraná Coast Kitchen

Accepted Answer

Barreado is the dish of the Paraná coast: meat cooked for many hours in a heavy clay pot, sealed shut with a paste of flour and water. It is most closely linked with Morretes but is also served in Paranaguá, and fresh seafood is the other thing to look for. How barreado is served: The meat is cooked until it falls apart and is then mixed with cassava flour and eaten with rice and sliced plantain. Where it came from: The recipe is credited to Azorean settlers who reached the coast in the 1700s, and it was served at fandango dances and before Carnival. Pay-by-weight lunches: Restaurants that charge for your plate by weight, called por quilo, are found across the downtown area and keep lunch inexpensive. To drink: Small producers around Paranaguá make artisanal cachaça, the sugarcane spirit, and a banana spirit is sometimes poured before a barreado meal.

Question 4

Tipping in Brazil

Accepted Answer

Many restaurants in Brazil include a 10 percent service charge in the bill, and no further tip is needed. Tipping is uncommon. Taxi drivers generally do not expect a tip, though rounding up the fare sometimes happens.

Question 5

Colonial Architecture and the Archaeology Museum

Accepted Answer

Paranaguá's colonial center is listed as national heritage, and its churches, town houses and the old Jesuit college date from the 1600s to the 1800s. The coast's Azorean heritage still shows in its music and dance. The cathedral: The Igreja Matriz, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, was the first Catholic church built in Paraná. Its story is traced back to a chapel recorded in 1578, but today's colonial-style building dates from the 1700s, and its tower was later raised higher. The Jesuit college: Finished in 1755, the college served the Jesuits for only four years before Portugal expelled the order, and it then housed the customs office and other government services. Fandango: Azorean settlers brought this dance to the coast around 1750. Dancers stamp in wooden clogs to the rabeca, a folk fiddle, and a national fandango festival takes place each year on Ilha dos Valadares. Our Lady of the Rocio: The patron saint of Paraná has her shrine in Paranaguá's Rocio district, and her November feast draws pilgrims from across Brazil. Other sights in the center: The Fonte Velha, a public fountain from the 1600s, is among the oldest structures in the city, and the Palácio Visconde de Nácar was the governor's palace, built around 1840.

Question 6

Paraná's Oldest City: A Brief History

Accepted Answer

Paranaguá was founded in 1648 as the first town in what is now the state of Paraná, two years after a gold strike was announced there. Its port later carried the produce of the whole plateau, and the railway of 1885 tied it to Curitiba. The shell-mound builders: Long before Europeans arrived, peoples living on this coast between about 10,000 and 1,000 years ago built hundreds of mounds of shells, called sambaquis, across southern Brazil. The Carijó: The bay was later home to the Carijó, a Guaraní people. Portuguese settlers enslaved them, and over time the survivors, Europeans and Africans formed the coast's caiçara population. First settlement, around 1550: Settlers first lived on Cotinga Island in the bay and later moved to the mainland on the Itiberê River. Gold and a charter, 1646 to 1648: Gabriel de Lara raised a pillory, the symbol of Portuguese law, on January 6, 1646, and announced a gold strike that year. A royal charter created the town on July 29, 1648. A fort at the bar, 1769: The Fortress of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres on Ilha do Mel was finished in 1769 to guard the entrance to the bay. The Cormorant affair, 1850: On July 1, 1850, the fort's garrison and local people fired on HMS Cormorant, a British warship that had seized Brazilian ships it accused of carrying enslaved people. The province, 1853: When Paraná became a province in 1853, Curitiba was chosen as its capital over Paranaguá. The railway, 1880 to 1885: Work began in 1880 with Emperor Pedro II at the ceremony. The line reached Morretes in 1883 and opened all the way to Curitiba on February 2, 1885. Immigrants and the modern port: About 100,000 immigrants landed at Paranaguá in the late 1800s. The Dom Pedro II docks were built in 1934, and the state created the port authority in 1947. To learn more ashore: The Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, in the old Jesuit college at Rua XV de Novembro 575, opened in 1963 and today hosts temporary exhibitions on changing themes.

Question 7

Paranaguá with Children and Families

Accepted Answer

With children, keep a Paranaguá day short and close to the center, with a museum stop and a market lunch. An island trip by boat is long, so save it for older children and a long call. Younger children: Keep to a stroll along Rua da Praia and the riverfront, with lunch and snacks at the Mercado Municipal. Plan for heat and rain in summer, and bring water and sun protection. School age: The university museum in the old Jesuit college hosts temporary exhibitions; check what is on before you go. Teenagers: On Ilha do Mel, the Fortress of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres has walls 1.5 m thick, and Morro da Baleia, the hill just in front of it, has Second World War gun positions and a lookout. Health on the island: Ilha do Mel has no hospital or pharmacy, only an emergency room near the Nova Brasília pier, so bring any medicines your family needs.

Question 8

Accessibility in Paranaguá

Accepted Answer

The historic center keeps its old stone-paved slopes, so expect uneven ground and short climbs. Ask your cruise line how passengers get from the ship to the center and whether an accessible vehicle can be arranged. The university museum describes its historic building as accessible. Ask about your specific needs when you arrive. Ilha do Mel has no roads, no paved surfaces and no motor vehicles, only footpaths and sand, and you board the boats from piers. Ask the boat operators about boarding before you plan the trip. The island has no public lighting.

Question 9

Local Crafts and Market Finds

Accepted Answer

Paranaguá's two markets are the places to shop, both in the historic center. Look for local crafts and the black clay pots that the coast's stews, barreado among them, are cooked in. The Mercado do Artesanato on Rua General Carneiro sells local handicrafts. The Mercado Municipal on Rua João Estevão is a working city market where local food is sold as well as crafts. Small producers in the area bottle artisanal cachaça, which makes a gift to take home. Check the customs allowance for alcohol in your home country before you buy bottles.

Question 10

Ilha do Mel's Beaches

Accepted Answer

Paranaguá's beaches are on Ilha do Mel, a protected island at the mouth of the bay. The boat from the city takes about an hour and a half each way, so it fits only a long call. Most of the island is a nature reserve, and visitor numbers are capped at 5,000 a day. Visitors are seldom turned away because of the cap, and when it happens it is usually at New Year or Carnival. Boats land at two piers, Nova Brasília near the isthmus and Encantadas at the far end of the island. There are no cars, and getting around means walking or a rented bicycle. At Encantadas, the sea has worn a cave into the rocks, the Gruta das Encantadas. The lighthouse near Nova Brasília, the Farol das Conchas, was built in 1872 and still works, and the climb to it gives views over the island and the sea. Thefts on Brazilian beaches are common, so take only what you need and keep it close.

Paranaguá

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What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Paranaguá