After the Maratona Internacional do Paraná: Guaratuba, Then Curitiba

The Route: Guaratuba (1 night) → Curitiba (2 nights) → Airport (CWB) Logistics: A coach or pre-booked car from Guaratuba to Curitiba, two to three hours. Everything in Curitiba is by taxi or app car. Marathon Month: March Duration: 3 nights

Guaratuba hotel (night 1) ──(coach or car, 2 to 3 h)──> Curitiba (nights 2 and 3)
Curitiba ──(optional: Serra Verde Express to Morretes and back)──> Curitiba
Curitiba hotel ──(taxi)──> Airport (CWB)

The race is on the coast, and the state capital lies inland, in the direction of your flight home. Travelling there in stages means you arrive in Curitiba rested and not in a rush from the finish line.

March in Curitiba is warm and often wet, so carry a light shell. The rail excursion described below runs through hills where cloud and rain can limit the view, and the operator publishes its own departure calendar.

Night one: Guaratuba

Keep your room and rest. Buy your coach ticket for the next morning once you know how you are moving, and ask the operator for a timetable for your date. Easter traffic can lengthen the drive, so leave plenty of margin.

Nights two and three: Curitiba

Arrive in the morning and leave bags at the hotel. Two hotels to compare, both close to Shopping Estação:

Rockefeller by Slaviero, next to Shopping Estação, with an airport transfer stop listed about 140 m away.
Hotel Estação Express, listed about 80 m from Shopping Estação, with a breakfast buffet.

Ask each about early breakfast, luggage storage and whether a lift serves your floor.

Use the free day in the city for short, seated stops. The Jardim Botânico and the Museu Oscar Niemeyer are the usual choices. Check each one's opening days and hours for your date, since Easter and Monday closures are common in Brazil, and take a taxi in between.

The train option

The Serra Verde Express sells a one-way ticket between Curitiba and Morretes, described as about 4 hours, and a package in which you take the train out and a van back, described as about 10 hours in total. Prices on the operator's page were from R$206 for the ticket and R$488 for the package; use these as a guide only. The operator publishes a departure calendar, so choose a date from it. Box offices in Curitiba have shorter hours on Sundays.

A seated train asks little of your legs, but the day is long. Book it only if you have a spare day and are sure of your return.

Where to eat

In Curitiba, ask your hotel for a restaurant near the station and ring ahead. In Morretes, ask the operator about lunch stops on the package.

Getting to the airport