Forte de Reis Magos

Every old fort should look like this, standing proud and alone on the reefs off the tip of the city, separated from the mainland by a sand spit that at high tide sinks below less than a meter (3 ft.) of water. Inside, the function of each room is carefully spelled out in Portuguese and English. The small museum in the officers' quarters has disappointingly little on the fort itself, which saw action when the Dutch occupied it between 1633 and 1654. From the ramparts, the view of the city's skyscrapers and the dunes to the north can't be beat.

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