Museum of Tomorrow and the Porto Maravilha waterfront

At a glance

The building

The museum was built as part of Porto Maravilha, the redevelopment of Rio’s port area, which covers about 5 million m². Santiago Calatrava worked on the project from 2010 to 2015 and the museum opened in December 2015. According to the architect’s studio:

• the building is no higher than 18 m above the pier, with about 12,600 m² in total and about 5,000 m² for exhibitions;
• large movable wings on the roof carry solar panels and turn with the angle of the sun;
• water from Guanabara Bay cools the building, and a reflecting pool of filtered bay water surrounds it, so the museum seems to float.

The main exhibition

The permanent exhibition, Do Cosmos a Nós (From the Cosmos to Us), fills the second floor. It has more than 40 interactive experiences in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and was curated by cosmologist Luiz Alberto Oliveira. It has five sections:

1. Cosmos: a dome with a 360-degree projection about galaxies, atoms and the Sun. No photos and no phones here.
2. Terra (Earth): three cubes, each 7 m tall, on matter, life and thought.
3. Onde Estamos? (Where are we?): six 10 m totems on how people change water, fire, earth and air.
4. Amanhãs (Tomorrows): six global trends in three areas (society, planet, human), and a Civilization Game based on a model studied by NASA.
5. Nós (Us): a hut-like space holding the museum’s only physical object, a churinga from Australian Aboriginal culture.

Temporary exhibitions run alongside; we check what is on for your dates.

Opening hours and tickets

• Open Thursday to Tuesday, 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00, public holidays included. Closed on Wednesdays.
• Tickets are timed: a 10:00 ticket is valid from 10:00 to 10:59.
• Tickets are sold online through the museum’s ticket page. Prices and conditions change, so we check them for your dates.

House rules worth knowing:

• no photos or phones in Cosmos; no flash or selfie sticks anywhere;
• no bare feet or bare chests, and the museum suggests a light jacket because it is cold inside;
• children under 12 must be with a parent or guardian;
• no food or drink in the galleries or auditorium; snacks are fine in the gardens, and there is a café inside;
• elevators, tactile floors and models, adapted restrooms and baby changing tables; wheelchairs are available in limited numbers.

Around the museum: Porto Maravilha

Praça Mauá and the Rio Art Museum

Two museums share Praça Mauá: the Museum of Tomorrow and the Rio Art Museum (Museu de Arte do Rio, MAR). On 21 October 2026 the MAR website says the museum is temporarily closed, with no reopening date, so we check before your trip.

The Etnias mural

Along the waterfront stand old port warehouses. On one of them Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra and his team painted Etnias for the 2016 Olympics: five faces of peoples from five continents (Huli, Mursi, Kayin, Supi and Tapajó). The mural is 51 ft high and 560 ft wide. It took 45 days, 2,800 spray cans and 180 buckets of acrylic paint, and Guinness World Records listed it as the largest spray paint mural by a team.

Valongo Wharf

Construction of the stone wharf began in 1811, for the landing of enslaved Africans. UNESCO says up to 900,000 African captives entered the Americas through Valongo. It became a World Heritage site in 2017 and lies on Praça Jornal do Comércio.

AquaRio

The aquarium is two VLT stops from Parada dos Museus, at Utopia - AquaRio. It calls itself the largest marine aquarium in South America: 4.5 million litres of water, about 10,000 animals of some 350 species, and more than 28 tanks. It opens every day from 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00, and sells tickets at ingressos.aquariomarinhodorio.com.br. Ideas for children: Rio family trip.

Half-day route in the port

The museum is closed on Wednesdays, so this route never goes on a Wednesday. With small children, start at AquaRio, which opens at 9:00. With energy left, continue to the Selarón Steps. For full days around the city see the Rio itinerary.

How to get there

• VLT. Line 1 (blue) runs from Santos Dumont airport to Terminal Gentileza; get off at Parada dos Museus, about 200 m from the museum. The VLT runs every day from 5:00 to 23:00. You pay with a Jaé card (sold at station machines) or a QR code from the Jaé app, a new code for each ride, and validate at the stop or on board.
• Metro. From Uruguaiana (lines 1 and 2), walk to Praça Mauá: cross Avenida Presidente Vargas and take Rua Acre, or follow Presidente Vargas to Candelária church and turn left on Avenida Rio Branco.
• Car. The museum has no parking; the nearest private car park is in the RB1 building (Av. Rio Branco, 1), about 100 m from the entrance. More options: getting around Rio.

The UK FCDO (updated 29 September 2026) advises care with your phone in the street, especially between 4pm and 9pm. We plan port walks in daylight and the ride back by car. More official advice: Rio safety tips.

How we help

We arrange a private tour of the historic centre and Porto Maravilha with a guide who speaks your language, put the museums on days they are open and book timed tickets in advance. If you like, we add a private driver from and back to your hotel.

What to tell us in your request

• your dates, avoiding Wednesday for this museum
• how many people, and children’s ages
• museum only, or the whole port route
• the language your guide should speak
• whether you need a driver from your hotel