In addition to numerous beaches, Rio is also blessed with a variety of parks. On the waterfront near Centro there's Flamengo Park, a good place to stroll in the late afternoon if you're looking for a nice view of the Sugarloaf.
Out in the other direction, just past the northern edge of downtown, lies the Quinta da Boa Vista, the royal family's former country residence, on Avenida Bartolomeu de Gusmã, just a short walk from the Sao Cristóvão Metrô stop. Though it's been a century or more since the exiled royals departed, their former country residence is as delightful now as it was when the royal princesses scampered round the villa gardens. Designed in the Romantic style by French landscape architect Auguste Glaziou, the Quinta da Boa Vista has all the tricks of the gardener's trade: tree-lined dells, small ponds and waterfalls, a grotto, a lookout, even a temple of Apollo. The park is also home to the city zoo and the national museum. Open daily from 7am to 6pm.
Closer to the city core lies the Campo de Santana, opposite the Central Metrô stop on Avenida Presidente Vargas. A pretty, formal park, its fence and four iron gates protect 50 species of trees, four ponds, and a grotto. The fence also encloses numerous agoutis (a bizarre-looking minicapybara), ducks, peacocks, and marmosets, as well as a large collection of stray cats that Cariocas seem to dump here. Open daily from 7am to 7pm.
Last and best, the Parque Nacional da Tijuca (Tijuca National Park) is a wonder. At more than 8,000 acres it's the biggest urban forest in the world and one of the last remnants of Atlantic rainforest on Brazil's southern coast. It's a great place to go for a hike, splash in a waterfall, or admire the view. Among its more special points are the Pico de Tijuca, the Corcovado, the Vista Chinesa, and the Pedra da Gávea.
