Hotels near Museu do Amanha and Praca Maua

Museu do Amanha, the Museum of Tomorrow, opened in 2015 on a pier at Praca Maua as the centrepiece of the port regeneration. Santiago Calatrava designed it: a 75-metre cantilever over the water, solar spines that track the sun, and a cooling system drawing on bay water. Inside, it is a science museum about climate, demography and the next 50 years, built around projections and data rather than objects in cases.

Entry is around R$ 30 (roughly 5 EUR) and Tuesdays are free. Next door, the Museu de Arte do Rio occupies two joined buildings on the same square. Between them runs Eduardo Kobra's Etnias mural, 190 metres of painted faces from five continents and the largest spray-painted mural in the world when it was finished for the 2016 Olympics. The square works as one two-hour stop.

Pro Tip: Book the Museu do Amanha timed slot online the night before. Tuesday is free but also the busiest day of the week - if your schedule allows, pay the 30 reais on a Thursday morning and walk straight in.