Sete Cidades National Park, Serra da Capivara and the Parnaíba Delta

Piauí has more archaeological sites than any other Brazilian state.

In the town of Piracuruca, 187 kilometres from Teresina, in the northeastern part of Piauí, you will find the Sete Cidades National Park, which is made up of seven rocky formations that look like cities with roads, houses and apartment blocks, monuments and squares. The rocks range from 4 metres to 120 metres in height and are spread out over 20 kilometres.

The Sete Cidades National Park tour begins at its small visitor centre, where you will find ample information about the park and guides to accompany you on your visit. It is possible to explore the park on foot but also by car.

There are cave paintings here that are close to 6000 years old and are known across the globe. They are found in the park’s rocky walls and make up the "Sete Cidades style, " characterised by geometric designs. They are ordered and harmonious with circles, straight, curved and parallel lines representing the sun, moon, animals and hands.

Serra da Capivara National Park

Travel 530 kilometres from Teresina towards the inland, and you will encounter a little known treasure! Spread across four towns in the Serra da Capivara National Park, which is home to one of the world’s largest collections of cave paintings. It has utterly unique scenery, with canyons, lowlands, and scrublands. It is one of the best-structured parks in the country. Its enormous concentration of prehistoric cave art includes paintings that range from 6 to 12 thousand years old.

There are more than 600 archaeological sites within the National Park, and 170 of them are open to visits. Anthropologists and archaeologists say that the park shows signs that humans occupied it up to a hundred thousand years ago.

It is obligatory to have a trained tour guide with you while visiting the caves, but they will help you understand the designs’ meanings. When visiting the National Park, you can stay in the small town of São Raimundo Nonato, which is 41 kilometres away and has good infrastructure and services.

The Delta of the Parnaíba River

The Delta of the Parnaíba River is an ecological sanctuary, formed by more than 80 islands and islets. It is also the only open sea delta in the Americas. It is located between Maranhão and Piauí states, and Parnaíba is the main town when the river meets the ocean. This rare natural phenomenon also happens at the River Nile in Africa and the Me Kong river in Vietnam. It resembles an open hand where the fingers are different coasts that together form a vast natural sanctuary.

The Delta makes up part of the integrated tourism route known called the Rota das Emoções (the Road of Emotions), which also includes the Lençóis Maranhenses (in Maranhão State) and Jericoacoara (In Ceará State). In 2009 it was voted the best tourist route in Brazil by the Ministry of Tourism.