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Fortaleza
Capital city of Ceará, Brazil

Fortaleza

Fortaleza is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil.

Plan a trip to Fortaleza→From Natal

It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador in 2024 census with a population of slightly over 2.5 million—and 12th among cities with the highest gross domestic product. It forms the core of the Fortaleza metropolitan area, which is home to almost 4 million people.

Get in

Getting to Fortaleza

  1. 01
    Pinto Martins International Airport
  2. 02
    Rodoviária João Tomé

    The main bus station has buses to most all of the country, often via connections.

  3. 03
    Rodoviária Antônio Bezerra
  4. 04
    Rodoviária de Messejena
See

Worth seeing

Quite an effort has been put into restoring colonial architecture over the last years. Still there is no area that is completely "clean", but the stretch from the beachfront of Praia de Iracema, via Dragão do Mar and to Praça do Ferreira is steadily improving and worth a walk. One thing worth seeing is the sunset, either from Ponte Metalica, Praia Iracema, or the beach by the fish market, Mucuripe.

  1. 01
    Theatro José de Alencar

    A theater on the south side of the eponymous square.

  2. 02
    Metropolitan Cathedral of Fortaleza

    Its sooty façade gives the cathedral a somewhat brutal look.

  3. 03
    Estoril

    Rua dos Tabajaras 397, Praia de Iracema (Near Pirata Bar).

  4. 04
    Mercado dos Pinhões

    Praça Visconde de Pelotas, Praia de Iracema (2 blocks inland from the shops at Rua Monsenhor Tabosa).

  5. 05
    Ponte dos Ingleses
  6. 06
    Iracema Statue

    Also known as the Guardian of Iracema, this statue was constructed to honor the author José de Alencar.

Do

Things to do

The monthly listing Olheiro can befound in the receptions of most large hotels, or downloaded as.pdf. There are two nice city beaches, 1 Praia de Iracema and

Eat

Where to eat

A popular vacation destination, there is a wide variety of restaurants from steak houses (churrascarias) to pizzerias and fast food restaurants. The best concentration of restaurants in town is found in the Varjota neighbourhood, especially along Rua Frederico Borges and its side streets, starting some five blocks inland from Beira Mar.

  1. 01
    La Massa

    R.

  2. 02
    Restaurante Boa Mistura

    Rua Dom Joaquim, 46.

  3. 03
    Bar e Restaurante O Cazuza

    Praça Pelotas, 60.

  4. 04
    Acarajé da Ieda

    Esquina da Praça do Ferreira com, R.

  5. 05
    Sabará Restaurante

    R.

How locals move

Getting around Fortaleza the local way

  • Get aroundThe city is best covered by bus and cab, but a car can make many day trips to outlying beaches.
  • Go nextAny tour agency, and a number of pushers along Beira Mar, can offer you daytrips, and longer packages, to outlying beaches.
  • Go nextCan be done as a day trip (R$ 40, many agencies), but is worth a longer stay, particularly for its weekend nightlife.
  • Go nextTour agencies in Fortaleza arrange day trips at about R$ 25.

From Wikivoyage: Fortaleza, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.