sight
Escadaria Selarón
The 215 steps Chilean artist Jorge Selarón spent 23 years (1990-2013) tiling with mosaics from 60 countries. At the Lapa/Santa Teresa boundary. Free; best photographed 09:00 before tour buses arrive.
Rio de Janeiro · Brazil
Santa Teresa
Rio's bohemian hilltop quarter — yellow-trolley cobbled lanes, artists' studios, and the Escadaria Selarón
— The Neighbourhood
Santa Teresa climbs the hill above Lapa, a former 18th-century convent district that became Rio's artists' quarter in the 20th century — and has stayed that way. Narrow cobbled lanes, colonial mansions converted to galleries and B&Bs, jacaranda trees blooming purple in October. The yellow 'bondinho' tram has run since 1896 (paused 2011-2016 after a fatal accident, now running again). The Escadaria Selarón — 215 mosaic-tiled steps Chilean artist Jorge Selarón spent 23 years covering in ceramic fragments — is the neighbourhood's photograph. Stay here if you want the view of Rio (the whole bay laid out below) and the city's most resistant-to-gentrification creative community.
— Highlights
Where to eat, drink, and explore
sight
Santa Teresa tram (bondinho)
Yellow wooden tram running since 1896. 20-min route from Largo da Carioca up through the neighbourhood. Stops at major points — Largo do Guimarães, Dois Irmãos, and Paula Matos. R$20 round-trip.
sight
Parque das Ruínas
Free viewpoint in the ruined mansion of 1920s patron Laurinda Santos Lobo. Glass-enclosed upper floor preserves the ruins while offering a 360° view of Rio. Small gallery with free contemporary-art shows.
restaurant
Aprazível
Restaurant with a tree-house-style terrace looking out over Guanabara Bay. Brazilian ingredients, slow cooking, live music at weekends. One of Rio's best sunset-dinner options.
sight
Museu Chácara do Céu
Hillside museum housed in the former home of industrialist Raymundo Ottoni de Castro Maya — Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and a serious Brazilian-modernist collection (Di Cavalcanti, Portinari).
— Where to stay
Sleeping in Santa Teresa
The Mama Ruisa (6-room 19th-century mansion) and the Santa Teresa Hotel MGallery (a converted 1850s coffee-baron estate with a swimming pool that may be Rio's best hotel pool) are the design-forward picks. Plenty of small B&Bs — Casa Amarelo, Casa Áurea — run from around $90. Side streets are steeper than they look; bring non-slip shoes for the cobblestones.
Hotels in Santa Teresa
Live rates via Expedia
Search Santa Teresa hotels →destination.com earns a commission when you book through our links. Does not affect the price you pay.
— Getting around
How to move
The tram is the experience; Uber is the fallback. Walking the main drag (Rua Almirante Alexandrino) is pleasant; venturing to side streets at night warrants an Uber. The Lapa nightlife district is at the foot of the hill; you can walk down, not up.
— FAQ
Santa Teresa: common questions
Safe by day; the main streets remain fine at night. Side streets and the walk down to Lapa after dark warrant taxi/Uber. The neighbourhood borders favelas on its western side; the public safety stops at well-marked points.
— More in Rio de Janeiro
Other Rio de Janeiro neighbourhoods
— If you love Santa Teresa
You'll also love these
Buenos Aires · Argentina
San Telmo
Buenos Aires' oldest barrio — cobbled streets, Sunday antiques market, and tango that still belongs to locals
Vienna · Austria
Neubau
Vienna's 7th District — independent fashion, Biedermeier townhouses, and a neighbourhood that refused to play along with the coffeehouse cliche
Rome · Italy
Trastevere
Rome's most romantic neighbourhood — and its most mis-recommended