Airlines TAM T85/3477-1945; Varig T85/3477-1710.
Banks and exchange Banco do Noreste, Rua Major Facundo 372, offers the most services, but you’re likely to get faster service at Wall Street, Av. Santos Dumont 3000, Aldeota (T85/3486-3900) or Av. Beira Mar 2982, Loja 02.
Car hire RCA T85/3219-7000; RHP T85/3257-7533.Internet Beira Mar Internet Café, Beira Mar 2120-A; Cachaça-Cearapontocom, […]

You’ll be all right in the centre during the day if you want something to eat, as there are countless places to grab a snack. However, most of what Fortaleza has to offer your palate is to be found on the beaches, especially around Rua dos Tabajaras on Praia de Iracema. The pier here, […]

If you’re looking to buy a hammock, cloth ones are the most comfortable, but they’re also heavier, bulkier and take longer to dry out if they get wet. Less comfy in the heat, but more convenient, much lighter and more durable are nylon hammocks. Aesthetically, however, nylon hammocks are no match for cloth ones, […]

The only visible legacy of Fortaleza’s crowded history is a gridded street pattern laid out in the nineteenth century by a French architect, Adolphe Herbster. Herbster was contracted by the ambitious city fathers to turn Fortaleza into “the Paris of the North” – and you can only hope that they got their money back.
The […]

The budget hotels, as ever, tend to be in the centre, which hums with activity during the day but empties at night, and the more expensive ones are generally out by the beaches, notably Iracema and Meireles. But this is not a hard-and-fast rule; there are literally hundreds of hotels of all shapes and […]

The rodoviária and airport are some way from the centre in the southern suburb of Fátima, but getting into town is easy thanks to the comfortable frescão service operated by the Top Bus company (R$7). The buses will stop to let you off – or can be flagged down – wherever you want along […]

FORTALEZA is a sprawling city of over two million inhabitants, the centre bristling with offices and apartment blocks. It has, for well over a century, been the major commercial hub of the northern half of the Northeast. More recently it has poured resources into expanding its tourist trade, lining the fine city beaches with […]