Maybe one of our favorite museums in Rio! The building itself was an old palace for Dom Pedro and…read morelooks like it used to be a beauty in its heydays. Now it looks a little neglected but since the university has picked up the museum and invested some money in it, the content inside is quite an impressive collection. It starts with a dinosaur and meteor display on the first floor, with a couple stuffed and preserved animals for touching. The second floor opens with a huge skeleton of a ground sloth, native to Brazil. They have ancient dinosaurs skeletons with a live artist painting Jurassic dinosaur scenes. There's several types of real stuffed birds; harpy eagle, penguin, Jacu, toucan, etc. There is an impressive Egyptian mummy collection along with decorated sarcophaguses. They're kept under ambient conditions (temperature and humidity regulated) so it's difficult to get a good picture but you can clearly see how well preserved even the cotton clothes that wraps the body. They also have the Chilean Atacama mummies too! An indigenous section shows the traditional ceremonies and headdresses. Another shows Candomblé symbols and yet another has Inuit carvings. There's so much to look at! The building itself has a beautiful courtyard and elaborate ceilings. At only R$6 entrance fee, it's well worth it's price.

We took uber there, it is not in a walking distance from every tourist place you might be. We…read morechecked before that Sunday's and Holidays was old anyway. It wasn't today. Llegamos en uber aqui, no es una distancia para caminar de los tipicos lugares turisticos que uno puede estar. Chequeamos antes de ese domingo horarios y feriados. Estaba cerrado. No era hoy!

A great place to take the pulse of the vibrant Brazilian fine-arts scene, the Museum of Modern Art…read moreoccupies a striking concrete-and-glass modernist building. Augmenting the permanent collection of about 6,400 works by Brazilian and international artists is the slightly larger Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection of modern and contemporary Brazilian art. MAM has earned respect over the years for its bold, often thought-provoking exhibitions. The venue also hosts events such as music performances and DJ sessions. Its theater screens Brazilian and international independent and art-house films.

Yelp Review 2025 #179:…read more I originally wanted to visit this museum because of its architecture. It reminds me of Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias in Valencia, Spain. Museu do Amanha or Museum of Tomorrow is a nice museum in the Centro area of Rio focusing on visually presenting in a scientific method how our current affects our future. During my visit, the exhibits had climate crisis (no longer climate change) as the theme. Full-price tickets are 40 Brazilian Reais or under $8 which is not bad at all. If you want to check out specific exhibits, it's extra. The goal is to hopefully, open up our eyes as to how our actions or lack thereof affect our future in 50 years time or future generations. And bring awareness so we can make better choices. The resources we enjoy now may not be around in the future - nothing lasts forever unless, we do better. I visited on a Saturday afternoon and this museum was packed! I would've picked a different day and time but that's just how my itinerary worked. I only did a quick walk until I got overwhelmed by the crowd and I left. You can take pictures without flash/ annoying selfie sticks and short video clips in all areas of the museum except for Cosmos. There's a shop and a cafe. There are also vendors outside the museum selling popcorn, churros and açaí bowls. It turns out the architecture looked familiar because Museum do Amanha and Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias were designed by the same Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava.

An unexpected treat! We decided to check out this museum when someone suggested it to us. The…read morecurrent exhibition focuses on sustainability and climate change. There was a series of amazing pieces, installations, interactive artworks, amd digital pieces throughout the entire 2nd floor. The architecture of the museum itself is a marvelous work of art. Highly recommend.