36 Hours in Brasília

Despite the modernistic monuments by the legendary Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil’s retro-futuristic capital city — erected on an expanse of dry plains in central Brazil in the late 1950s and ’60s — has generally drawn few visitors who didn’t have business with the federal government. But as Brazil’s economy booms and its world influence increases, Brasília is coming of age, gaining a new museum here, a cool bridge there, top-shelf restaurants everywhere. Brasília is also safer and calmer than Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, unless you count the stress of trying to understand its maddening address system. Adding to the charm are awe-inspiring sunsets, samba hot spots and something even the greatest urban planners in the world couldn’t have given it upon its inauguration in 1960: a half-century of tradition and history.