Fortaleza Transportation

Someone on this site wrote that drivers in Fortaleza are dangerous, too fast and drunk at night. This is rubbish. Driving in the city is easy, people generally courteous and driving at night is not a problem. The only issue tends to be when it has rained very heavily or else outside the city area where roads tend to have potholes. Roads to Cumbuco suffer a little but roadds South can be truly dreadful and will cause severe damage to tyres and wheels if you are not careful.

The little "Top Bus" is another good way to get around town. It is a little more expensive and the route is limited but it is comfortable and air-conditioned. They have two routes one goes from Beira mar to the mall Shopping Iguatemi and the other from Iguatemi to North Shopping. The line for you as a tourist is Beira mar to Iguatemi and back. North Shopping is not that great and it is pretty far in the wrong direction.

The Top Bus is 2.50 per person, hey a cab would cost 20 or more from the beach to the mall.

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A good way to see the sight in Fortaleza or get from one place to another is to take the bus it is cheap and as long as your smart about it you will not have any problems. The buses run all around the city and they are easy to catch. Go to one of the bus stops at the corner and flag the bus when it is approaching. The fare the last time I was on the bus was 1.50. The main terminal is a bit confusing, so if you are not used to traveling by mass transit you might want to stick to the taxi. Taxis in Fortaleza are real expensive compared to the south of Brazil.

.... is displayed on the windshield of the bus, and the buses have numbers that dictate their route.
1.50 Reais for local trips, and 2.50 for a bit further. The TV in front is really useless, as the images are flickering but this being BRASIL , ANY noise will add to the atmosphaere, lol :-))

Taxis are one choice, average trip about 5-8 reais. But there is a good network of smaller buses called TOP BUS. The tickets vary from 1.50 - 2.50 Reais. They are airconditioned, even have a TV in front and are also a good way to see the surroundings. They have routes to different areas, some one may not want to walk but are safe to see from the bus. From our hotel (Ponta mar) it has a connection directly to the major mall.

Travel to and from Fortaleza would be more effective by plane or bus
Being a big city, there is a lot of public transportation available in town, such as buses, cabs, and the last I heard we have a subway project going on! It is very easy to get your way around there. This picture is from the bus station and airport.

You can get in Fortaleza by plane (a new international airport was built not a long time ago), by car, by bus or even by boat! If you come by plane I suggest that you get a cab that belongs to the airport service, to any hotel in town it wouldn’t cost more than USD25. If coming by car you can find our drivers a little bit crazy but the traffic is not really hard to understand once you’ve got a map. Getting by bus I also suggest that you get a cab even though the bus station doesn’t provide a cab service, you can find quite a few parked outside. And if you decide to come sailing you can “park” at Marina’s park hotel. It’s our biggest hotel in town that has a “boat parking”
You have many options to get around. You can do it by car, by taxi and of course by bus too. Fortaleza's bus system is not well explained by signs but if you ask at the hotel or a local they will be happy to help you figure out what bus you should take. For those that like to try new things, Fortaleza has a new transportation called 'MotoTaxi', you pay about USD2 to get anywhere in town my Motorcycle. You can find them parked in many places they usually wear an orange waistcoat.

Fortaleza has an International Airport, so I believe you can fly straight to Fortaleza from the main cities in the world. If you are in São Paulo, for example, you can take a plane at Aeroporto de Congonhas. The flight takes about 2,5 hours. It is possible to get there by bus, but the trip takes about 3 or 4...DAYS! And it's not comfortable at all, because of the heat along the trip.
You can take buses and taxis. Or walk along Avenida Beira-Mar.You can stop by the several bars on the beach, take a seat and have a drink staring at the beautiful sea.