São João de Meriti works well as a base: 10 minutes from Nilópolis, 22km from Rio-Niterói Bridge.
São João de Meriti is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with about 470,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Nilópolis, about 4 km away.
Where to Stay in São João de Meriti
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Within an hour or so of São João de Meriti: Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet (19 km), Rio-Niterói Bridge (22 km), Museu do Amanhã (22 km), Christ the Redeemer (23 km).
Where is São João de Meriti?
São João de Meriti is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about 4 km from Nilópolis.
Road trip
Drive to São João de Meriti
Add it as a stop and the planner works out the driving, the nights and what's worth seeing on the way.
The Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio that hosted ten Brazilian Grands Prix and where Ayrton Senna raced. Largely demolished for the 2016 Olympic Park, but its motorsport significance and location remain a landmark.
19 km · about 20 min drive
bridge
Rio-Niterói Bridge
13 km box-girder giant striding across Guanabara Bay: the longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere at its opening in 1974, with sweeping views of Rio's skyline.
22 km · about 25 min drive
museum
Museu do Amanhã
Science museum by Santiago Calatrava on Rio's revitalised Praça Mauá waterfront, adjacent to the port district drive.
22 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Christ the Redeemer
Towering 30-metre Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ atop Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro.
23 km · about 25 min drive
tunnel
Rebouças Tunnel
Twin-bore road tunnel under the Tijuca massif linking Rio's South Zone to the North Zone, about 2.8 kilometres long.
23 km · about 25 min drive
cafe
Confeitaria Colombo
An 1894 Rio patisserie of Belgian mirrors, Portuguese tiles and jacaranda cabinets, built when the city was flush with coffee money and still serving pastel de nata under a vast stained-glass skylight.
23 km · about 25 min drive
photogenic
Escadaria Selaron
A staircase between Lapa and Santa Teresa covered by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron in over 2,000 tiles sent from 60 countries, worked on daily from 1990 until his death in 2013.
23 km · about 25 min drive
scenic viewpoint
Vista Chinesa
A pagoda-style belvedere built in 1903 in the Tijuca forest, giving a framed view over the Lagoa, Corcovado, Ipanema and Sugarloaf. Reachable by car on the Estrada da Vista Chinesa.
23 km · about 25 min drive
Driving roads near São João de Meriti
22 kmRio-Niterói Bridge13 km box-girder giant striding across Guanabara Bay: the longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere at its opening in 1974, with sweeping views of Rio's skyline.
23 kmRebouças TunnelTwin-bore road tunnel under the Tijuca massif linking Rio's South Zone to the North Zone, about 2.8 kilometres long.
23 kmVista ChinesaA pagoda-style belvedere built in 1903 in the Tijuca forest, giving a framed view over the Lagoa, Corcovado, Ipanema and Sugarloaf. Reachable by car on the Estrada da Vista Chinesa.
28 kmSugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)A granite peak rising 396 meters from Guanabara Bay, reached by cable car with sweeping views of Rio's beaches, mountains, and cityscape.
When to drive here
Year-round
Tropical latitude: plan around the wet season rather than temperature.