Natal, state Rio Grande do Norte

Натал, штат Рио Гранде ду Норте См. Фото-галерею

Casa da Ribeira is a cultural center maintained by the government and some important companies; the Casa has permanent exhibitions and promotes cultural events.

Carnaval in Natal. Brazil is the land of carnaval, but in Natal the event is not much popular. Notice, however, that Natal is famour for Carnatal, an off-season carnaval which happens in November and December every year, and is probably the most popular event of this kind in Brazil.

Even with the current expansion of the market boosted by the growing influx of tourists, Natal still don't have the gastronomical variety of the big cities; unlike London, New York or even Sao Paulo, you can't find a restaurant of just any nationality; to name a few, there is no register of Indonesian, Cuban, Hungarian, Swiss restaurants in Natal.

Because of the proximity with the sea, it's natural that many restaurants specialize in fish and sea food; the regional Natal cuisine (see photo) makes use of several local ingredients to create some of the most appreciated regional meals of Brazil; the immigrants brought their culinary first to the southern places where they settled, but today there are Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, etc restaurants everywhere in Brazil; likewise, the internal migrational movements spreaded the several regional cuisines all around the country, bringing to Natal some restaurants from Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Amazon and other Brazilian regions.

Below, some useful info about food, restaurants and other related matters, as well as a guide of restaurants in Natal sorted by specialties.

Everyone enjoys shopping, even (or especially) in a foreigner country. Below, some general info about commerce in Natal and a coverage of places which are of particular interest for tourists.