Curitiba, the capital of the State of Paraná, is an urban success story. The city prides itself on being a "live-able" city, and holds the title of Brazilian city offering the best quality of life. There are wide, tree-lined avenues, pretty squares, parks and pedestrian walkways gracing the downtown area. The city is well known for its many city parks, well preserved historical buildings and some architectonical highlights as the opera house (Opera Arame).

The city was born in the shade of Paraná trees, the typical Southern Brazilian pine tree. Its name bears its native heritage: kur ity ba, as the local Indians used to call the pine-kernels in their language.

Curitiba has been founded on 29 march 1693 when gold prospectors from the coast traveled up-river to the mountains of the Serra do Mar. The city has undergone rapid growth since 1940, when there were only 140.000 residents. Thousands of people came to the city and the number of residents grew rapidly till approximately 1.5 million nowadays. Most of them descendents from Italian, German and Polish immigrants. Despite this rapid grow of the city many historic buildings have been preserved.

The city is forerunner in terms of concern for ecology, setting up Brazil's first environmental university, the Free University of the Environment, which runs projects relating to a sustainable economy, conservation of the ecosystem and environmental education. The city has one of Brazil's best public transport systems, having exported several of its schemes, such as the Integrated System, which was sold to New York.

The biggest attraction in the area is the train ride from Curitiba to Paranaguá. The railroad track to Paranaguá is an engineering masterpiece; 110 kilometers long and straight through the mountains by 13 tunnels and 67 bridges. During this journey you will have some marvelous views of the steep mountains separating Curitiba from the coast. Paranaguá is a quaint port town that also serves as a starting point for visits to Matinhos, Caiobá, Antonina and llha do Mel.

Curitiba can be visited the whole year round. Located in the mountains, at approximately 950m high, temperatures regularly don?t reach the same tropical heights as in the rest of Brazil. Winter nights can be surprisingly chilly.