Paqueta Island

Paqueta is a small island in the upper bay, about a kilometre and a half long, and private cars have been banned on it for decades - transport is bicycle, electric cart or horse-drawn charrete, and everything else is walked. It was a fashionable retreat in the imperial period and the fabric is nineteenth-century: low houses, a few churches, the Solar del Rei, and enormous old trees including the Baobab known as the Maternity Tree. Beaches ring the island but the bay water is polluted and swimming is not advised. The interest is the pace and the crossing - the ferry from Praca XV runs the length of Guanabara Bay past the bridge and the shipyards, which is a view of Rio most visitors never get.

What you actually see

• No private cars - bicycles, carts and walking only.
• A nineteenth-century retreat - low houses and churches from the imperial era.
• The bay crossing - seventy minutes past the bridge and the shipyards.
• Very old trees - including the baobab the island is known for.

When to go

April to October. A day, on an early ferry.

Honest expectations

Guanabara Bay is polluted and the beaches are not for swimming. The island is run down in parts. Ferries are infrequent and the last return is early - missing it is a real problem. Horse carts are a welfare concern for some visitors.

Nearby

Praca XV in central Rio is the departure point; Niteroi is across the bay.